Honestly I’m kind of glad they did that, I kind of agree that it would not have fit the tone of the story at all if the Mobius Chair was in the story.
Barbara: “So how do we know there are three jokers?”
Bruce: “Because while I was fighting both Darkseid and the Anti-monitor with the Justice League I sat in a god chair of knowledge and asked it who Joker was.”
Jason: “.....you’re just f$&king with us aren’t you?”
"It's fun and it's cool, so that's all that matters. It's what comics are for, Duh."
Words to live by.
It’s like soap opera’s. She’s been around sound long that enough interpretations have that happen. It’s not like they had her hop around from story to story. She’s dated Bruce in an alternate continuity that has a completely different set up. She hasn’t actively dated Dick in decades and even then it was mostly a retconned love thing that never really existed in the 60’s/70’s. And it’s 2020 and done writer thought her having a shared experience with one of her partners could lead to some attraction.
It’s not really a big deal. If you dive to deep into it all of a sudden you have Talia hooking up with Bruce and Jason, Catwoman hooking up with Bruce and Dick. Bruce hooking up with nearly every female villain.
I have mixed feelings about the ending. On the whole, this has been an entertaining story, but it really hasn't stuck the landing. The first issue did a BRILLIANT job setting things up, the second issue did a decent job ramping up the action and building up to some bih reveal...and this issue is kinda meh. I mean, don't get me wrong, it has some interesting ideas and great moments, but on the whole it just doesn't feel like either a consistent story nor an impactful one.
The Jason-Barbara thing made sense in context last issue, but Jason now 'in love' with Barbara and pining for her seems a bit...weird. How well do they even know each other, really? (I guess Jason's tenure as Robin coincided with the end of Barbara's time as Batgirl? And they've since met occasionally since Jason's 'resurrection'?) I like the idea of both of them bonding together over their traumas, but this seems more like a way to 'ship' them than anything else.
I kinda appreciate the meta nature of the 'reveal'. The story played with our expectations and seemed to be building up to some big reveal about Joe Chill's 'true' motivations and his connection to the Joker...only to reveal that there is no 'big reveal' there and that the Joker (and Geoff Johns) was just messing with Batman (and us). Its both simultaneously brilliant and more than a little off-putting!
A lot of us expected some kind of lingering ambiguity over which Joker was 'real' and...I'm not really sure how to feel about this because I'm not really sure if ambiguity is really what they went for. The Comedian being the last Joker standing does seem to imply that he's the 'real' one (though he does hint at the possibility that the Criminal was the real one), and the TKJ origin seemingly being true supports that. Then again, the TKJ origin could, I guess, theoretically also apply to the Criminal? Or the Clown? Maybe Batman knows the Joker's real name but isn't sure which of the three is that guy?
There's a bit of a chronological issue as well in that we're told that the Joker has been around for 'decades' (read: at least 20 years), but the kid we see at the end can't be more than 10 or 12.
Regarding that twist - its a neat twist but somehow, as the 'final twist' of this story, it just seemed to come out of nowhere. I'd have LOVED it if this had been a one-shot or something. Or maybe even a miniseries or arc about the Joker discovering that his wife and kid are alive somewhere. Possibly seeking revenge against his wife for faking her death and setting him down the path to becoming the Joker. Or something. The idea has some potential, I'll give them that. It seems almost a shame to squander it as a rather abrupt coda to a very different story.
Looking at the series as a whole, its hard to see what the point was, beyond the gimmick of 'three Jokers'. Was it to highlight that anyone can be the Joker, a reinforcement of the 'one bad day' idea from TKJ? Is it about Bruce, Barbara and Jason confronting their demons? Or about the true identity/nature of the Joker? Or all just one big prank by the Joker? Because we have bits and pieces of all these ideas scattered through the story, withour any indication as to what this is really all about.
So on the whole, an enjoyable ride, but it stopped short of being really good, let alone great.
Lovely art, some interesting ideas(despite some of them contradicting with previous stories), i loved Bruce and Joe Chill part of the story. If we had to keep a part of this into the main continuity, i would choose the closure between Chill and Bruce.
