#joker year one

[shyjusticewarrior]

Having now read The Joker Year One, the "Good Christian man" line is less bad in context. He makes that quip cuz he's grabs a Bible in his mind palace to use on vampire Zurr Batman. Zdarsky definitely didn't think through how that'd read tho.

[bammboolin]

🩸🌈JOKER SPREAD🔪🕸️

(copic markers, prismacolor pencils, micron liners, grabie and shuttle ping markers, and lots of stickers on multi media paper. ) a bit unhappy with the full body shots..the faces r a bit weird. anyway, i was very inspired by drag makeup and other queer medias for these doodles. as for the lingerie fit, it’s sorta based on the unused design for joker in the comic: “Arkham Asylum a serious house on serious earth.” where they were going to have him dressed up as madonna from her mv “listen to your heart”. anyway, sorry for the absence i rlly don’t use this platform much. have some closeups. u mofos better be boycotting.

[actiondetectives]

Minor Batman #144 spoilers

Yeah gee Zdarsky it sure does suck when Batman hurts his kids doesn’t it

Who would write something in which Bruce does that?

[bitter-hibiscus]

thoughts on the first issue of Joker Year One (please reblog with yours, especially if you disagree with me!! Listening to other people's perspectives of a story is the best part of being a comic book fan!)

The scenes that happen in the future are cheap horror and not even scary anymore. How many fucking times are we getting the same "ohhh EVERYONE is the Joker now!!" stories before DC drops it? It was never cool in the first place. Gets points for the Duke mention though.

The scenes of the actual Year One are technically well-written with a pretty easy-to-understand narrative, and I enjoyed Batman's narration. However, any attempts to humanize Joker fail miserably, at least to me. Joker, as a concept, doesn't work if he's a human being. If the goal is to symbolize man's ability to rationalize evil or the fact that the worst people you know were still good at one point, you do that with Red Hood, or Cheetah, or Harley Quinn, or Parallax. Joker isn't Joker if you make us think about him as a person. He's best interpreted as a source of pure, chaotic evil, and to make him anything but that ruins his dynamic with Batman, Harley, and even his own crooks. A Joker you sympathize with isn't the Joker. The whole point is that he's entirely irredeemable. It's why he's the foil to Batman.*

*By this I mean that Batman is a character who obsesses over second chances. Batman is, by nature, someone who believes everybody will change if given the time and environment to. He's adamant about rehabilitation. That's the very core of his ideals. It's why Joker needs to be absolutely unfixable. Just crazy, unadulterated cruelty. Batman, even with all his kindness, can't fix Joker. And so when you make him something that is inherently human underneath, it ruins the illusion that this is a chase Batman can't win, and it makes Joker essentially useless from a meta-narrative standpoint.

[wwprice1]

Nightmare fuel from Batman 144.

[tyoffee]

[smashpages]

Out this week: Batman #144 (DC, $4.99): 

The “Joker Year One” storyline comes to a conclusion this week, as the Red Hood Gang rampages through Gotham and the one man that can stop them is, apparently, the Joker. This one’s by Chip Zdarsky, Giuseppe Camuncoli, Stefano Nesi and Andrea Sorrentino.

See what else is arriving at your local comic shop this week!

[nfcomics]

BATMAN no.144 • cover art • Matteo Scalera [Feb 2024]

The climactic, chilling conclusion to The Joker Year One that will have massive repercussions for the future! The Red Hood Gang is on a rampage and the only man who can stop them...is The Joker! And can Batman stop a devastating new virus in a future where The Joker looms over him?

(W) Chip Zdarsky (A) Giuseppe Camuncoli, Stefano Nesi, Andrea Sorrentino (CA) Matteo Scalera

[geekcavepodcast]

"The Joker Year One" Event Begins in "Batman #142"

DC Comics' "Dawn of DC" initiative will include a 3-part "The Joker Year One" storyline in the pages of Batman. The storyline hails from writer Chip Zdarsky and artists Giuseppe Camuncoli, Stefano Nesi, Andrea Sorrentino, Alejandro Sánchez, and Dave Stewart.

According to DC Comics, "In part one, the tragic “death” of the leader of the Red Hood Gang in a vat of chemicals has become the subject of myth…but what is the heartbreaking and gruesome tale of the monster who walked away from that violent birth?" The 3-part story will show the re-forming of the Red Hood Gang as well as a "mysterious figure from Batman's past" that will change the Joker "forever." (DC Comics)

Each issue of "The Joker Year One" storyline will also feature a story that shows the impact The Joker will have on Batman.

Part One of "The Joker Year One" begins in Batman #142, on sale on February 6, 2024. Part Two takes place in Batman #143, on sale February 13, 2024, and Part Three concludes the story arc in Batman #144, on sale February 20, 2024.

After the events of "The Joker Year One," Batman will begin the 4-part "Dark Prisons" storyline.

(Image via DC Comics - Giuseppe Camuncoli, Stefano Nesi, and Tomeu Morey's Cover of Batman #142)

[daisybell-on-a-carousel]

Being someone who read Under The Red Hood and came out with the firm belief that, for Jason, it's not about killing Joker, it's about Jason wanting proof Batman would choose him over the Joker (bc shelia chose the joker). Makes seeing any other media where it's all about just wanting the Joker dead is a teeny bit frustrating. to be honest

Jason could've killed the Joker himself, really, really easily. Jason kidnaps the Joker before the confrontation. I can't open my comic for a reference right now, but it felt like he had the Joker for quite a bit before the confrontation. He had him. He beat him up with a crowbar. He had every single opportunity to kill the Joker himself, but he didn't because that wasn't his goal. Make no mistake, he did plan for the Joker to be dead by the end of it, but do you see what im trying to say here

Edit: If I knew this post was gonna get 1000+ notes I would've tried to word it better or something, this was a rant I made on the way to the grocery store 😭

It's not about making Batman kill either. When Batman says he won't kill, Jason adjusts and goes, 'Let ME kill the Joker or kill me to stop me' instead. The test is all about Batman choosing him. The whole final confrontation is Jason's first death again. The parent, The Joker, and the explosives. It even ends with Jason unable to move as a bomb goes off right next to him again because the parent didn't choose Jason. And instead tried finding an option that'd benefit them and (consequencely) letting the Joker walk, again, lol, lmao <-in agony

[floccinaucinihilipilificationa]

[bluerosefox]

Head Over Heels

-Slides into DPxDC fandom and slaps down another AU sticky note on everyone's forehead-

Kinda single mom (maybe Queen Regent? if we got Ghost King route) Jazz! to triplets (deaged) Danny, Dan, and Dani! and they all get sent to the DCverse to start new lives.

The three were ditching school, secretly of course mostly to help get money for Jazz and themselves, when they get taken by the Joker because he decides the Wayne bait looking kids would make the most interesting hostages for the game he wanted to play.

Jazz is NOT happy when she senses them in danger. (and it happened during her job hours too so she had to book it out citing a 'family emergency'. She knows she's no doubt going to be fired for leaving the way she did but fine, she hated the job anyways and her boss was a creep.)

Jason falls head over heels when he see's this amazonian tall/powerful woman knock out a good number of Joker's teeth and basically destroys him when he got info of where the Joker was hiding out after the clown kidnapped some kids from his turf.

Speaking of the kids, they are busy cheering their big sister on and hoping she wouldn't be too upset that they ditched school. And...

Was Red Hood a Reverent?! Cool!

[aingeal98]

More Jason and Cass thoughts (sorry but also not sorry) but if I was magically given full control over DC and could write what I'd want obviously I'd make Cass Batman but I've been thinking of what sort of reaction and role Jason would have in response. I think I'd write his version of "Congrats on the new job!" as a test, involving the Joker and civilians and gangs and Red Hood and a ton of explosives. Bruce failed me, and now he's given up. You're his successor, let's see how you handle this dilemma that freaked him out so badly he threw a batarang into my throat rather than let me avenge my own death in front of him.

So obviously Cass will overcome the traps and the puzzles. That's the fun part to show how competent both of them are and sprinkle in little character moments as we go. But then we reach the emotional crux of the matter, probably laid out as some sort of saw trap because it's Jason. Here I am, a victim of murder. You say nobody dies tonight but I did, and I want the man who did it dead. Not only did Batman fail to avenge me but he failed to stop the Joker from going on to create even more victims. What right do you have to stop me from getting justice for myself? What right does this man have to life after what he's taken from me and from countless others? I'm not trying to kill a random stranger, I'm specifically demanding justice for my own death that I never got while I was gone.

There are two ways this could go. The straightforward route if I knew my time on this run was limited would probably be a pyrrhic victory like the ones Cass's og series was so fond of. Just like Bruce in utrh, she acts on instinct and saves the Joker (and Jason this time) . A win technically, but she fails the test. Jason is once again vindicated but with nothing to show for it. The story ends with Cass sending the Joker back to jail and going back to the batcave, where the old Robin costume looms judgementally, highlighting her failure. It would be the most fitting end given their character molds, all tragedy and conviction and unstoppable force meets immovable object etc.

However... I think the option I prefer would be a little different. Cass levelling with Jason, a killer talking to a murder victim. She has no right to stop Jason from getting justice, she has no love for the Joker but she knows any death she allows to happen like this would devastate her, just like that death row inmate long ago she tried to break out but ended up letting go once the family of the victim talked to her and demanded justice. I think... In this specific situation, she'd just be honest. Morally she has no right sure. Personally she just really really doesn't want anyone to die. Give her one chance, please. Let her try it her way. Not demanding, not lecturing or insisting, just... Please. Don't do this. Let me try another way.

And then what? Jason asks.

In the end a deal is struck. Cass will take the Joker and lock him up, ensuring he never harms anyone again while also trying to rehabilitate him. But the second she fails and he gets free, Jason kills him and she won't stand in his way. It's the kind of deal that leaves both of them mildly disgusted and dissatisfied with themselves, neither of them naturally creatures of compromise when it comes to this specific topic. But Cass is willing to do anything to avoid death and Jason did not expect the new Bat to be so... Flexible? Kind of? Of course maybe she won't actually hold up her end of the deal and when the Joker gets loose she'll try and stop Jason from killing him and he'll get his miserable vindication, but right now this is something strange and new and he's mildly confused and curious about where it will go. He doesn't believe in her ability to contain the Joker forever but he's willing to let her try because her reaction to that future failure interests him. She's given him a sword of damocles to hang above her head and he didn't ask for it or expect it. It's the type of power he never thought the Bat would just... Hand to him.

The conflict ends with neither of them fully winning or losing. They both don't really know what to feel about this.

The thing is, the second Cass let's Jason kill the Joker she's hanging up the mantle. She's staking the Bat on this, because it's always go big or go home with her when it comes to saving others, even someone like the Joker. In this magical universe where I have unlimited power, Cass would lock the Joker in a secret bunker and have Leslie Thompkins talk to him daily, mostly because I think her pacifism speeches and debates in the comics would make a fun contrast to the Joker's evil sadism. (But what about his rights? Doesn't he deserve a trial and to be held in a regular prison? I'm going to be honest I think Cass would be very comfortable bending the rules on this specific situation. Morally questionable but I'd have fun with it. She's going to let Leslie treat Joker like her personal pet project to save his soul because yes she wants him to change but also she's got a city to save every night so go crazy Leslie, have fun.)

And the Batman series would continue with Cass as the lead, new challenges and new antagonists and every twenty issues or so for the first hundred we'll cut back to the Joker briefly if his chats with Leslie can help highlight some thematic element of the current arc. But bit by bit he'd slowly fade away onto oblivion, maybe getting referenced every hundred issues or so until eventually no one remembers or cares about him because there's so much else going on. Meanwhile Jason's got a good thing going as Red Hood, primarily based in Park Row and a tentative ally on the occasion when their vigilante work aligns. Unlike Joker he's a much more frequent character in the comics, and after say 10 years (this is my magical fantasy universe Cass's batman run is going to last for a very long time alright) when people think of DC characters they think of Red Hood long before they think of the Joker.

Is any of this realistic? Right now of course not. It's why I'd go with the pyrrhic victory if I actually got the chance, because it would be the best way to tell the story in the larger context of the Bat narrative. But it's my fantasy DC editor and writer daydream and I'm going to dream big. They're never going to be normal happy siblings, their personal demons will never fully let them be free and the looming possibility of losing everything they currently have narrative wise if Bruce comes back as Batman will always be there. But it's maybe the closest to peace they'll ever get. Unsatisfying and tame compromise that probably violates several laws and ethical codes but whatever. Cass has never read the Geneva convention and Jason's not going to shed tears over the Joker. Let him die relevancy wise if not physically.

[kizzer55555]

Welcome to the Restraint! (Restaurant)

Imagine Danny runs to Gotham and starts squatting in an abandoned old building in Crime Alley. Slowly putting some ecto into the place to claim it as his haunt (while recovering from the sudden loss of his old one). And he does the normal stuff to survive. Finds some odd jobs, often as a messenger, and is just surviving. Another thing he does is make his own food. It’s cheaper than takeout and he’s gotten pretty good at cooking (out of necessity instead of eating sentient hotdogs). Then he ends up accidentally taking in some street kids. Or more like they follow him home. He can’t just turn them away so he makes a meal for them and lets them stay the night then sends them on their way. And then it happens again. And again. And ok, so maybe he saved a girl from getting molested. And that older guy from getting his only good blanket stolen. And sure, maybe letting that poor pizza delivery guy rant was unnecessary but he looked like he was having a bad day ok? Pretty sure that kid with the scar is a meta too but…he needed a place to stay a few nights alright? It’s not like any of them stay permanently. Danny’s started picking up a few more odd jobs to pay for all the extra food he’s had to buy. Always keeping his place stocked. At least he doesn’t have to pay for water and a fridge, he just makes some ice (or melts it). Sure the water is cold, but it’s probbaly the cleanest water in Gotham. And then some of the people start paying. Like…actually paying in exchange for food. Not sure if it’s because of guilt or pity but Danny won’t look a gift horse in the mouth. And with all the money, he hasn’t had to take as many dangerous jobs. Soon, his little abandoned apartment became what’s essentially the closest thing to a legitimate restaurant in Crime Alley.

