Do you think Punchline will catch on?

[Nite-Wing]

My worry is that DC is shooting themselves in the foot when they are selling the character on the role she occupies and comparison to other characters
Joker's new girlfriend and "anti Harley Quinn"
From the little I've seen she has a nice design and I guess operates in that pure evil space but I'll need to see more. No one who isn't crazy will willingly work for the Joker after all.

[dreyga2000]

I think she'll be big. I took a loooong break from comics especially on the DC side. Interest in Punchline has peaked my curiosity. I'm gonna be picking up any issues with her in it

[WonderNight]

How much do you want to bet that they try to turn her in to nightwing's joker. I just got a feeling.

[Vakanai]

How much do you want to bet that they try to turn her in to nightwing's joker. I just got a feeling.

I hope not. I'm not near as invested in Nightwing's stories or his rogues or lack there of.

[dreyga2000]

How much do you want to bet that they try to turn her in to nightwing's joker. I just got a feeling.

More likely she becomes Harley's new "joker"/arch-nemesis

[Tzigone]

How much do you want to bet that they try to turn her in to nightwing's joker. I just got a feeling.

I really hope not. As I've said before, I really think it hurts spinoff heroes to get spinoff villains. Freddy and Sivana Jr., various Supers and Luthors. It really hurts them in terms of being seen as separate heroes or ever having the possibility of being regarded as equal-tier. It makes them more derivative and less distinct and very much keeps them in sidekicky roles.

[Frontier]

How much do you want to bet that they try to turn her in to nightwing's joker. I just got a feeling.

She's appearing in his book but I think that's just to promote her more. She's like Harley in being like a Robin equivalent of a sidekick/partner for Joker.

[WonderNight]

I really hope not. As I've said before, I really think it hurts spinoff heroes to get spinoff villains. Freddy and Sivana Jr., various Supers and Luthors. It really hurts them in terms of being seen as separate heroes or ever having the possibility of being regarded as equal-tier. It makes them more derivative and less distinct and very much keeps them in sidekicky roles.

Oh I agree. I what nightwing to be more independent.

It's just that way DC has been using nightwing for the last two decades he's already been hurt and become sidekicky.

[WonderScott]

I think it’s hard to “design” a character to be popular. Harley herself and her creators kind of stumbled into it based on Arleen Sorkin’s performance in BTAS, and her character design, and her kind of interaction with the Joker was “new” at the time, and a lot of these factors made them realize the possibilities and her potential and, being creative, they took advantage of them to see what would happen.

It’s not to say Punchline can’t have her own creative path to popularity based on how her character is portrayed and her dynamic with the Joker, Harley, and the heroes, but it feels much harder as she’s already an answer to Harley Quinn, whether she wants to be or not.

We’ll see if it happens, but the beauty of Harley Quinn in her conception is that not only did her character grow and change because of her relationship with the Joker, but also because of her relationship with Poison Ivy as well and the other heroes and villains of Gotham in her own right. And also with the other heroes and villains in Gotham because of her relationship with the Joker.

They struck some gold with the complexity of her character and how she interacts on multiple levels in Gotham. Maybe Punchline will be able to do that too.

I’ll always root for a new villain to succeed in popularity and create new dynamics for stories, so let’s hope the Punchline lands.

(Also, please call me when Harley Quinn, Joker, Punchline, Marionette, Mime, Joker’s Daughter, and the Creeper show up together on a Gotham rooftop sometime - that’s a story I want to read/write/edit.)

[WebLurker]

I think it’s hard to “design” a character to be popular.

Yeah, that always seems to backfire with anything.

[Vakanai]

I think it’s hard to “design” a character to be popular.

Well, yes and no. Virtually every popular character in comics was designed to be popular. That's why Superman drew from a Bible story (Moses) and circus strongmen (circus was very popular). That's why Batman took inspiration from Sherlock Holmes, Zorro, and the pulp heroes of the day. It's why Robin drew inspiration off Robin Hood minus the bow and arrows. Almost every modern character is designed to be popular - the difficulty is less in the design and more in competing with already established popular characters. These days it has more to do with luck than design - but that doesn't mean you throw out thoughts of what could make a character popular when creating them.

It's easy to criticize the idea of designing characters with them becoming popular in mind, but that's basically what every creator has always done and always will do. We just don't tend to notice or think about it. We're only taking notice this time around because this one is meant to fill a space a popular character has left. Without the Harley/Joker connection, and arguably the Hot Topic clothing choice, we wouldn't be discussing Punchline and the whole popularity contest.

[mathew101281]

[Cyberstrike]

(Also, please call me when Harley Quinn, Joker, Punchline, Marionette, Mime, Joker’s Daughter, and the Creeper show up together on a Gotham rooftop sometime - that’s a story I want to read/write/edit.)

Get the right creative team and sounds like a wild time.

[mathew101281]

Get the right creative team and sounds like a wild time.

are they going to call them the Insane clown Posse?

[Rac7d*]

Whatever happened to jokers daughter?