The Three Jokers By Geoff Johns and Jason Fabok

[Nite-Wing]

You can really see in real time as a Batman fan how disconnected Johns is from the goings on of the Bat line
I mean if you think you need to rehash Jason's issues for the 12th time then you might as well just give up trying to tell a good story anymore
This series should have been all about the mystery of the 3 jokers and instead Johns has wasted 2 issues with weak character introspection that we have gotten in other stories and adding even more mysteries


Bruce has by and large been mute this series and been way too calm. Jason killing anyone in Gotham would set him off. Here he is basically like "well that sucks can't do anything about it" moving on
Babs has in contrast been overly emotional, She is acting like she's never seen or heard Jason killing anyone before. If you are reading this series and familiar with these characters its odd

No complaints about the art but I do question how Fabok is drawing this issue
Jason gets stripped naked and beaten with a crowbar again because why not? Fabok didn't draw him too bruised and injured like a realistic beating would entail
Why?
I guess Jason needed to stay hot so Babs could kiss him

[Swallowtail]

You can really see in real time as a Batman fan how disconnected Johns is from the goings on of the Bat line
I mean if you think you need to rehash Jason's issues for the 12th time then you might as well just give up trying to tell a good story anymore
This series should have been all about the mystery of the 3 jokers and instead Johns has wasted 2 issues with weak character introspection that we have gotten in other stories and adding even more mysteries


Bruce has by and large been mute this series and been way too calm. Jason killing anyone in Gotham would set him off. Here he is basically like "well that sucks can't do anything about it" moving on
Babs has in contrast been overly emotional, She is acting like she's never seen or heard Jason killing anyone before. If you are reading this series and familiar with these characters its odd

No complaints about the art but I do question how Fabok is drawing this issue
Jason gets stripped naked and beaten with a crowbar again because why not? Fabok didn't draw him too bruised and injured like a realistic beating would entail
Why?
I guess Jason needed to stay hot so Babs could kiss him

Have we ever actually seen Jason hash out his issues before with another living person? Usually he just does it in his head and then goes back to murdering people. I can’t think of a time when Bruce and Jason actually has a conversation that went ‘I was tortured. It sucked. You weren’t there.’ Since Under the Red Hood?

[king81992]

After reading issue 2, I have to echo the feeling of this being unimprissevie and mediocre. After a first issue that moved too fast, leaving way too many plot holes on its wake, we get a second issue that advances at a snail pace but it doesn't do anything to actually address those plot holes nor really advance the main plot in a significant way. Pretty weird since there's just one issue left and I very much doubt Johns will be able to deliver a satisfying conclusion in these circumstances.

Some people are impressed for Bruce's reactions to Jason killing one Joker, for how surprisingly reasonable he's being and for the "exploration" of what made Jason heal wrong. And while at first glance these are powerful moments that say Johns understand these characters, the thing is, these are all thing other writers have addressed already years ago. Johns is only rehashing things that everyone already know. Maybe if this book would've been published 10 years ago, it would've been a turning point for Jason's characterization. But Johns is pretty much ignoring everything past the original Under the Red Hood, and so, his take on Jason comes as immature, childish and reckless. Is specially notorious this time since Three Jokers released alongside RHO 49 and in 3J we have Jason having a break down over not getting help when he needed it, while on RHO, you have Jason cheering someone up by telling them that Life is about standing up and trying again after messing up. If Johns would've used this more mature, experienced Jason, 3 Jokers would've been a much better story. But then he would've missed his chance to push his juvenile symbolism and poorly thoughts efforts of being "deep". And speaking of, the idea of Joker grooming Jason for a particular goal was already tackled by Lobdell during Death of The Family with much better results.

I was aware that the thing with Jason and Barbara was short lived, but I still stand by what I said. Making it just a "shocking" moment is disrespectful to both characters, and if isn't picked up in the final issue, then it will just a badly attempt at manipulating readers to drive up sales. And I certainly hoped Johns would better to do that. Fabok delivers a competent art but stilted and without any dynamism. I also have problems to recognize the unmasked Jason since he draws him painfully generic and there's nothing in his rendition that makes him go "yeah, that's Jaosn Todd"

Overall, this is a story that is just not living up to the hype but I'm in the minority, a quick look online shows that your average reader thinks this is the best thing ever.

