Got my copy this morning, and can't wait to finishing reading... oh yeah!!!

I managed to miss this one yesterday...

Comics.ign.com posted an interview with artist Lee Bermejo's discussing the Clown Prince of Crime's look in the new Joker graphic novel.

It seems so far, every interview conducted with either of Brian Azzarello orLee Bermejo's, starts off with focusing on the similarities between graphic novel Joker and Heath Ledger's in the Dark Knight. I recon they might be getting a tad fed up with that question by now...

IGN Comics: What made you want to work on Joker? I know you tend to be selective in the projects you take on – what made this one appealing to you? How long did you work on the project?

Bermejo: I think you have to be crazy not to want to work on the Joker! I can't think of many characters, heroes or villains, that are as malleable as him. He really can be interpreted in so many different ways and generally, people don't really want to scratch the surface because you can get into some really dark territory real fast. That was probably the prospect that drew me to the project the most... the idea to try and tread some really deep water and see if I could pull something really disturbing and complicated off. It takes me about two years to do these projects, more or less. It was the same for the Luthor project, and that mini-series really took it out of me. Brian has talked plenty about how we had no interest in working together and it was pretty true. We had both decided to move on do other things, but the discussion we had about the Joker really intrigued me. I already had an idea of how I wanted to interpret the character, even while Brian and I were still working on Lex. In fact, if you look closely at the newspaper Lex is reading in issue #3, there is a photo of my Joker there! When the timing and opportunity to finally do it came up, it just seemed like the logical choice.

IGN Comics: Naturally the first thing many fans will notice is the similarity between your Joker and Heath Ledger's in the Dark Knight. Was that simply happy coincidence, or did the film begin to affect what you and Brian Azzarello were doing?

Bermejo: Definitely a coincidence. I certainly don't want to take anything away from Nolan or Ledger, they did something spectacular and iconic with the character, but the reality of this particular situation is simple: Brian and I were already well into this graphic novel when they released the first photo of Ledger. In fact, I was drawing the sequence where Joker walks into the Italian restaurant. I admit, I freaked out when I saw the photo. I immediately called Brian, and I remember he was like, "It doesn't really look anything like your Joker." I still feel like all they really have in common is the carved smile. Honestly, the only thing i can tell you I know for sure is that my version of the Joker, the way you see him in this book, was established long before Ledger was even cast. Just to be clear, this is not to say that Nolan and Co. were informed by my drawing. I've said this before and I really find it to be true, that certain ideas float around at the same time for a reason. Pop culture, social tendencies, fashion, you name it. If you want to do a realistic interpretation of the Joker, there are only a few ways to do it.

Great interview this one... click here for more.