Do you think Punchline will catch on?

[Frontier]

Punchline win

Gotta admit, I'm happy she lost this fight.

[Badou]

Harley beating Punchline at the start of the Joker War crossover wouldn't have made much sense. Harley winning is something they will save towards the end. Same as Dick "getting his memories back" or whatever they want to do with that garbage storyline.

[SiegePerilous02]

I think it's too early to call it filler. In a world where Harley being separated from Joker is becoming more common in media adaptions or stories, I think there might be room for a replacement character.

Is it Punchline? I don't know.

IDK, i think it's pretty much cemented that Joker having a henchwoman is Harley or bust at this point, even when they aren't currently together. And there really isn't a need to fill the void, is there? I think DC needs to concentrate on giving us good Joker stories for a change period, and much like Ivy, I think the Joker could benefit from being a solo act once and a while.

I'm probably jumping the gun in calling it filler, but this era seems to be spinning its wheels in general since DiDio's firing.

[Restingvoice]

Yes, it seems they are:

Fine... I've seen worse

[Brand]

Harley beating Punchline at the start of the Joker War crossover wouldn't have made much sense. Harley winning is something they will save towards the end. Same as Dick "getting his memories back" or whatever they want to do with that garbage storyline.

I wonder how Harley will survive this? I hope for a rematch. Does she have a healing factor?

[mathew101281]

I'm torn. Part of me really likes the design of the character. But part of me dreads what might happen if she catches on. Imagine the Joker running around with four or five ex gun malls. Harley is a novel one off, but if Punchline catches on DC will see it as a pattern, and it will more then likely open the flood gate to every new creative team wanting to create "their Harley". It's like venom over at Marvel. Venom was a novel one off that begot Carnage. Next thing you know the Spiderman books are crawling with way to many symbiotes

[docmidnite]

I might be in the minority, but if the Joker is going to have a stable of Henchmen and women then I'd prefer them to consist of previously established characters that have the same psychotic tendencies and methodology as him, not just a bunch of low level, common street thugs alongside Harley or this new Punchline character. Have the Joker surround himself with the likes of Punchline, Punch & Jewellee, The MadMen, The Trickster (Axel not Jesse), Ragdoll, The Clown, etc. Have the Joker let these guys loose on Gotham for some fun and mayhem (to keep the GCPD and the Bat-Family extremely busy) so he can go mano-el-mano with old Batsy-boy from time to time. Let the Joker and his crew get some laughs in at the expense of Gotham and it's citizens every once in a while, let the streets run bloody red with laughter in the air from this killer carnival sometimes...


...and whenever the Joker gets bored with all that and needs some "me" time again, let him do his psycho solo act for a while.

[Tzigone]

I might be in the minority, but if the Joker is going to have a stable of Henchmen and women then I'd prefer them to consist of previously established characters that have the same psychotic tendencies and methodology as him, not just a bunch of low level, common street thugs alongside Harley or this new Punchline character. Have the Joker surround himself with the likes of Punchline, Punch & Jewellee, The MadMen, The Trickster (Axel not Jesse), Ragdoll, The Clown, etc. Have the Joker let these guys loose on Gotham for some fun and mayhem (to keep the GCPD and the Bat-Family extremely busy) so he can go mano-el-mano with old Batsy-boy from time to time. Let the Joker and his crew get some laughs in at the expense of Gotham and it's citizens every once in a while, let the streets run bloody red with laughter in the air from this killer carnival sometimes...


...and whenever the Joker gets bored with all that and needs some "me" time again, let him do his psycho solo act for a while.

I don't want a crew, but if there was one, I would not like "demoting" others that were solo-villains to hench-level. Recruiting from the ranks of alread-henches would be more acceptable, but it could diminish their former bosses (unless the henches were discarded or the characters weren't being used anymore or the like).

[docmidnite]

I don't want a crew, but if there was one, I would not like "demoting" others that were solo-villains to hench-level. Recruiting from the ranks of alread-henches would be more acceptable, but it could diminish their former bosses (unless the henches were discarded or the characters weren't being used anymore or the like).