The story has been more competently written than I first expected, but it feels sort of unnecessary. What is the end goal here? Use the resolution of this story as why Batman can't kill the Joker?

[Dark_Tzitzimine]

Have we ever actually seen Jason hash out his issues before with another living person? Usually he just does it in his head and then goes back to murdering people. I can’t think of a time when Bruce and Jason actually has a conversation that went ‘I was tortured. It sucked. You weren’t there.’ Since Under the Red Hood?

Over the past ten years, he has opened to Ducra, Roy, Kori, Duela, the Generation Outlaw kids, Artemis, Bizarro, Tim, Dick, Bruce, and Alfred on different occasions.

[Jackalope89]

The kiss scene was, as I thought, purely in the moment kind of thing. When emotions are running high and two people that both had horrific and traumatic experiences come together.

But for the character development... Lobdell may be (if rightfully at times) criticized for his writing, but he has really developed Jason over his near decade tenure on him. Jason has long grown past where he was in UTRH. But him want to end the Jokers? Oh yeah, I still believe it.

Admittedly, I haven't followed Babs as much. And while she and Jason had a few hints at a thing back in Death of the Family, it was broken off but the two remained amicable. Mostly.

Bruce... Yeah, not sure on his direction here.

[Rise]

Another great issue. Johns didn't disappoint me with how he handled Jason nor how he handled Barbara or Bruce. I'm also glad that he kept his promise about how the story will focus on them, not the jokers.

Next issue though will make or break the series and I really hope he and Fabok stick the landing.

[king81992]

The kiss scene was, as I thought, purely in the moment kind of thing. When emotions are running high and two people that both had horrific and traumatic experiences come together.

But for the character development... Lobdell may be (if rightfully at times) criticized for his writing, but he has really developed Jason over his near decade tenure on him. Jason has long grown past where he was in UTRH. But him want to end the Jokers? Oh yeah, I still believe it.

Admittedly, I haven't followed Babs as much. And while she and Jason had a few hints at a thing back in Death of the Family, it was broken off but the two remained amicable. Mostly.

Bruce... Yeah, not sure on his direction here.

Bruce comes off as a hypocrite here, letting Jason do the thing he doesn't want to do(or should've done years ago and didn't, depending on if you feel Bruce should've put down the Joker a long time ago) and expecting Barbara to reign in Jason.

[Jackalope89]

Bruce comes off as a hypocrite here, letting Jason do the thing he doesn't want to do(or should've done years ago and didn't, depending on if you feel Bruce should've put down the Joker a long time ago) and expecting Barbara to reign in Jason.

Exactly. Its hard to know what direction Johns wants to take with Bruce in this, as the things he's put forward are rather contradictory.

[PurpleGlovez]

So the comedian and the clown have been switched now? When the comedian is beating up Jason he says it's almost as fun as last time, and towards the end they show the clown in the Red Hood. God, this is so stupid.

But yeah I totally called they were gonna tie the criminal into the Wayne murders. Also, I really like that Bruce doesn't give a **** about Jason killing Joker. It's like in real life can you imagine there was this one dude who singlehandedly killed thousands of people, and someone finally took him out, and then THAT GUY was arrested for murder. I dunno.

And soooo.... they've retconned that Jason didn't die?

[king81992]

The biggest question in the story is the implication that the Three Jokers share the same memories.

Each Joker has their own distinct personality(well Criminal does, the only difference between Clown and Comedian is that the surviving one seems more unhinged), which makes sense considering they're three different people who got a Joker-like appearance due to a weird combination of chemicals.

I can buy random chemicals giving random people a Joker-like appearance, but there's no way any chemical combination could give someone the same set of memories. Are we heading to a reveal that the real Joker is somehow able to control multiple bodies? It's the only revelation that would explain why they seem to share the same memories.

[king81992]

So the comedian and the clown have been switched now? When the comedian is beating up Jason he says it's almost as fun as last time, and towards the end they show the clown in the Red Hood. God, this is so stupid.

But yeah I totally called they were gonna tie the criminal into the Wayne murders. Also, I really like that Bruce doesn't give a **** about Jason killing Joker. It's like in real life can you imagine there was this one dude who singlehandedly killed thousands of people, and someone finally took him out, and then THAT GUY was arrested for murder. I dunno.

