Yes, it's a comic book theme post. Yes, I know the fate of America, the world and my very sanity may still be up in the air when this posts but damn it, I need a non-politics post.
We're gonna talk about comic books!
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Last week I absconded from the Fortress of Ineptitude to go pick up a batch of new books from the best comic book shop anywhere, Acme Comics of Greensboro NC.
The 3rd issue of Batman: Three Jokers was out and I was quite curious to see how writer Geoff Johns landed this thing.
This mystery began it's journey over 5 years ago, in the pages of Justice League #42 which was released July 2015. Batman got a hold of Metron's Moebius chair and asked some questions.
It took another year to find out in the pages of Justice League#50 released in May 2016.
It was promised that the answer to this conundrum would be forthcoming in a new project from Geoff Johns and Jason Fabok.
"Forthcoming" is a vague term, ain't it?
Batman: Three Jokers#1 finally got released in 2020 and confirmed there were three Jokers.
1) the Criminal
2) the Comedian
3) the Clown
Each represented different aspects of the Joker emphasized by different writers under different circumstances over the 80 years of the character's existence.
By the end of issue #1, the three Jokers were down to two.
Jason Todd, the Red Hood, put a bullet in the head of the Clown.
Of the remaining Jokers, one might make the assumption that the one called "the Criminal" might be the original and is attempting to replicate the events that made him into the Joker. The Criminal appears older and behaves, as Batman observes, much as the Joker did when the Caped Crusader first encountered him. Plus Johns does helpfully number the Criminal as "1".
This Joker has abducted a surprisingly still alive Joe Chill from Blackgate Prison with the intention of turning him into a Joker with a personal stake in the Batman's history.
The Comedian Joker has other ideas and puts a bullet in the Criminal Joker's brain.
Shooting them in the head seems to be a preferred way of actually killing Jokers.
The Joker disputes the Criminal's notion of creating a defined Joker.
Speaking of the Criminal, the Joker adds "That's why I regret creating him! Or maybe he regrets creating me!"
Speaking of regret, it's Joe Chill's regret over killing Thomas and Martha Wayne that the Joker sought to weaponize against Batman.
Forced to confront a truly repentant Joe Chill, per the Joker's twisted logic, Batman's one true nemesis must remain...
...the Joker!
And yes, the Joker knows Batman's secrets. He knows he's Bruce Wayne and he knows Batgirl is Barbara Gordon and the Red Hood is Jason Todd.
The Joker will keep their secrets because he doesn't want the fun he's having to stop.
But the Joker isn't the only one with secrets.
It turns out that Batman does know something about the Joker.
It seems the Joker's suburban day dream in issue #2 sets up a big revelation by Geoff Johns at the end of issue #3.
Before he became the Joker, the comedian had a pregnant wife as revealed in The Killing Joke. Her accidental death is part of what pushed him over the edge into madness when he became the Joker.
Except...
Maybe he was already on a destructive path.
We find out in a flashback at the end of Three Jokers#3 that the pregnant wife feared for her life, that her husband was abusive. Her death is faked in order to protect her and her unborn child.
Bruce Wayne knows the Joker's name and he will never tell a single soul in order to protect this woman and her son from the Joker.
Three Jokers does not upset the status quo by much. Yes, there were three Jokers but we're now back to just one. I suppose having been done once, the surviving Joker could replicate more in the future.
Is there already another Joker out there?
Three Jokers ends with Jason Todd leaving a letter for Barbara Gordon, vowing to renounce his identity as the Red Hood, to try to be a better person worthy of Barbara.
The letter comes unstuck from the door and is swept up by a passing janitor.
A janitor in a purple suit with the name "Funtime Cleaning" written on the back.
Another Joker... maybe?
Meanwhile, the big reveal of the existence of the Joker's secret son may be too much for a future writer to resist.
Or it can be willfully be ignored for decades to come.
Batgirl's costume and Alfred being alive suggests Three Jokers takes place before the events of the recent Joker War. That's assuming DC will consider Three Jokers to be in continuity.
Speaking of Joker War, it seems the status quo is not as quo as I assumed at the end of Batman#100.
It seems Bruce Wayne is merely a millionaire now and has to be careful of how much he can spend on Batman.
The billions the Joker stole were stolen back but transferred to Lucius Fox and Lucius is not in a position to give it back to because Bruce Wayne is under intense scrutiny by various governmental agencies which could expose him as Batman.
Part of the cost cutting involves Bruce moving from the big old stately Wayne Manor to smaller, more manageable digs in downtown Gotham City.
It also looks like Barbara Gordon's resumption of her role as Oracle may not be a one time thing for Batman#100.
Batgirl#50 marks the final issue of that title which marks the first time in over 20 years that DC isn't publishing a Batgirl title featuring somebody (Cassandra Cain, Stephanie Brown or Barbara Gordon) in the role. The issue ends with Barbara questioning how she can best be able to help people that doesn't necessarily involve being Batgirl.
Batman would like her to be Oracle for reasons he would be loathed to admit to. With Alfred dead, Lucius Fox unavailable and various compatriots like Catwoman, Nightwing and various Robins off in different directions, Batman is, to be blunt, lonely.
So the mess that Joker's war made of things is not being so readily cleaned up.
The Joker himself will hopefully be off the board for awhile. Three Jokers and Joker War were epic tales well told but there can be too much Joker, right?
Gulp!
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