" I am Loki Scar-Lip, Loki Skywalker, Loki Giant's Child, Loki Lie-Smith. I am Loki, who is fire and wit and hate. I am Loki. And I will be under an obligation to no one."
Previously known as Nefarius
Absolutely, this was the best part of the whole thing.
When it comes to Joker's wife and kid being alive, I'm kinda torn on it.
On one hand, I think Joker's identity should remain a mistery, on the other, it's something that has never been done with Joker and would make an interesting follow up story if done right
On the other hand, I feel like King's Bat/Cat book only benefits from THREE JOKERS being such a trashfire. No matter how far off the rails it goes, people can always look at it and say, "Yeah, it's not great, but it's not THREE JOKERS bad."
So the winner? BATMAN/CATWOMAN.
The loser? Take your pick: the readers, Geoff Johns's legacy, the Bat-mythos, Gaggy...
so will the Justice League be updated on this development? In case anyone else runs into any Jokers in their cities.
So for those who REALLY didn’t like it...what would you have preferred to have seen? Or what direction would you have liked it all to take?
I sort the main message would be similar to the Bat-Legacy. That it’s what the person represents, not who they are...and that would open up to the idea that there’s more than just the 3 jokers and be left with an ambiguous ending as to if there ever really was an original.
However, we sort of got a definitive answer...which is just abit odd.
Just to preface this: I have suffered from Batman and Joker fatigue for ages now, so my view on this series may be a bit biased!!
SPOILERS OF COURSE!
I was disappointed. I haven't been too interested in Batman since Snyder's run ended and I had hoped this would bring me back into the fold a bit, mainly because it's a bit of a stand alone.
I thought the first issue had some brilliant set up, and the other two issues were big let downs. My main feeling at the end of it all is that it seems pointless. Yet another story where Joker wants to prove he's Batman's main purpose/enemy/problem. Another story where Batman seems to know more than we expected because "He's Batman". It felt like Johns teased this four years ago, but didn't really know how it was going to end, and therefore had to just come up with something. It seemed pointless to even have three jokers, because we're left with what I'd argue is the most well known Joker in the end. Although the Joe Chill stuff was nice in issue 3, I didn't feel like it gave me a new perspective on the character - I had always felt he wasn't an inherently evil villain. It felt off to just have three of the Bat family involved (I know they're the most affected by Joker, but I missed Dick and Damian). Even the romantic subplot felt pointless because Jason says he'll never mention it again if she doesn't reply, then his letter gets thrown in the bin lol.
Overall, it just feels as though we're back to normal, but the Joker has been dilluted even more due to the fact that he's been multiple different people over the years. I didn't mind the twist about his family, although I don't know if it would necessarily matter to Joker that they're still alive. We'll see about that one. And oh my God, Batman claiming to know who he is since he first met him is just... lazy.
All in all, it disappointed me, it felt pointless.
I do hope others enjoyed it more though xox
Last edited by Jack The Tripper; 10-27-2020 at 04:08 PM.
Given the Joker's fractured psyche, I think it would have been better (if not more expected/predictable) if we'd seen a multiple personality disorder take on the Joker, with everything from the mobster of the 20s through the dude who wore his own face as a mask for a while being the same person, but with each a distinct personality and getting into conflicts within the Joker's mind, akin to what we've seen in characters like Crazy Jane and the Hulk. Maybe three personalities are left and they go to "war" with each other, with Gotham as their battlefield, each personality trying to eradicate some element dear to the other personalities, including their "greatest hits" like Barbara and Jason. Batman not only has to protect his allies and the city, but find a way to broker "peace" between the Joker's personas (assuming they haven't wiped themselves out) so that the physical Joker is a singular version of pure insanity, versus three separate versions.
And absolutely cut the part of Batman knowing who the Joker is. That's garbage. Should still be a total mystery to Batman.
I'll say what everyone should hopefully be saying about this, though, and that's that Fabok is just a superstar and with all the time in the world to finish a story he puts out work that's got serious lasting power.
Retro315 no more. Anonymity is so 2005.
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