The Three Jokers By Geoff Johns and Jason Fabok

[king81992]

If the leaks are accurate, then...
spoilers:

It's a fundamental change to Red Hood and Oracle's backstories. Both of their origins were due to imposters and not the real Joker!

end of spoilers

The real question is this:[spoil] Are any of the three Jokers in the comic the original one? He might still be running around doing stuff while everyone is distracted by the three Jokers[spoil]

[Restingvoice]

If the leaks are accurate, then...
spoilers:

It's a fundamental change to Red Hood and Oracle's backstories. Both of their origins were due to imposters and not the real Joker!

end of spoilers

Doesn't matter. DC Marketing will take care of it.

The real question is this:[spoil] Are any of the three Jokers in the comic the original one? He might still be running around doing stuff while everyone is distracted by the three Jokers[spoil]

Also doesn't matter. Snyder goes by everything's canon. He and Tynion will ignore this, or rather, they'll say their Joker is

[Myskin]

Basically Johns is pulling the spoilers:

Toyman/Doctor Doom

end of spoilers stunt again.
spoilers:

In his Action Comics run, he made the Toyman not responsible for killing Cat Grant's son. The killer was his robotic clone. Basically the classic Doctor Doom/Doombots trick. Or Arkham Knight, now that I think about it. Which he wrote

end of spoilers.
I'll be damned if I understand what the point may be or how beneficial this could be to the Batman lore.

[Katana500]

spoilers:

I thought this was an awesome first issue. I really love the uneasy feeling the Jokers give off and how you can tell its affecting Bruce, Barbara and Jason. I'm interested to hear everyone's theories for what will happen next issue. I wouldn't be surprised if Barbara tried to kill a Joker next issue (I'm not sure if Jason will try help her or try to stop her realizing that Killing Joker didnt make him feel any better) I'd also not be surprised if Bruce snaps in the final issue and kills the last joker, probably for threatening babs and jason.

end of spoilers.

[sifighter]

spoilers:

Setting aside Darkseid War, because honestly given current continuity changes since Rebirth it’s kind of confusing how it all fits in, I think I can get what Geoff Johns is going for here and it’s kind of similar to Doomsday Clock if you will. This is a story line that is clearly referencing past storylines and events (clearly Killing Joke and the Death of Jason Todd) but is also kind of separate from mainline continuity so that it’s timeless in a way, sort of like the killing joke. Now I kind of want to give Johns credit for not doing a big weird multiverse thing here, instead it’s grounded in a certain kind of realism that you could honestly believe could happen in a way. Plus the idea that certain people can become the joker isn’t too far fetched, I mean I remember something mildly similar in Batman Beyond: return of the Joker or even the Creeper from Batman the animated series. Obviously of course it raises a lot of questions like who is responsible for what at points in the jokers career. If anything though I’m fascinated by the clearly golden age leader joker, mainly because he’s not a visible psychopath like the other two but he comes up with these plans. Almost reminded me of Jack Nicholson. As for the Jason Todd thing...look I’m not about to fail Jason for murdering a Joker, it feels like something he would do and I kind of expected it honestly. I mean we know “The Joker” can’t be killed off but given the fact it’s a story starring multiple jokers I at least expected “a joker” to be killed off, and as good a Jason can be I honestly think any given day of the week if given the chance he’d try and kill Joker. Now that he has killed one, and quite possibly the one that killed him, I’m going to wait and see what becomes of it. But again, I’m not even remotely surprised that is what happened, it was either going to be him or the police. Overall I think this was a pretty good start to the story, and I’ll wait and see how it all plays out.

end of spoilers

[Swallowtail]

I'll be damned if I understand what the point may be or how beneficial this could be to the Batman lore.

spoilers:

I think rather it’s that all three of them are the real joker. Much like say Tim Drake was the real joker in Return of the Joker. That the core of joker is madness and hatred and evil more than he is flesh and blood. It’s a dark mirror of Batman as an ideal that can be passed on, that will endure beyond Bruce Wayne. But because it’s the joker he doesn’t inspire, he submerges and destroys what has come before. If nothing else it’s a better reason not to kill the joker than ‘he has a magical toxin in his heart’

end of spoilers

[king81992]

Basically Johns is pulling the spoilers:

Toyman/Doctor Doom

end of spoilers stunt again.
spoilers:

In his Action Comics run, he made the Toyman not responsible for killing Cat Grant's son. The killer was his robotic clone. Basically the classic Doctor Doom/Doombots trick. Or Arkham Knight, now that I think about it. Which he wrote

end of spoilers.
I'll be damned if I understand what the point may be or how beneficial this could be to the Batman lore.

Feels less about benefiting the lore and more about being an attempt to explain certain questions that fans have rightly had for years.

[SixSpeedSamurai]

Is this in continuity? It is a Black Label book afterall.

[Dark_Tzitzimine]

Considering how it makes everyone in the DCU to look like complete morons, destroys so many fan favorite stories and has huge ramifications that will be a major headache for any writer trying to make sense of them, I certainly hope this remains as a weird, self-contained elseworld.

[Pohzee]

Considering how it makes everyone in the DCU to look like complete morons, destroys so many fan favorite stories and has huge ramifications that will be a major headache for any writer trying to make sense of them, I certainly hope this remains as a weird, self-contained elseworld.

Which stories does it ruin?

[Nite-Wing]

Considering how it makes everyone in the DCU to look like complete morons, destroys so many fan favorite stories and has huge ramifications that will be a major headache for any writer trying to make sense of them, I certainly hope this remains as a weird, self-contained elseworld.

80 year history of the Joker? useless
This entire time and nobody could figure out that this was going on
Ruins the Batman lore entirely

But if its popular DC might pay it lip service if only to appease Johns work but I doubt any Batman writer is going to run with this stuff
I mean this is not like the Killing Joke where this story is transcendent and a seminal character piece

[Pohzee]

80 year history of the Joker? useless
This entire time and nobody could figure out that this was going on
Ruins the Batman lore entirely

But if its popular DC might pay it lip service if only to appease Johns work but I doubt any Batman writer is going to run with this stuff
I mean this is not like the Killing Joke where this story is transcendent and a seminal character piece

It's too soon to make that call.

[Dark_Tzitzimine]

Which stories does it ruin?

Death in the Family, The Killing Joke, The Man Who Laughs, The Last Laugh, pretty much any major story with the Joker as a center loses any emotional impact with the reveal that it was a different guy every time. Or in cases like The Killing Joke, by showing that it wasn't just a series of unfortunate events but a premeditated by a mastermind.

[Nite-Wing]

Nope Johns showed his hand already
He has a gimmick and the purpose of each issue and focusing on Jason, Babs, and Bruce specifically is clear now

[Dark_Tzitzimine]

Nope Johns showed his hand already
He has a gimmick and the purpose of each issue and focusing on Jason, Babs, and Bruce specifically is clear now

Johns has also become really predictable so either Jason ends up becoming a Joker or the guy at the start of the issue becomes the "perfect Joker"