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The Further Adventures of Batman #1b
Further Adventures of The Joker, The
Insanity was just the beginning.
His madness is legendary.
His evil without limit.
Scarred in both body and mind, The Joker is possibly the most insidious criminal the world has ever known, his dark genius festering beneath an eternal jester’s grin. Yet, for all the pain and suffering Batman’s nemesis has brought the world over the last five decades, virtually nothing has been learned about him. Until now.
In The Further Adventures of The Joker you’re invited to accompany some of today’s most gifted writers on a descent into madness, a journey in search of The Joker’s greatest hopes, dreams . . . and fears. In these stories of crime, mayhem, horror, and twisted humor, you will discover tales you won’t soon forget, tales which will chill your soul and tickle your funny bone.
His madness is legendary.
His evil without limit.
Scarred in both body and mind, The Joker is possibly the most insidious criminal the world has ever known, his dark genius festering beneath an eternal jester’s grin. Yet, for all the pain and suffering Batman’s nemesis has brought the world over the last five decades, virtually nothing has been learned about him. Until now.
In The Further Adventures of The Joker you’re invited to accompany some of today’s most gifted writers on a descent into madness, a journey in search of The Joker’s greatest hopes, dreams . . . and fears. In these stories of crime, mayhem, horror, and twisted humor, you will discover tales you won’t soon forget, tales which will chill your soul and tickle your funny bone.
462 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1990
16 people are currently reading
569 people want to read
About the author
Martin H. Greenberg
909 books163 followersMartin Harry Greenberg was an American academic and speculative fiction anthologist. In all, he compiled 1,298 anthologies and commissioned over 8,200 original short stories. He founded Tekno Books, a packager of more than 2000 published books. In addition, he was a co-founder of the Sci-Fi Channel.
For the 1950s anthologist and publisher of Gnome Press, see Martin Greenberg.
For the 1950s anthologist and publisher of Gnome Press, see Martin Greenberg.
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Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews
April 19, 2020
The Further Adventures of the Joker is the best of the Bat-anthologies that Greenberg edited for Bantam when the film series was enjoying its peak of popularity. It may well be the best prose volume of DC fiction ever assembled. Greenberg did a nice job of presenting stories with many sides of the Joker, from Jack Nicholson to Cesar Romero, and from the Finger/Kane origin up through Frank Miller. We see him in Germany during WWII, we see him as a psychopathic crazy killer, and we see a more sympathetic purveyor of misguided mirth. It's an unpredictable and somewhat thematically random selection of stories, which serves perfectly to fit the fluid and dangerous nature of the character. There are stories by some of the giants of the sf/fantasy/horror/mystery & comics fields, many of whom wrote no franchise fiction before or since, such as Robert R. McCammon, Sheri S. Tepper, Dan Simmons (with Edward Bryant), Jack McDevitt (with Mark vanName), F. Paul Wilson, George Alec Efffinger, and on and on. It's not just comics-fiction, it's a book of good stories that non-fans will find stories to savor, too. This is one of those to keep on the shelf and take down and flip through every few years.
June 25, 2008
This...is the book...that I have read SO MANY TIMES that the cover has fallen off.
Absolutely one of my all time favorites!
Absolutely one of my all time favorites!
October 20, 2012
This is a collection of short stories, all different takes on The Joker by a different author. It's a great list of authors and each story is entirely unique. I read it so many times I literally wore out my copy of this book. Thought it was fantastic. If you're into Batman, this is a MUST read, because it's like getting the Dark Knight and classic Batman and all possible variations all in one volume. It's a perfect mix.
March 26, 2008
Some tales are better than others, but over all, verry exciting to read!
January 3, 2022
The second of three Greenberg DC character compliations (The first was The Further Adventures of Superman while the last one was Batman stories.
The tales in this book are all over the place and that's a good thing considering the subject. The quasi-Golden Age war tale of Joker pulling a major heist in Nazi Germany and its twist ending, the bizarre nightmare of Joker revealing his night terror is normalcy, the decidedly West-era piece where he seems to not only pull a takeover of the Gotham Knights basketball team but *debut as a player*...
Of all the tales, two stand out for showing the outsider's perspective on the eternal dichotomy of Joker and Batman. Help! I Am a Prisoner is a tale of exactly that, a man kidnapped and trapped into close contact with the mercurial criminal. More harrowing is Dying Is Easy, Comedy Is Hard, a case study of just what it takes to be a stand-up comic in Gotham of all places and a grandiose display of just how gloriously grotesque Joker's humor can be when he's got an agenda.
The last tale, Jangletown, is a bleak piece of the disenfranchised youth with nothing to lose. One such lad is swept away to a horrible fate just to infuriate the Bat, but the telling element is that the kid can barely work up even mild interest in his own welfare. Jangletown is broken and that Gotham lost, but it frankly didn't even need a Joker to go that rotten, something Joker himself seems to know and be amused by.
It is outlandish. The book can be very grim at turns or even brilliantly disturbing, but these tales are worth reading to get a glimpse of life outside of comfortable mindset.
The tales in this book are all over the place and that's a good thing considering the subject. The quasi-Golden Age war tale of Joker pulling a major heist in Nazi Germany and its twist ending, the bizarre nightmare of Joker revealing his night terror is normalcy, the decidedly West-era piece where he seems to not only pull a takeover of the Gotham Knights basketball team but *debut as a player*...
