The Three Jokers By Geoff Johns and Jason Fabok

[tib2d2]

Ah gotcha, not only out of character, but just strange all around not to be more affected by the revelation.

[bat39]

It was a decent enough issue. Didn't enjoy it quiet as much as the first one, but it was pretty good nonetheless.

It seems a lot of our theories from the first issue are coming true. The 'Criminal' Joker does seem to be the original, or at any rate, the earliest version. And it does look like he is tied in with Joe Chill and the Wayne murders somehow - which seems set to be the big reveal of the finale.

The Barbara-Jason thing was...interesting, I guess? Somehow I've never thought of these two as a possible couple. Come to think of it, I can't remember the last time I even saw them together. It was nice to see them 'bond' over their shared truama with regards to the Joker - not sure if I've seen that happen before, which is strange, considering that they are the two 'highest-profile' victime of the Joker. And I honestly don't see that kiss going further. A Babs-Jason pairing could be interesting though because they are arguably two extremes of the Bat-family - Babs is probably the most 'normal' and law-abiding of the lot, while Jason is the closest to being an outright criminal.

I agree with some of the earlier posts on this thread that its getting hard to tell the difference between the Jokers - particularly the 'Comedian' and the deceased 'Clown'. Sometimes, it was hard to even tell the 'Criminal' apart, though he's the most distinct of the bunch. As far as I can surmise:

The Criminal: The 'original' Joker from the Golden Age. More of a criminal mastermind than a lunatic killer and a bit more stable. Killed the Moxon crime family and is tied to Joe Chill and the Wayne murders somehow.

The Comedian: The Joker from TKJ, who was the Red Hood and had the pregnant wife who was murdered. He crippled Barbara, and his MO seems to be home invasions and taking pictures/livestreaming victims. Probably the most outright 'insane' of the bunch.

The Clown: The Joker from DITF, and possibly a bunch of other classic Joker stories, including 'The Laughing Fish'. He's the one who 'killed' Jason. He seems to be the most 'classic' version of the Joker - a blend between lunatic killer and prankster criminal.

[Rise]

I read it and it did have a satisfying ending, but it was hurt by the long wait and the obsession with the status quo (I wish the story was truly stand alone and wasn't tied to DC mess of continuity).

The ending wasn't really anything shocking and I would say it was pretty predictable, but not in the way some people smugly thought. The highlight of the story wasn't the joker(s) and it was actually the heroes. Despite what people say about how Johns doesn't write Batman well, his Bruce come off the best here and show what made him such a great hero (his scene with Joe Chill was so well done). Barbara was also the best I have seen her in such long time, but his handle on Jason was the weakest here despite liking what he did in the previous issues. It wasn't anything bad (and honestly, I would love to see a Jason book by Johns), but it wasn't as good as Bruce and Barbara.

Overall, it was a really enjoyable story and another addition to Batman growing collection of great stories.

[bat1987]

I think this issue was really good. Great Bruce in this issue.
Gotta ask after reading this though, why did Batman actually ask the Mobius chair about Joker's identity in the first place?

[charliehustle415]

I think this issue was really good. Great Bruce in this issue.
Gotta ask after reading this though, why did Batman actually asked the Mobius chair about Joker's identity in the first place?

Johns probably forgot because it has been soooooo long since Darkseid War that we are having another reboot.

The art is gorgeous the story is another disappointment from Johns - he didn't answer anything.

I suppose at least Johns pretty much finished his intentions with New 52 run with Doomsday Clock and 3 Jokers.

But I do feel like a sucker for being invested in this story from the beginning.

[sifighter]

How can I put this without spoilers....it’s not Geoff Johns best Batman work but it’s still a solid story. It’s properly told, it looks good, and has cool moments in it but it’s not best I’ve seen him at because I’m not wanting more I just feel like “well that was a pretty good story”, like money doesn’t feel wasted but I’m not as jazzed as I was reading his green lantern, JSA, or doomsday clock. But like I said it’s solid and if anyone was to pick this up it would fit right in with other stories, I just would not say it’s the best story.

I also kind of agree with people on Jason, I felt the first issue made a lot of sense for what he did and I liked it but afterwards with the whole Barbera thing, no thanks and I hope it doesn’t come up again.

Overall I give it a B, Johns and Fabok put in the work to tell their story as they wanted to but in the end could have used some touch ups, I’m not left disappointed but I’m recommending some other Batman stories first if you get what I mean.

[Godlike13]

Ya, Bruce was better in this issue. Overall this didn’t particularly blow me away, but it wasn’t bad. Joker is a bit over used used right now, but that’s not this stories fault. It was an interesting story, but a better character piece. That’s were this story’s strength really was.

[Morgoth]

I really liked Chill's storyline here, and it was touchable in the end.
But with final Joker twist, I don't know, this entire family thing seems a little bit weird for me. And why Bruce asked Mobius chair about Joker's identity, if he knew all along?

[king81992]

The story was much better than I thought it would be, but it feels irrelevant in the grand scheme of things.

[the illustrious mr. kenway]

I really liked Chill's storyline here, and it was touchable in the end.
But with final Joker twist, I don't know, this entire family thing seems a little bit weird for me. And why Bruce asked Mobius chair about Joker's identity, if he knew all along?

A test of its capabilities?

[Jman27]

So just to be sure the clown is the one who killed Jason right?

[Drako]

A test of its capabilities?

But he acted surprised and said it was not possible.
Maybe the chair asked back "Which one?"

[KNIGHT OF THE LAKE]

But he acted surprised and said it was not possible.
Maybe the chair asked back "Which one?"

He was probably surprised by the answer being that there were three of them.

[PurpleGlovez]

So just to be sure the clown is the one who killed Jason right?

spoilers:

According to the internal logic of the series, no. In #2, the Comedian has memories of killing Jason and the Criminal is also implied to have the Red Hood origin. In #3, Batman discovered the Joker's identity a week after meeting him and it was the Killing Joke version. Joker's spiel at the end of this issue makes it clear (to me anyways) that the Comedian was always the true Joker. He was the Golden Age Joker who first fought Batman and he was the one who killed Jason. At some point prior to this story, he successfully created two new Jokers and, based on their appearances and professions, molded them into the Criminal and Clown, feeding them stories of his past exploits so they could sell the part, all as part of this grand scheme to f*ck with Batman by giving him a pointless mystery that ends with Joker supplanting Joe Chill in Batman's psyche. They were merely meant to pay homage to aspects of Joker's personality. The two of them never actually encountered Batman as the Joker prior to this. At least, that's my take on it. But yeah, you gotta wonder why the Mobius Chair would've even told Batman this if two of them were fake, and why Batman was so perplexed by it when according to the internal logic of Darkseid War he could've simply asked the chair for more information. (And indeed, if he knew Joker's identity a week after meeting him, kinda strange that he asked the chair in the first place.) Then there's the Rebirth special's assertion that two of the Jokers had been arrested separately at Baltimore and Central City, with Batman still having no clue to the mystery.

end of spoilers

Anyway, I'm just glad this charade is over with. Time to put Geoff Johns' career out to pasture, methinks.

[HsssH]

I have hard time believing that what we got here is what he had planned during Darkseid War.