And soooo.... they've retconned that Jason didn't die?

This bothered me as well, but I think the Jokers are somehow sharing the same memories.

I feel like the revelation about the Wayne murders is either going to be:

1.Thomas Wayne was somehow connected to the Joker(or the person who Criminal Joker used to be) and that's why Joe Chill killed him and his wife.

2. Joe Chill is actually innocent or took the fall for the real murderer( most likely Criminal Joker)

I'm sort of expecting the big plot twist at the end to be that none of the Three Jokers are the original one.

[Godlike13]

Bruce has by and large been mute this series and been way too calm. Jason killing anyone in Gotham would set him off. Here he is basically like "well that sucks can't do anything about it" moving on
Babs has in contrast been overly emotional, She is acting like she's never seen or heard Jason killing anyone before. If you are reading this series and familiar with these characters its odd

Ya all the emotion beats are coming from Babs and Jason, Bruce has just been kind of there to steer the audience. The scene with Chill was the most reaction we seen out of him, but other wise its like oh 3 Jokers, hmm, Jason executed one, oh well what can you do. It's like he is on a sedative or something. Too often writers do have Bruce overact for the sake of drama, and that gets old, but that doesn't mean he should have no reaction.

[Jackalope89]

So the comedian and the clown have been switched now? When the comedian is beating up Jason he says it's almost as fun as last time, and towards the end they show the clown in the Red Hood. God, this is so stupid.

But yeah I totally called they were gonna tie the criminal into the Wayne murders. Also, I really like that Bruce doesn't give a **** about Jason killing Joker. It's like in real life can you imagine there was this one dude who singlehandedly killed thousands of people, and someone finally took him out, and then THAT GUY was arrested for murder. I dunno.

And soooo.... they've retconned that Jason didn't die?

Maybe? They also said he dug his way out of the grave too, so he did die? Hard to say.

[CPSparkles]

You can really see in real time as a Batman fan how disconnected Johns is from the goings on of the Bat line
I mean if you think you need to rehash Jason's issues for the 12th time then you might as well just give up trying to tell a good story anymore
This series should have been all about the mystery of the 3 jokers and instead Johns has wasted 2 issues with weak character introspection that we have gotten in other stories and adding even more mysteries


Bruce has by and large been mute this series and been way too calm. Jason killing anyone in Gotham would set him off. Here he is basically like "well that sucks can't do anything about it" moving on
Babs has in contrast been overly emotional, She is acting like she's never seen or heard Jason killing anyone before. If you are reading this series and familiar with these characters its odd

No complaints about the art but I do question how Fabok is drawing this issue
Jason gets stripped naked and beaten with a crowbar again because why not? Fabok didn't draw him too bruised and injured like a realistic beating would entail
Why?
I guess Jason needed to stay hot so Babs could kiss him

Agree on all the above.

I'm so sick and tried of the one Jason story over and over. We get it now do something else. It's almost as if the Character is only relevant as the one who died [I mean they all died so ....]

Geoff is piggy backing yet again on Moore's achievement and the fame of the Killing Joke, topped with the Success [of the Joker Movie] and current hot demand for The Joker for a quick buck.

This story has nothing to say and just feels desperate and soul-less.

What is even the point of this?

The story is not interesting and there are no stacks.

The art is nice though.

[king81992]

Agree on all the above.

I'm so sick and tried of the one Jason story over and over. We get it now do something else. It's almost as if the Character is only relevant as the one who died [I mean they all died so ....]

Geoff is piggy backing yet again on Moore's achievement and the fame of the Killing Joke, topped with the Success [of the Joker Movie] and current hot demand for The Joker for a quick buck.

This story has nothing to say and just feels desperate and soul-less.

What is even the point of this?

The story is not interesting and there are no stacks.

The art is nice though.

I think Johns is trying to say something, but I'm not sure if he knows what he's trying to say. Concepts are there, but they aren't fleshed out and the implications raise more questions than answers. Honestly, I doubt Johns is going to come up with a satisfactory answer.

The stakes and the point are connected to the mystery of the Three Jokers, which is still vague. The resolution will probably make or break things.

My prediction- the ending is going to leave a lot of people confused.