Of all the tales, two stand out for showing the outsider's perspective on the eternal dichotomy of Joker and Batman. Help! I Am a Prisoner is a tale of exactly that, a man kidnapped and trapped into close contact with the mercurial criminal. More harrowing is Dying Is Easy, Comedy Is Hard, a case study of just what it takes to be a stand-up comic in Gotham of all places and a grandiose display of just how gloriously grotesque Joker's humor can be when he's got an agenda.
The last tale, Jangletown, is a bleak piece of the disenfranchised youth with nothing to lose. One such lad is swept away to a horrible fate just to infuriate the Bat, but the telling element is that the kid can barely work up even mild interest in his own welfare. Jangletown is broken and that Gotham lost, but it frankly didn't even need a Joker to go that rotten, something Joker himself seems to know and be amused by.
It is outlandish. The book can be very grim at turns or even brilliantly disturbing, but these tales are worth reading to get a glimpse of life outside of comfortable mindset.
August 23, 2017
Is the Joker the greatest comic book villain of all time? Without a doubt. Is he one of the greatest fictional characters and archetypes out there? Again, yes. But too much of a good thing is still too much. The appeal of the Joker is that we see him JUST enough, leaving him shadowed in enough mystery that he remains fresh. Unlike Batman, he can't play straight man in his own stories. Which leads to the best and worst points in this anthology: they're all Joker tales, and there's only so much you can do with the Joker for four hundred pages. So we get the usual: a few choose-your-own-canon origin stories, some grotesque crime capers, some material from his seedier and more nihilistic "serious" incarnations, and a few stories where he features only obliquely. As a Batman fan, and reader of many of the literary-fiction authors featured here, I enjoyed it all. Nonetheless, a whole Joker anthology should not be devoured in one sitting. Like a rich cake, enjoy it one piece at a time or you'll lose the taste for it.
June 16, 2011
A disappointing collection of short stories about Batman's nemesis. What should have been an intriguing, entertaining set of stories instead was a poorly edited collection of mismatched, uneven tales that weren't worth the time.
From attempts at humor that either fell flat at best or came across psychotic at worst, to the blatant disrespect or ignorance of the batman mythos, to a few that had an almost morbid fascination with the murder and torture of children, none of the tales was enjoyable.
This reads like what it seems to be from twenty years in the future, a cheap attempt to cash in on the success of Tim Burton's film.
From attempts at humor that either fell flat at best or came across psychotic at worst, to the blatant disrespect or ignorance of the batman mythos, to a few that had an almost morbid fascination with the murder and torture of children, none of the tales was enjoyable.
This reads like what it seems to be from twenty years in the future, a cheap attempt to cash in on the success of Tim Burton's film.
February 8, 2009
I have to admit that I am a comic book fiend and a big Batman fan but that isn't why I bought this book. I heard there was a short story written by Joe R. Lansdale and I just had to read it after just recently discovering this awesome writer. The story was awesome but the whole book itself is full of cool and surprising stories. A very fun read.
December 15, 2009
I love the Joker...
May 19, 2021
Superb anthology of Joker stories. Multiple takes on the character, all fascinating. Manages to make him equal parts hilarious and horrifying, like a macabre force of nature.
January 14, 2019
Anthology titles are always a mixed bag, since you have so many different authors contributing, but this book has decidedly more downs than ups. I'm surprised by how many of the authors don't seem to understand the characters, or simply don't write a very well crafted story. I feel like this was a quickly rushed tie-in to the then popularity of the Tim Burton film and it really feels like not much work was put into it.
March 28, 2021
This is an excellent collection. It’s far superior to the first volume. The writers clearly enjoy getting into the Clown Prince of Crime’s twisted mind and the result is a volume of very memorable stories that add significantly to the mystique of the Joker.
August 24, 2019
Great old time read.
November 23, 2021
Most of the short stories were interesting and very enjoyable.
July 23, 2023
Excellent collection of twisted tales involving The Clown Prince of Crime !
June 5, 2014
First story, what?
Second story? Interesting,....
And then the book took off. This is what I'd call a 'gem'. You find it in a thrift store/used book store, and it opens into a world of styles, voices, perspectives, and ideas - so wonderful, and a little no holds barred. A true find.
I love the short story.
Second story? Interesting,....
And then the book took off. This is what I'd call a 'gem'. You find it in a thrift store/used book store, and it opens into a world of styles, voices, perspectives, and ideas - so wonderful, and a little no holds barred. A true find.
I love the short story.
April 15, 2016
I read these stories over and over. I wish I still owned a copy.
EDIT: I tracked a copy down on eBay and read it again. Most of the stories hold up well, though some have dated a bit. If I read this for the first time today, I'd give it 4 stars, but I'm leaving my original rating for sentimental reasons.
EDIT: I tracked a copy down on eBay and read it again. Most of the stories hold up well, though some have dated a bit. If I read this for the first time today, I'd give it 4 stars, but I'm leaving my original rating for sentimental reasons.
February 23, 2009
One of my favorite books of all time. Must read.
April 22, 2012
Short stories about the Joker from respected authors. Highly recommend to Joker fans. The stories flesh out the character.
September 1, 2012
Worth reading.
February 6, 2016
Short Stories
Quite a few by Authors I've heard of
THe Stand out one was by F. Paul Wilson, with a delightful morbid ending.
Love all the stories set in the Batman universe.
Quite a few by Authors I've heard of
THe Stand out one was by F. Paul Wilson, with a delightful morbid ending.
Love all the stories set in the Batman universe.
October 14, 2013
alright book
July 4, 2013
Good comic book stuff.
November 8, 2013
read this yyyyyears ago. very entertaining
March 2, 2014
This is a fantastic collection of short stories about the Joker. A worthy addition to any Batman fan's library.
Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews