Author of Joker comic visiting Madrid

There are other recent Batman films besides Joaquin Phoenix’s.

Several Spanish comic book releases and a new movie that is already polarising fans are good times for the Joker. One is a series of volumes called ‘Joker: Unauthorised Biography’ that collects the character’s most important stories, and the other is a unique collection of stories called ‘Joker: The World’ that, like a Batman volume, features short stories about the Clown Prince of Crime travelling through different countries.

Naturally, with authors from the places he visits. In Spain, DC and ECC, its publisher, enlisted David Rubín, a prominent international author (‘El fuego’, ‘El héroe’, ‘Gran Hotel Abismo’, ‘Cosmic Detective’, ‘Ether’…), to narrate the Joker’s deeds. Rubín transports the villain to Madrid, where he feels like he is in Gotham. Better if possible.

The volume features authors and settings from various countries, including Germany, Italy, Brazil, the Czech Republic, Mexico, Turkey, South Korea, and others. Rubín’s contribution is particularly noteworthy. It shows a Joker who not only performs on the Gran Via and Prado but also writes to Batman in a postcard about how comfortable he feels: good citizens are persecuted, hatemongers are protected, criminals are rewarded… or as he says, “Here I wouldn’t even be news.

“It is the story with the most social criticism in the volume, a ruthless but compassionate portrait of one of Spain’s most hated and loved cities. In our interview with Rubín, he explains how the project originated, not necessarily in Madrid: “I considered where it could be developed, and when they commissioned me, the demonstrations were in Ferraz.”

Madrid was portrayed as tense as any dark neighbourhood in Gotham because of that breeding ground: “All the violence and rage of those days. The protesters said they came to defend Spain and spit on democracy because they didn’t like the election results. It was so crazy and chaotic that I saw a vein to draw on.” He favours Madrid’s convenience: “I would have loved to set it in Galicia, my homeland. Once I saw that virgin vein from which I could extract gold, I knew I had to continue.”

He says “DC knew from the start that it would be a controversial comic. However, they only brought in their army of Warner lawyers to analyse each line of text and drawing.” DC added two pages to the story after reviewing it and liking it. “No problems with censorship, no arguments, no weird things, nothing at all,” he says: “They understood it perfectly well.”

Rubin says he didn’t criticise the story: “I use Madrid because, as our president said, ‘Madrid is Spain within Spain’. I’m talking about problems in Madrid, Spain, a large part of Europe, and the West.” He adds: “The rise of fascism, racism, sexism, a lot of issues that I consider problematic and that I would like not to be so present in a city that I love and where I have lived for ten years like Madrid.”

This is how the concept of the tourist Joker emerged, unlike other stories that focus on global terrorists or international criminals. “The Joker begins as a tourist, a foreign guiri visiting Madrid for a few days. That lets me show all the bad things I wanted to show from a tourist’s surprised eyes, given that he’s a psychopathic murderer without empathy.”

Rubín sees Joker as a glimpse into the future. “The future promised by Madrid’s socioeconomic policies is madness,” he says. I think it’s becoming a hostile city with its citizens, more focused on tourism and the occasional visitor than on quality of life.”

Joker, a dangerous sociopath, delivers the most powerful superhero comic message in recent years: “The president signed a bill that killed almost 8,000 nursing home residents. Nothing happens here. It seems like a good setting for the Joker.”

Author of Joker comic visiting Madrid

There are other recent Batman films besides Joaquin Phoenix’s.

By nr39r

Related Post

Once the most important room

Non-bestselling Halloween horror reads

Disney has the best way to end park lines

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

You Missed

Once the most important room

Non-bestselling Halloween horror reads

Disney has the best way to end park lines

Ceciarmy tells ‘El Hormiguero’ how much she hid her face.