Batman One Bad Day: Clayface #1 – Collin Kelly/Jackson Lanzing, Writers; Xermanico, Artist; Romulo Fajardo Jr, Colorist
Ray – 9.5/10
Ray: Every one of these is radically different, but what most of them have in common is that they don’t really fit in tone with the theme of the inspiration—The Killing Joke. The Riddler one tried, but didn’t quite hit it, while the others very much went their own way, often casting the key villain as the hero of the story (Penguin, Catwoman, Bane). But the team of Kelly, Lanzing, and Xermanico are the first to really nail the slow, creeping horror and deep psychological study of the original Joker tale (sans the sexualized grossness, thankfully) with a Clayface story that plunges us into some truly disturbing territory. And ironically, it actually has a direct tie-in to The Killing Joke for some dark meta fun!
This tale focuses on Basil Karlo as he starts a new life, anonymously in Hollywood, trying to get his acting career back under the face of a young blond man named “Clay.” He’s making friends in his job as a waiter, and trying to get his big break. But when he takes a role as the man who would be Joker too seriously and loses the role to his comedian friend, he does the only thing that makes sense to him—kills his rival and takes his place. From there, he tries to work his way up the ladder and prove himself—but when he runs up against someone he can’t appease, he kills them and takes their place. It starts as a desperate move, becomes an addiction, and soon the ruse is completely out of control.
This is a story that starts out terrifying, but stands the risk of becoming comical as the increasingly desperate killings ramp up. Somehow, the tone here manages to pull off both. By the time Clayface, in the latest body he’s taken over, is hosting a big Hollywood party with Bruce Wayne in attendance, you can see the wheels start coming off the scheme. It all builds to a desperate breakdown that makes you feel for Clayface as the pathetic, wrecked man he is while also making clear what a monster he’s become. This is a hard character to make work, because of how many times he’s gone back and forth across the line, but the disturbing ending here is definitely going to make this go down as one of the defining Clayface stories.
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GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
