Comic Book Review: Search for Ray Palmer: Crime Society #1

The Search for Ray Palmer: Crime Society #1 is another of DC’s onslaught of Countdown related special issues that are flooding the market. Of course, I can’t resist this issue since I’m a slut for anything that involves adventures on any of the parallel Earths in this new Multiverse. This issue deals with the fight between the Crime Society and the Multiverse travelling heroes from Countdown #31. McKeever did a good job with that issue of Countdown, so I suspect that The Search for Ray Palmer: Crime Society #1 will be a pretty solid read. Let’s do this review.

Creative Team
Writers: Sean McKeever
Penciler: Jamal Igle
Inker: Rob Hunter

Art Rating: 8 Night Girls out of 10
Story Rating: 8 Night Girls out of 10
Overall Rating: 8 Night Girls out of 10

Synopsis: We begin with the fight in Countdown #31 between the Crime Society and the Jokester, Donna, Kyle and Jason in full swing. The Jokester then thinks back to how his crime fighting career all started.

We shift back to when the Jokester was just another lousy stand-up comedian. Nobody finds him funny and his shows are terrible. Jokester thinks how his career as a comedian started because of a girl named Evelyn Dent that he met and fell in love with. Before he met Eve, his life was terrible and full of him being picked on, beaten and despised.

But, Eve made Jokester happy. And Eve always found him funny. She used to tell him that he should take his act to the stage. Then one day, Eve disappeared. Jokester then did what she suggested and began his career as a horrible stand-up comedian.

We see Jokester after one of his gigs at a slummy little comedy club. The Owlman busts into the joint and tells the owner of the club that he is late in his protection payments to Owlman. Owlman proceeds to brutally kill the club owner in front of Jokester. That is when the Jokester finally finds his inspiration.

Suddenly, the Jokester began using the Owlman and his sidekick, Talon, as the material for his stand-up routine. Jokester makes endless jokes about Owlman and his relationship with Talon. People loved Jokester’s skits and suddenly, he became a rich and hugely successful comedian.

We zip forward to Jokester leaving one of his comedy shows and being escorted to his limo by his business manager, Harley Quinn. We see someone grab Harley and pull her into the limo. She screams and then her dead body is tossed out of the limo. Harley has had her chest split open. Owlman then gets out of the limo. Owlman says that the Jokester making money off Owlman being the butt of his jokes is coming to an end. Owlman brutally slices up Jokester.

We see Jokester in a hospital with his face all bandaged up. He removes the bandaging and now has the trademark Joker face. He starts laughing maniacally. Jokester recovers and then spends his fortune on hi-tech weapons and gadgets to wage his war on Owlman and Talon. Jokester officially assumes his Jokester identity with costume and all.

Jokester continually foiled Owlman’s criminal endeavors. We cut to one night, when Owlman got the upper hand on Jokester and was laying a serious beating on him. Suddenly, the Riddler family appears on the scene. They consist of the Riddler, Three-Face and Duela Dent. Three-Face is actually Evelyn Dent whom Jokester fell in love with. Duela is Eve and Jokester’s daughter. Eve is one of Three-Face’s split personalities. Eve is the most passive of the three personalities. That is the one in love with Jokester. The most dominant of the three personalities is in love with the Riddler.

The Riddler then asks the Jokester to join the Riddler family and their quest to foil the criminal efforts of Owlman. The Jokester agrees. Jokester loved being with Duela and his daughter filled a huge void in his life. The Jokester also got to know all three personalities of Three-Face better as he tries to get back into her pants.

Then one night, Duela wants to introduce her boyfriend to the Riddler family. The Jokester also notices that night a small tattoo on his neck and he has no idea where it came from or how he got it.

Duela’s boyfriend enters the room and it is none other than Talon. The Riddler family is pissed and the Jokester screams that Duela is no longer his daughter. Duela is in tears and runs off with Talon.

Suddenly, the Crime Society shows up on the scene. Owlman, Ultraman and Superwoman attack the Riddler family. Riddler is killed. Three-Face has her arm ripped off and is beaten to death with it. Only the Jokester manages to escape alive.

We cut back to the fight scene from Countdown #31. Bob the Monitor appears and teleports Kyle, Donna and Jason away from Earth-3. Jokester jumps into the teleportation portal and follows our heroes since Jokester knows this is the only way he can escape the wraith of the Crime Society.

We see the Crime Society pissed off that Jokester managed to escape. From high up on the roof of a nearby building we see Three-Face with a mechanical arm. We get inner monologue from Jokester where he thinks how maybe he will eventually find Duela on his trip through the Multiverse and maybe not. But, it doesn’t really matter since there is nothing left on Earth-3 for him anyway. Three-Face watches the Crime Society pitch their fit over the Jokester’s escape. Three-Face then starts crying since the Jokester has left Earth-3. End of issue.

