They're the most famous villainous duo in all of comics, but if you've
never read a Joker or a Harley Quinn book before, then this is the video for you!
WOOF WOOF! Hey guys, it's me, Marcus AKA The Maddogg and we're back with another video! If
you're looking specifically for a joker book my biggest recommendation to you would be batman
the killing joke this was written by alan moore illustrated by brian boland and it's all contained
in just one issue it doesn't require you to know a lot about the character except for the fact
that he really annoys batman and he's in and out of arkham asylum and the great thing about this
is even though it feels like it's set apart from the rest of continuity and it doesn't require
you to know what happened before it still has lasting consequences specifically when it comes
to barbara gordon i'd always known who the joker was but this was the book that made me explore
who he is a little bit more i read this very early on in my comic reading journey i've come
back to it multiple times over the years and i definitely think that for a quick pit stop on
who the joker is there's probably nothing better than this because it's fantastically written the
ending still got people talking about it nearly 40 years later the arts phenomenal whether you go for
the original coloring or the remaster and i just don't think that there's a lot better than this
but the same time please keep watching this video but if you like the sound of that and
a grounded realistic take on these characters but you specifically want that for harley quinn
there's probably nothing better that i can recommend than harleen this was written and
illustrated by stephen sagic which is a name that i'm still not sure if i'm pronouncing correctly
and i only recently read this last year but before i picked up this book i thought harley quinn was
one of those oversaturated characters i put her in a similar class as someone like deadpool but this
opened my eyes into just how interesting she can be in the psychological elements that are at play
sure yes it doesn't give you a lot of time with her as harley quinn but at the same time you get
everything that you need to know from her being this young psychiatry through zenturing arkham
asylum to have faced meetings with the joker and all the psychological mind games that are going
on there leading up to the moment that makes us snap and get you to that point of nobody too it
was phenomenal because a lot of books tried to just look at the quirky funny side about this
character and especially this relationship but this was the book that reminded you that no there
is a lot of weird [ __ ] that's going on here but at the same time he draws a hot joker so i kind
of understand i love this book when i reviewed it it's a very quick read and if you're effectively
looking for a prequel to harley quinn then this is definitely the one but you might not want a joker
origin story especially if that origin story might not even be true in which case i'd definitely
recommend the aptly named joker by brian azarello this was one of the first books i ever reviewed on
this channel and it really stuck with me you see joker from the perspective of one of his
underlings who were doing all the dirty work for him so you never really get to go inside the mind
of the character but you still get a lot of time just with him you're just constantly on edge you
don't know whether he's gonna kill frost or give him a hug and it just puts you in that mindset of
what it must be if you lived in the world of this character he is also set outside of continuity so
you don't have to worry about picking up any other titles to understand what's going on the art that
has this painted realistic look to it is just phenomenal and it's very rare to see something
like that this does give you a very real world approach there's not too much batman in it but
he's still there and you'll also just get to see him interact with other figures like two-face
and the penguin so yeah this book is great if you already know a little bit about this character and
you just want to spend more time in his world and in a similar way you might want a harley
quinn boot that doesn't waste your time with an origin story in which case i would recommend the
fantastic run that was done by jimmy palmiati and amanda connor he is specifically i'm recommending
the new 52 run but also the run from rebirth they did years on this character so it's not the case
that you're just gonna spend three issues and then wonder what's next you get to see harley
quinn going at it on her own she was stepping out of the shadow of being joker's girlfriend and
moving into this more anti-hero role she's still zany and wacky and it wouldn't turn me back on it
but this was the first time when i was starting to like her as her own character and not just
joker's girlfriend so if you do have the time for a run that went on for years and really managed
to redefine this character i can't think of a better standalone harley quinn title than this one
if you're wanting something for the joker i would definitely recommend death of the family i'm a bit
hesitant to recommend death in the family i don't really think that's a great jumping on point but
here's a great story i have to give it that but death of the family was a mini crossover event
that happened between the batman boots during the new 52 which yep is still my jam he cut off his
face at the beginning of detective comics but that's not something that's really important
here although it does make him have a much more menacing look to him so if you're a bit squeamish
then do not read this but if you did want to joke a story where you can see the ramifications of his
actions affecting the other characters then i do think this is pretty great and in particular the
batman series that was being written by scott snyder and illustrated by greg capullo was some
top tier writing i love this and over the years you probably can find other crossover events that
have centered around the joker like you've got the war of jokes and riddles and joker war but
admittedly i haven't caught up on them however when i was going to comic shops and picking up