It didn’t look normal. The chairs and tables were more like old couches and stools pulled up to coffee tables and cabinets turned on their side. Although with the bulling becoming more like Danny’s haunt, the walls naturally started repairing themselves so at least it didn’t look like it was gonna collapse anymore. And ok…so Danny might have rescued a few feral kids who…weirdly have gold eyes. And possibly stopped a meta trafficking ring on accident. And look, these people didn’t have anywhere to go! And the apartment did have empty rooms. It was already known as a place someone could crash for the night (last winter the entire place was cramped with people. Danny had to break up multiple fights but they usually calmed down when he got there.)

One benefit from controlling a haunt is controlling the temperature inside so it was one of the only buildings with ‘heat’. But back to his…strays. So yeah…most didn’t seem like they could rejoin society…so he let them stay. And…they kind of became employees? Impromptu bodyguards? (Some of the golden eyed people almost felt like he was rangling feral ghosts again.) they came in all ages. A few kids, lots of teens, and a few adults. Same with the metas he rescued. They mostly helped deliver food to costumers. They even got a phone line working and could take orders. (Although the new…employees…also got more protective whenever a fight broke out.) With all the extra money he’s been getting he was even able to afford some medical supplies. A lot of his customers(?) came in injured and he tried his best to patch them up but now he could do more than tie some ripped clothing around the wound and use ice to numb it. He’s got bandages. And pain killers. Plus other medical stuff. He can even give someone stickers now! All that experience as an injured vigilante was paying off. Even Villains and goons start attending this place. The place was unofficially designated as one of the Alley’s ‘safe zones’ where no fighting takes place inside (the body guards make sure of it.) the metas and Talons are getting an identity for themselves, the street kids even get a job and a hideout, random people can go there for help or to pass messages, this place provides food, shelter, and medical care. No one wants it going down.

So yeah, welcome to the restaurant!

(I’m debating whether I want this to be the weirdest restaurant/safe place/truce area in the alley, or whether I want Danny to accidentally become a crime lord. Possibly both.)

Also, this place is called the Restraint because I keep misspelling Restaurant and I think Danny would do the same so the name stuck. (Or one of the kids spelled it when making a sign or passing around messages to spread the word of this safe place.)

So anyways, to add some angst, after Danny adopts a bunch of crime alley kids/villains they find out about Danny’s powers and that he’s a ghost, only they don’t know about Halfas so they think Danny is fully dead and this super kind guy who has been the only person to ever treat them like people…died. He died likely a long time ago and there’s nothing any of them can do to change that.

(And if the GIW dare to come into the alley, they better be prepared for the entire place to turn on them.)

[the-witchhunter]

DP x DC: Clown Car

Based off THIS

Danny, having gotten really into circus and clown history, culture, and craft, has decided to mess with the Joker. Not just because he’s a villain, but because he’s a shitty clown. And Danny is willing to out clown him to prove his point.

The Clown Car incident

No one knew what to expect when a small car drove up to the Joker in the middle of his dramatic villainous speech. By the look on the Joker’s face, he didn’t know what to expect either. 

The mysterious clown had been harassing him for a few weeks now. A foiled heist here, a botched plan there. So it wasn’t entirely unexpected for the clown to climb out of the car. What was unexpected was when another clown came out of the car talking to goofing with the first. Then another, and another. Soon a flood of clowns came pouring out, all in different costumes and slightly different shapes but with the same makeup. Some even had “construction” equipment, large rubber mallets, a wooden board carried between two, a bucket of whitewash. One after the other they came, until the Joker was lost amongst a sea of clowns, shouting and fuming, trying to be heard over the honking and shenanigans. 

Joker was pissed, but kept getting caught up in the various bits the clowns engaged in. He got wacked with the board, and managed to get flipped over it, the bucket of whitewash landed on his head. He kept getting tripped and moved about as if he was simply a part of the act. 

In the crowd, Tim Drake recorded the whole thing. A few minutes after it had started, the clowns had packed up and left in their tiny car with a disoriented and confused Joker facing Batman.

Tim sent the video to Dick and Jason, and the mystery clown gained two new fans that day

or

Danny used intangibility and duplication to pull of the clown car solo after spending two weeks making enough unique costumes for each duplicate. 

[shyjusticewarrior]

Jason Todd is a menace to vehicles

Obviously there's the famous batmobile tire stealing, but there's also:

Taking a criminals' car (Nightwing: Year One)

Driving a batmobile into a private plane (Nightwing 2021 Annual)

Driving a bat-plane into a meteor (Batman/Catwoman: The Gotham War)

Driving Joker's blimp into a bridge and the water below (The Joker: The Man Who Stopped Laughing)