I don't want a crew either (which is why I said if) but more often than not they seem to give the Joker a crew anyway, and if they're going to do that then I'd prefer they use capable established characters that have the same psychotic tendencies and methodology as him, not just a bunch of low level, common street thugs alongside Harley or this new Punchline character. Have the Joker surround himself with the likes of Punchline, Punch & Jewellee, The MadMen, The Trickster (Axel not Jesse), Ragdoll, The Clown, etc. every once in a while so they can at least get propped up for a bit, maybe gain a following of their own and stay out of limbo for extremely long periods of time.

Right now, all of the characters I just mentioned have been stuck in limbo for a very long time and could use the exposure in something important like this instead of not being used for years on end with absolutely no use in sight.

Plus I hate when the Joker's henchmen are all easy to beat up, common, no-name brand, low level street thugs that are no challenge to the GCPD, Bat-Family and Batman himself. That just makes the Joker look like an incompetent low level street gang leader instead of the utter crazy charismatic psychopath he's supposed to be.

[Frontier]

IDK, i think it's pretty much cemented that Joker having a henchwoman is Harley or bust at this point, even when they aren't currently together. And there really isn't a need to fill the void, is there? I think DC needs to concentrate on giving us good Joker stories for a change period, and much like Ivy, I think the Joker could benefit from being a solo act once and a while.

I'm probably jumping the gun in calling it filler, but this era seems to be spinning its wheels in general since DiDio's firing.

If they keep trying to promote her as an independent heroine or figure leaving her abuser it might seem more problematic anytime they pair her with Joker again. Not that it won't happen again, but it's something I think it needs to be kept in mind.

We've really had plenty of solo Joker stories over the past few years. Whether they were good or not is up to debate, but Harley wasn't that big a factor in them.

[Tzigone]

I don't want a crew either (which is why I said if) but more often than not they seem to give the Joker a crew anyway, and if they're going to do that then I'd prefer they use capable established characters that have the same psychotic tendencies and methodology as him, not just a bunch of low level, common street thugs alongside Harley or this new Punchline character. Have the Joker surround himself with the likes of Punchline, Punch & Jewellee, The MadMen, The Trickster (Axel not Jesse), Ragdoll, The Clown, etc. every once in a while so they can at least get propped up for a bit, maybe gain a following of their own and stay out of limbo for extremely long periods of time.

I get you, but I think their own fans might be displeased to see them brought back as henchmen, rather than with the status they used to have. There are certainly heroes I love that I much rather not see at all than see demoted to foot solider or side kick.

For the record, though, I also like a much less psycho Joker. I know that ship has long-since sailed, but the "kills a few people" and brilliant-planner (seriously, his first story was great), and "steals jewels sometimes" Joker was much more fun to me than the gory-torturer, kills half the city, cannibal Joker.

[WebLurker]

Is it possible that Punchline will get killed off at the end of the story? Not saying it would be the case, but if she defeats Harley at the beginning, having her be ended by Harley at the end would be a bookend of sorts.

[Frontier]

Is it possible that Punchline will get killed off at the end of the story? Not saying it would be the case, but if she defeats Harley at the beginning, having her be ended by Harley at the end would be a bookend of sorts.

With all this promotion and hype, I doubt they'll kill her off so soon, although it would be a memorable bait-and-switch.

[WebLurker]

With all this promotion and hype, I doubt they'll kill her off so soon, although it would be a memorable bait-and-switch.

Yeah, I was just thinking out loud. On the other hand, if the story starts with Punchline curbstomping Harley, it seems to make sense that Harley will get to win a rematch in some form before the end.

[kjn]

I'm probably jumping the gun in calling it filler, but this era seems to be spinning its wheels in general since DiDio's firing.

DiDio was fired a month ago. The stories published today were likely finished from an editorial standpoint at that time, and ready to go into physical production. I seriously think that the DC's planning horizon is—or should be—at least six months for each individual title.

DC's offices might be in a post-DiDio upheaval right now, but from a creative standpoint we are still living in the DiDio era, and we might continue to do so for a long while.