Joker's Asylum: Dark Knight of the Scarecrow

Writer: Joe Harris
Artist: Juan Doe
Publisher: DC
Published: July 2008

When the Dark Knight hit theaters, so did Joker's Asylum, and just like theater patrons got caught up in Ledgers Joker, so did I get caught in DC Joker's Asylum. My favorite so far has been Scarecrow's story.

The story is like a teenage horror slasher film, with a group of teenage kids planning to play a evil trick on the 'unpopular' kid. The unpopular kid just so happens to visit a psychiatrist, who also just so happens to be Dr. Jonathan Crane (aka The Scarecrow). The story unfolds like a bad nightmare, with the popular kids getting more than their just desserts.

What a liked most about this issue was the fact that though Jonathan Crane is an evil man, on the surface, he was doing a kind thing by helping out his patient. We've all been to high school, and have been unwittingly caught up in the popularity game. At one point or another, we've all been on the shitty end of the school popularity spectrum, so to see some vengeance exacted out on the popular kids does bring some ounce of joy, but at the same time, what Crane does is still wrong. This feeling is the same feeling I get every time I watch Dexter.

Here's a guy who is a serial killer, but because he kills evil people, is what he does justified?
Short answer: no.
Long and complicated answer that satisfies our human need for vengeance and revenge: yes.

So I can't justify what Crane does in this issue, but I can certainly enjoy the hell out of it from a base level.