single issues i knew that i couldn't miss a single issue of death of the family yes it does require
you to know a little bit about the bat family but i've already done a video if you're unsure of any
of the members so you've got no excuse if you want to pick this up however a phenomenal run
that often seems to get overlooked is gotham city sirens now i said that the new 52 run felt
like the first time she was becoming her own independent character but i do think that this
was the precursor to it this saw a team up with catwoman and poison ivy and admittedly she was
teaming up quite a lot with poison ivy if you get what i'm saying it was written by paul deeney the
guy who created harley quinn so of course he's got a good understanding of this character so if you
liked who harley quinn was when she was with the joker but you want to see it interact with other
characters and not just living in his shadow and going on these missions where she really gets to
expand who she is and use her unique skill set in situations that you wouldn't really place her in
then this is a really good short-ish run that is collected in one omnibus where they changed the
name to harley quinn in the gotham city sirens you know you've gotta make people buy it somehow
but this is a very underrated run that a lot of people have overlooked he is fortunately getting a
reprint and you can already pre-order it from the channel's sponsor organic price books they've got
great packaging fast shipping and amazing customer services and if you use code wolf woof you'll get
two dollars off your order and if you're ordering three or more books and you want them to be
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entire order don't worry you can just copy and paste them from the description down below and
you can use these codes as many times as you like but maybe you're looking for more the relationship
between batman and the joker in which case i would definitely recommend the man who laughs this
is written by ed brubacher so one of my favorite writers so i am a little bit biased but this takes
it back to when joker first appeared on the scene and it is technically set inside continuity so you
can continue reading other series after this and you're not gonna get an origin story about
the joker but you are gonna get one about him and batman so if you did like the recent batman movie
it has got a younger bruce wayne that stepped into this role he still makes a few mistakes and
then you've got the joker coming on the scene and he realizes that he really needs to step
it up a level i only recently read this so it is fresh in my mind i absolutely love the art that
was done by doug monkey another name that i'm not sure from pronouncing correctly but it's another
short series that won't take you too much time to read but it will keep you entertained throughout
and on the flip side if you want a story that takes it back to the beginning but you won that
for harley quinn then i would definitely recommend batman mad love this was a story that was actually
inspired by batman the animated series which we're gonna get into on this list but when you
think about batman and his history and when those characters first debuted harley quinn is actually
one of the youngest in comparison and when a doomy wear to starts i often don't recommend the very
first appearance of a character because i feel like time's changed since then but with this being
something that came out in the 90s it's still very easily accessible the art style is inspired by the
tv show so if maybe you knew this character when you were growing up and you haven't read anything
since then this might be the best option for you and trust me if you do jump into this
you'll probably read this in the same voices that you heard in the show another one for the clown
prince of crime and i'm gonna go with joker kill a smile if you like the sound of harleen because it
reminded you a little bit of silence of the lambs but you prefer the hannibal lecter films where he
didn't fancy the person that was interviewing him then this would be the one for you it's written
by jeff lemire and he's illustrated by andreas sorrentino so you've got the same creative team
that did green arrow and also old man logan and gideon folsom this is a really established
creative team that wanted to tackle the joker the art is great and it's published under black
label so it is set outside of continuity and you've got this psychiatrist that is trying
to be the first person that will break joker and won't succumb to his mind games but slowly as it
begins to unravel it becomes this cat and mouse thing and you can't tell if the psychiatrist is
going crazy or the joker's actually messing with him he really put you in the mindset of what it
must feel like if your job revolves around this person but at the same time you're not trying to
sleep with them it's another really short recent read as well so it's not going to take up too
much of your time and i think this is great if you're looking for something with a bit more of
a psychological thriller aspect i always try and recommend team boots when i do a where to
start is a different option if you want to get to know the character in the result of being in that
dynamic with joker i haven't read a lot of team books that do feature him but there are a heavy
heavy amount that feature harley quinn the face that i'm going to be recommending is the suicide
squad run from the new 52 and admittedly if you pick up any suicide squad run that came out after
that time harley quinn's probably gonna be in it you also have the recent mini series that came out
in the prestige format that was written by tom taylor and for as much haters the new 52 might
get i do feel like this was when they began to reinvent harley quinn i gave a lot of respect to
amanda connor and jimmy palmiati about that but i also think that this title was just as important
and the first story arc in particular is more of a cat and mouse chase that features it and then she
does join the team full time so did we just kind of using her on the front cover to sell a couple
