My previous blog post entitled The Joker Infinitum was posted on Wednesday, September 2, 2020 which followed at that time my most recent trip to my local comic book store.
This past weekend was my follow up visit to Acme Comics which puts me at over a month since my last comic book run.
When I was younger, I made it by Acme once a week.
Anyway...
Once more, the Joker figured prominently in my purchases.
Batman#100 marks the epic finale of Joker War by writer James Tynion IV. It's big and it's epic and it is, ultimately and sadly, a little bit disappointing.
Let me say that I have enjoyed Tynion's run on Batman a lot, a marked improvement over the way too long, over indulgent slog that the latter part of Tom King's run had become.
Tynion's storyline involving the mysterious Designer and the deals he made with Gotham's villains was complex and intricate without being confusing or complicated. These developments dovetail into Joker War and what Tynion gives us is his version of the epic Batman crossover Knightfall event but with less padding.
Joker hurts Batman in a way no villain has hurt him before. Joker's weaponizes his knowledge that Batman is Bruce Wayne, taking the entire Wayne fortune and using it to turn all of Gotham City into his own personal amusement park of pain, torment and death.
Hell, the Joker has figured out how to reanimate dead bodies like grotesque zombie puppets. The dead body of Alfred Pennyworth lumbering after Batman is beyond disgusting and heart wrenching.
Batman is bereft of the shield of his secrets, his greatest weapon (Bruce Wayne's wealth) and the very city he has pledged his life to defend, Batman is in a very bad place that Bane, Ras A Ghul or Dr. Hurt could only dream about.
After years of abuse at the hands of the Joker and watching the Joker's latest unhinged rampage fueled by Bruce Wayne's near limitless wealth, Harley Quinn has had enough.
The Joker has to die.
She straps Joker to a bomb and then she straps a bomb to her self, both set to go off at the same time. Then she throws herself off of a building. Batman can only save one.
Batman leaves Joker to his fate and jumps off the building to save Harley.
Now we know DC is never going to permanently kill off their most popular super villain. There have been a history of great Joker stories that have ended with his death. Yes, they've been undone in later stories but we at least get a moment within the context of the story to indulge the idea that maybe this greatest threat to Gotham and to the Batman is no more.
Tynion does not give us that moment. We learn almost immediately that Joker is not dead. And the wheels of the status quo are already turning to Batman's base setting.
One might argue that James Tynion IV has ended this epic Batman/Joker battle with the Joker in an precedented position of power. He may no longer have Bruce Wayne's money and the Batman's weapons but he still has the Batman's secrets. The Joker still knows where the bodies are buried, both metaphorically and literally.
Other stuff about Batman#100: Oracle is back!
When the New 52 came around, Barbara Gordon's paralysis was cured and she went back to being Batgirl. I think with a horde of costumed Bat people roaming the streets, Barbara's Batgirl has struggled for relevancy. Seeing Batgirl re-enter the clock tower, pull back her mask and slip on her glasses in the emerald glow of her computer base, taking charge, Oracle is where Barbara is truly unique and powerful.
And Dick Grayson is back as Nightwing. Long story made short: after Tom King had KGBeast shoot Nightwing in the head about 3 years ago, Dick Grayson has literally not been himself. Nobody liked it. It's fixed now.
The Three Jokers#2 continues the Black Label series by Geoff Johns and Jason Fabok about the confounding revelation that there is more than one Joker.
The issue is a fairly solid effort although the wheels seem to spin about.
Batgirl is a bit distressed that Red Hood (Jason Todd, formerly Batman's 2nd Robin) straight murdered on of the three Jokers and is also a bit weirded out that Batman is not more distressed about this as well.
It seems Batman is feeling a crap ton of guilt for what happened to Jason, the events that got him killed and all that happened after Jason got unkilled.
(Only in comic books can a person get "unkilled".)
In retaliation for killing one of the Jokers, another Joker captures Jason and proceeds to beat the crap out of him. Holy History Repeats Itself!
Batgirl finds Jason barely alive. But in addition to his physical injuries, Jason has his mental traumas of nearly being killed by the Joker again. Barbara offers her support but things get a bit awkward.
Because Geoff Johns likes to mine the legacy of Alan Moore, we get an opening sequence where a Joker has a moment of suburban bliss.
There's a twist in Three Jokers#2 that I've not seen before in a Batman book. Joe Chill is still alive.
Most versions of Batman usually have the murderer of Thomas and Martha Wayne dead. Here we find he's in prison and still alive.
But not well. Apparently Joe Chill is dying of cancer. And the issue ends with a Joker stealing Chill out of prison and demanding to know why he killed Thomas and Martha Wayne.
One of the Jokers speaks of building a better Joker. Is it his intention to transform a dying Joe Chill into another Joker?
In the 1989 Batman movie, Jack Napier, the man who will become the Joker, is revealed as the man who shot Thomas and Martha Wayne. Could Johns be angling to have the man who shot Bruce Wayne's parents also become Batman's greatest nemesis?
Going back to Jason Todd, the Joker expresses interest in Jason becoming the Joker as well.
Johns has said that the answer behind the three Jokers is not a science fiction cop out. They are not going to be Jokers from alternate Earths. I'm guessing is that once there was just one Joker. But then that Joker sought to replicate his origin with other people. The psychotic break that results causes each Joker to believe they are THE Joker.
It will give an in universe explanation about how the Joker can appear in some many different books but not always the same way. Since Three Jokers is a Black Label book, it is not bound to be followed in continuity in other books. But then again, The Killing Joke was not supposed to be in continuity either until Barbara Gordon, paralyzed by the Joker's assault, began appearing as Oracle in other DC titles.
With Joker War concluded and the 3rd and final issue of The Three Jokers on the horizon, I would hope DC will take a less as more approach when it comes to the Clown Prince of Crime. But with DC under increased scrutiny and pressure from their corporate owners at AT&T, I don't expect DC will keep the Joker off the table for very long.
Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if DC gives the Joker his own on-going title. Well, they did it before.
Next week, I'll doing another comic book theme post as I look at the 1970s era oddity of the Joker's solo comic book series.
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