By Andrew A. Smith

Tribune Content Agency

Nov. 12, 2020 — It’s been a Joker kind of month.

Not because of the pandemic, or the Election Week Death March or the myriad other problems and tragedies that beset us. It’s because DC Comics has put so many Joker products on the shelves, I’m suffering from Clown Fatigue.

It actually started as a Joker kind of year, with the Harleen graphic novel in February. It was another in a series of Harley Quinn origins — collect ‘em all! — but as I said at the time, writer/artist Stjepan Šejić’s beautiful art and pacing really sells this story. Harleen isn’t the definitive Harley Quinn origin to my mind — that would be Paul Dini and Bruce Timm’s Mad Love (1994) — but Harleen is still a worthy addition to anyone’s bookshelf, thanks to flawless execution.

And Harleen isn’t really a Joker story, even though he’s always going to be a major part of any Harley Quinn origin story. But “Journey to Joker War,” which began in March, and “Joker War” itself, which ran from July to October, definitely are.

Batman: The Joker War Zone one-shot features short stories starring various members of the sprawling Bat-family, such as Cassandra Cain (Orphan), Stephanie Brown (Spoiler) and Luke Fox (Batwing). (Cover by Ben Oliver, copyright DC Comics)

This massive story took over all Bat-related books for nearly four months! For the uninitiated, that means Batgirl, Batman, Catwoman, Detective Comics, Nightwing and Red Hood: Outlaw, plus the one-shot Batman: The Joker War Zone #1. For some of these books it was a swan song, as DC cuts back on titles (thanks to WarnerMedia’s latest corporate implosion).

Now, “Joker War” might be a really good Joker story. But the thing is, it’s only the latest in a seemingly endless cascade of Joker stories. It follows:

  • “Death of the Family” (2012), in which The Joker cuts off his own face and wears it as a mask. In this 23-issue opus, one that crossed over to all the Bat-books, the Clown Prince of Crime goes to a great deal of trouble to drive a minor wedge between Batman and his allies.
  • “Endgame” (2014), a six-issue story in which Batman and The Joker literally kill each other. (Spoiler: They get better.)
  • “The War of Jokes and Riddles” (2017), an eight-issue story from Batman’s early days, wherein The Joker and The Riddler wage war against each other for the right to kill Batman, told entirely in flashback.
  • “Dark Nights: Metal” (2017-2018), a 26-issue crossover in which the central conflict is between the Caped Crusader and The Batman Who Laughs, a combination of Batman and The Joker from the Dark Multiverse. (A sequel, with TBWL still the main villain, is ongoing as we speak.)
  • “The Wedding” (2018), a story wherein The Joker pops up now and again during Batman and Catwoman’s failed nuptials, at one point stabbing the bride.

That’s a lot of Joker!

So I found it difficult to approach “Joker War” with any objectivity. My Joker Tolerance Reservoir is empty, and DC hasn’t given me time to re-fill it. And how could “Joker War” top “Endgame,” where the major characters actually died?

Spoiler: It doesn’t.

It is a pretty good set-up, though. The idea is that The Joker steals all of Bruce’s money and property to finance his depredations. More importantly, he steals all of Batman’s wonderful toys. So the Dark Knight had to call in all of the Bat-family to beat his own Batmobiles, Whirly-Bats and Batwings.

“Joker War” does change the status quo somewhat (at least for now). The Wayne quadrillions are now in the possession of Lucius Fox, who is suffering from Joker toxin and hates Batman. So the Gotham Guardian has lost the one super-power he claimed in the Justice League movie: He’s not rich any more.

And some of the Bat-kids are going through some changes, too, which the cynic in me thinks is to help the comic books line up with the Batwoman TV show. Barbara Gordon (Batgirl) seems to have discovered that she’s more useful as behind-the-scenes computer guru Oracle than pulling on tights. (Cue the new, black Batwoman as a replacement in 5, 4, 3 …). Dick Grayson (Nightwing) and Jason Todd (Red Hood) are having second thoughts about their roles. Cassandra Cain (Orphan) and Stephanie Brown (Spoiler) are going the opposite path, emblazoning big bats on their chests to serve as symbols of hope.

That could be interesting, although once again the cynic in me thinks this new Bat-world will last only as long as the current writer does. Then we’ll be back to square one. I hope the changes stick, but experience teaches me otherwise. At least we should get some good stories out of the aftermath.

Meanwhile, DC published two other Joker projects while “Joker War” was taking place.

Batman: Three Jokers is currently available as square-bound comics, but a hardback collection is on the way. (Cover art by Jason Fabok, copyright DC Comics)

In Batman: Three Jokers,” DC’s TV guru Geoff Johns followed up on a tease back in Dark Nights, when an omniscient chair told Batman that there were three Jokers (just roll with it). Despite my Clown Fatigue, I found the three-issue Three Jokers plausible and entertaining.

Three Jokers gives us exactly what the name says. Each of the Jokers Batman and his confederates meet in this tale represent a different aspect of the Mirthful Mountebank: The Criminal, the Comedian and the Clown. The idea is that Joker, being insane, has turned two other people into lunatics like himself, who think they are the original Joker. And none of them remembers who actually is.

Like I said, fun.

Joker: Killer Smile has already been collected in hardback. (Art by Andrea Sorrentino, copyright DC Comics)

The other project is Joker: Killer Smile, a three-issue miniseries by Jeff Lemire and Andrea Sorrentino, followed by a one-shot coda.

It’s not a very original story, in which The Joker drives his Arkham Asylum psychiatrist insane. We’ve seen that before; it’s essentially Harley Quinn’s origin, which has been reiterated as recently as Harleen in February. We’ve seen it elsewhere, too, where Rorschach destroys his psychiatrist’s life in Watchmen, and a prison psychiatrist in The Walking Dead tells the story of his criminal patient killing his family, driving him, in turn, to murder. So it’s a relatively commonplace plot.

But as they say, it’s not the journey but the destination. Writer Lemire is very deft in keeping the audience in suspense as to what is real and what isn’t. And Sorrentino’s artwork is a revelation, sometimes so photo-realistic that one wonders if she took an actual photograph and ran it through a Photoshop filter. (She didn’t. She’s just that good.)

So all of these Joker stories are worth a look. But take my advice: Pick the ones you think are most interesting, but not all of them. Clown Fatigue is nothing to laugh at.

Find Captain Comics by email (capncomics@aol.com), on his website (captaincomics.ning.com), on Facebook (Andrew Alan Smith) or on Twitter (@CaptainComics).  

You need to be a member of Captain Comics to add comments!

Join Captain Comics

Votes: 0
Email me when people reply –

Replies

  • "I found the three-issue Three Jokers plausible and entertaining."

    I liked it, too.

    ("An omniscient chair"?)

  • The omniscient chair is Metron's Mobius Chair.

  • Oh! that makes sense. (I guess...?)

    I had been wondering where the concept of "three Jokers" originated.

  • You, sir, are better at screening out current developments that have no business in your head canon than I am. I salute you!
This reply was deleted.