Wow! Sure it's an old story that's been done a thousand times, but this re-telling of Batman's first encounter with the Joker is a mind-blower. Strongly draws (some would say overdraws, but I liked it) the parallels between the two characters: the obsession with logic and order that fuels Batman's war on crime, and the Joker's senseless and vicious quest to... well, to get Batman's goat. 
 There are some really great moments in here, particularly when Batman seeks out Prof. Jonathan Crane (not yet The Scarecrow) for insight on his new, as yet faceless foe, and Crane surprises him with the simple truth that the Joker is insane. That moment, as silly as it might seem, shows the problem that the Joker represents to Batman -- if he can't be understood, how can he be defeated? Similarly, there's an interesting twist where Batman calls on a mobster to "take care of" the man that will soon become the Joker, making Batman directly complicit in his enemy's origin while breaking his own code. 
 This is a seriously dark story, and Denis Cowan's sketchy and grimy pencils bring it vividly to life. Deserves a spot on the shelf right next to Alan Moore's Batman: The Killing Joke and Frank Miller's Batman: The Dark Knight Returns in the pantheon of great Joker stories. 
 Oh, and Joker calls Batman "Bunny!"