Comments
The Good: The Search for Ray Palmer: Crime Society #1 was a pretty good read. This issue showed off the power of the Multiverse. This is a wonderful literary tool that allows writers to unleash their creativity and go wild creating fantastic and incredible “What if” Earths putting interesting spins on our New Earth characters. The Multiverse is excellent fodder for enjoyably fun and creative stories with endless possibilities. And Earth-3 is certainly a fascinating parallel Earth. Who doesn’t like stories dealing with an evil JLA/JSA battling heroes like the Jokester? I love that the Multiverse affords writers the opportunity to play mad scientists with established characters from the DCU.

McKeever does a nice job delivering a well paced and plotted story. The issue moves at a steady pace and gives a balanced mix of dialogue heavy scenes with numerous action scenes. The story is well constructed as McKeever quickly sets about his task of establishing a background story for the Jokester in order to further flesh out his character.

Since the Jokester is going to be a member of our group of heroes travelling the Multiverse over in Countdown, it was a wise decision to fill in the reader a bit more about his character and past. And taking the necessary time to do that on Countdown would have been unwise. So, this tie-in issue served a valuable purpose. The reader now has a good sense of the Jokester’s character and we didn’t have to waste any valuable panel time over on Countdown that is already over-crowded with numerous plotlines.

McKeever whips up some nice dialogue. The Jokester has his own unique external voice. McKeever does a great job of making sure the Jokester sound enough like the Joker while still giving him his own distinct personality. McKeever impressed me with his ability to take a character like Joker and figure a way to make him a hero rather than a villain. It was a cool twist to show that a character who suffered so much misery and abuse was able to overcome it all and fight for the side of good.

Too often, villains suffer the same type of tough luck in life and simply give up and use it to fuel their hate and rage. McKeever shows that a tough background is no excuse for ending up a criminal. That a character can be whoever they want to be regardless of their past. Was it tough for Jokester to look past all the abuses in his life and focus only on the positive in his life? Yup, but it makes Jokester’s character even more respectable and inspiring.

McKeever delivered a rather emotional and powerful history for Jokester’s character. It is amazing that McKeever could craft such a delightfully complex back story in just one issue. Jokester is a pleasantly well rounded character. His character is rather tragic as he is consumed with feelings of sorrow and lost. The monologue at the end of this issue manages to get across to the reader the sorrow that is plaguing Jokester’s heart. Jokester responded to his daughter, Duela running off with Talon in a predictable fashion.

At the end of this issue we witness Jokester’s feelings of regret over having lost his daughter. And Jokester’s sorrow of having lost the woman he loved in Three-Face. Without Duela and Three-Face, Jokester is an empty man and certainly has no reason to stay on Earth-3. And to make the situation even more tragic, once Jokester leaves Earh-3, the reader learns that Three-Face is actually still alive.

McKeever finally sheds some light on Duela’s character as well. We now know that Duela ran away from her father after pulling a Romeo and Juliet scene with Talon. At some point between her running away from her family she turns up on New Earth. I’m curious to learn how Duela managed to travel between the parallel Earths. Also, what happened to Talon? The two of them ran away together and Talon was noticeably absent during the fight with the Crime Society in Countdown #31. Did Talon die? Or is he missing somewhere in the Multiverse?

I loved McKeever’s interesting concept of the Riddler Family. This was a very creative and intriguing take on New Earth’s versions of these characters. Three-Face is a cool twist on Two-Face. And I liked the fact that one of her personalities was in love with Riddler while the other personality was in love with Jokester.

McKeever teases the reader with a mystery surrounding the strange tattoo on Jokester’s neck that he has no knowledge of how or when he got it. I’m interested to find out what is behind the mysterious tattoo as well as what role Jokester is going to play over in Countdown.

Jamal Igle and Rob Hunter combine to deliver some nice looking artwork on this issue. I like Igle’s clean lines and he creates an easy to follow and pleasant looking comic book. Igle’s splash shot of the Jokester removing his bandages was absolutely outstanding.

The Bad: I have to admit that I was slightly disappointed that despite being billed as a “Crime Society” one-shot, this issue was really a Jokester one-shot. Now, I don’t mind that McKeever took this issue as an opportunity to flesh our Jokester’s character. But, it felt a bit like bait-and-switch with how this issue was marketed.

Overall: The Search for Ray Palmer: Crime Society #1 was a fun read. I enjoyed learning more about Jokester’s past. McKeever did an excellent job breathing life into Jokester’s personality and making him an intriguing character. I’m also glad that DC chose to flesh out Jokester’s character in a one-shot issue rather than taking up unnecessary space over on Countdown to do so.

If Jokester’s character piqued your curiosity over in Countdown #31 then definitely get this issue to learn more about this oddball character. If you don’t care about Jokester’s character then don’t waste your money on this issue. You certainly don’t need to read The Search for Ray Palmer: Crime Society in order to follow the events over on Countdown.