Three Jokers: Hit or Miss?

[Ωmega Man Guardian of the Universe Find all posts View Profile Close Ωmega Man]

SPOILERS







Either GJ set himself up for a sequel... this was supposed to end differently... or people can't seem to pick up on context clues. Devil is in the details people are looking right past...

[Andrew NDB Shot Caller Find all posts View Profile Close Andrew NDB]

It's Johns. Of course it's some kind of giant cliffhanger.

[Agent Purple The Illustrated Man Find all posts View Profile Close Agent Purple]

I thought it was better than The Silmarillion.

[IonFan Forum Member Find all posts View Profile Close IonFan]

well going off all the copies my LCS still had/has after xx number of days (ie i don't think they sold out of any of them at any point in time) i'd say it was a miss

[Space Cop The Dandy Find all posts View Profile Close Space Cop]

I don't like the main retcon of there being multiple Jokers, but the story was good.

[buffalorock Star Sapphire's Love Slave Find all posts View Profile Close buffalorock]

I enjoyed the story, and the art was obviously excellent.

It mainly highlights how Red Hood and Batgirl dealt differently with their Joker Trauma, and had a nice twist that does answer a lingering question a lot of readers probably had.

[Space Cop The Dandy Find all posts View Profile Close Space Cop]

...It mainly highlights how Red Hood and Batgirl dealt differently with their Joker Trauma, and had a nice twist that does answer a lingering question a lot of readers probably had.

Agreed. That might be why I ended up liking it more than I expected to.

[Big Blue Lantern Corps Honor Guard Find all posts View Profile Close Big Blue Lantern]

This is definitely an essential Batman story. It builds on the most traumatic past events for Bruce, Jason, and Barbara. It was very well done.

[Space Cop The Dandy Find all posts View Profile Close Space Cop]

This is definitely an essential Batman story. It builds on the most traumatic past events for Bruce, Jason, and Barbara. It was very well done.

But is it canon that there were three? That really leads you to redefine whatever they're still calling continuity.

[Big Blue Lantern Corps Honor Guard Find all posts View Profile Close Big Blue Lantern]

But is it canon that there were three? That really leads you to redefine whatever they're still calling continuity.

Yes and no. It seems that the Joker

identified as "The Comedian" was the original, and he created the other 2.

[Agent Purple The Illustrated Man Find all posts View Profile Close Agent Purple]

Don't you mean the Criminal, not the Comedian?

[Big Blue Lantern Corps Honor Guard Find all posts View Profile Close Big Blue Lantern]

Don't you mean the Criminal, not the Comedian?

The one who was alive at the end, the one whom Batman escorted to Arkham, was the Comedian. He was identified as the real Joker.

[Agent Purple The Illustrated Man Find all posts View Profile Close Agent Purple]

I was under the impression that the Comedian became the "real" Joker because he was the only one left, not that he was the original. The original was the Criminal, and he made the others because he wanted to perfect the Joker identity.

[Big Blue Lantern Corps Honor Guard Find all posts View Profile Close Big Blue Lantern]

I was under the impression that the Comedian became the "real" Joker because he was the only one left, not that he was the original. The original was the Criminal, and he made the others because he wanted to perfect the Joker identity.

I don't think there is ever direct confirmation using the word "original", but I don't see how the ending makes sense without the Comedian being the original. The focus of the end is that Bruce is taking care of the wife and child that we saw in the Killing Joke. Bruce said that he knew Joker's real name a week after their first encounter, but it must be kept secret because if Joker knew that his wife and child survived, he'd kill them. If the Criminal was the original, why then was so much emphasis placed on cementing the Killing Joker origins as reality, not a false narrative of the Joker's mind?

[Agent Purple The Illustrated Man Find all posts View Profile Close Agent Purple]

Honestly, I have not read Killing Joke and probably never will, and I don't remember all the details of the final conversation between Comedian Joker and Batman. I just had the memory that Joker when he first appeared was basically a clown-themed gangster and Criminal Joker to my reading was older and more tired than the other two Jokers, and he seemed to want to himself make a newer and more perfect Joker to be Batman's ultimate nemesis.

If Comedian Joker is the original and only remaining Joker, and if enough details fit that the story works out without horridly contradicting itself, then I'm fine. I did enjoy it and it did ultimately do what I never expected DC to ever do, reveal who the Joker really is, but did so while making sure it never really matters, both to Joker himself and to the readers. The story isn't perfect, I'll admit, but it does accomplish what it set out to do.