of issues but you know it worked and this is something that'll switch it up for you if you are
just used to here being a villain or maybe being the sidekick to the joker i'm just gonna carry
on with the crossovers because next up i've got harley quinn and power girl i'm in the minority
here but i only pick this up because of how much i like power girl i've already done a video talking
about who she is in case you're wondering and you had this amazing dynamic between somebody
who's righteous and is always doing the superhero thing and then harley quinn there's also a lot of
chemistry that goes on between them that i do not think i am ready to look at on rule 34 and this
was only six issues long and it was during that time where harley quinn was reinventing herself
there's also some really wacky sci-fi aspects that you don't think would work on this title
but for some reason it just does and this is just one of those books that's really fun you don't
think it would work when you hear the title but then you remember that jimmy pomeota and amanda
conic made one of the best power girl runs of all time another one by the same creative team
i'm gonna go with harley quinn and the birds of prey nope not the movie but this was an original
graphic novel that was released at the same time so if you're somebody or you know somebody that
did like that film then i definitely think that this would be the best option it's a really short
fun read by two creators that really understand this character it's also got a great sense of
humor which i think is pivotal when you're writing harley quinn and she also takes
up a bit of a leadership role so it's just great seeing the evolution of the character
the last crossover that i'm going to recommend even though there's probably been another eight
that have been celested in the time since i started filming this it's gonna be harley's
little black book this is a six issue mini series that was collected in the omnibus so make sure
that you don't double dip if you've already got these and if you have already got these
thank you for watching this video i don't think you needed two but cheers but this was pretty much
just a who's who of dc characters crossing paths with harley quinn so you get to see it interact
with superman wonder woman green lantern zotani it's not really about the plot you're not going
to learn a lot about the character but you're all going to have a good time whilst you read this
again it is pomiati and amanda conner i promise i'm not sponsored by them it's just that they
are probably the creative team beyond paul deeney that has done the most for harley quinn in saying
that maybe you want to see a different side to the joker in which case i would definitely recommend
batman white knight this has had a few sequels and it does seem like it's becoming its own universe
but the concept of this is what if joker was reformed and beyond that started to try and become
a force for good in gotham city what's great about this is it explores the balance between batman and
joker all of a sudden when he doesn't have that foe to go up against what would it do to the dark
knight and all the while you're wondering if this is a permanent change or it's just another scheme
from joker it's got fantastic r by sean murphy who also does the scripting of this so it's just great
that you've got this one guy leading the charge and like i said it said spin-offs and sequels so
if you wanted to joke a story that doesn't require you to know a lot about what's going on in the
comics but you can still jump in and out of it as and when you please this would definitely be the
one for you let me wear two stars i don't always just try to recommend books because i am gonna
recommend both batman the animated series and also the harley quinn animated series a lot of people
are reading comics today started because they watched a tv show or they saw a movie and they
just wanted to know more about that character both of these are great especially if you have
never read a comic before and you just want to ease your way into it the quinn show is more for
an adult audience and you shouldn't really expect everything that happens in there to translate into
comics but batman the animated series is one of the best tv shows of all time beyond just the
joker stuff you've got the mr freeze arc you've got two-face and you do also have the introduction
of harley quinn and my honorable mention before me final pick i'm just gonna go with absolutely
everything that i haven't mentioned but would get you into comics that's the point of me where to
start series these are just my recommendations that i think would be great depending on your
situation but the same time the joker's old enough to have lived through world war ii so there's
countless stories that i haven't recommended here just because i haven't read them but the same time
if it would work for you then don't worry if it's not on this list you should still be reading that
boo and my final pick is going to be the joker series that started in 2021 james tinian wrote
a lot of the issues of this so it's great seeing that he gets his turn at joker because he wasn't
really included in his batman run and there was also a harley quinn series that came out at the
same time that i haven't picked up just yet and it does also seem like dc are teasing some things
that means that this series might not go on for much longer but the joker series in particular
is great because it's one of the only titles that is mostly just following him but if you did want
to jump into something that's current and ongoing then don't worry you can pick up the recent joker
series i'm hoping it pans out to be a good run that i can recommend to everybody because i have
only read the first couple of issues but still you will learn a lot about this character even if it
is the fact that you should never really know who the joker is but that's the video hopefully you
enjoyed it if you could share this way you can that would do me a massive favor but until next
time just make sure that you stay safe and stay mad all you dogs woof woof see the next video