It looks like Clownhunter will be taking over the Batman back-up story, starting in September, as of DC Connect #14.
Interesting. I had kind of thought/assumed that would be the semi-permanent ongoing home for Ghost-Maker that would continue to flesh him out beyond the context of Bruce/Batman. That said, while I'mma miss getting to know him and some of his personal adversaries in the intimate setting the backups provided for him (dude has really proven himself to be a really fun character), I also keenly look forward to Bao finally having a space like that for himself. The backups have been doing wonders for Ghost-Maker's ongoing characterization and fleshing out. I'm sure they'll do Bao Pham the same wonders in turn.
Also, I suppose this means the Clownhunter one-shot in August is gonna be the precursor/prelude to his ongoing backup story in Batman.
Last edited by J. D. Guy; 06-18-2021 at 08:06 AM.
Yeah, I definitely though the Ghostmaker story was going to last longer, but if I had to guess, he probably has something else cooking for him. Whether a miniseries, or even a Secret Files One-shot, I'm expecting to see Tynion have something else for him soon. Especially after building Ghostmaker a small rogue's gallery in the back-ups.
I'm excited to see more of Clownhunter. I enjoyed the Annual focused on him last year, and have been wanting to see more of him. I'm glad to see that it appears he's keeping the Clownhunter ID for now anyways, as I like it a lot. Hopefully this will do a lot to establish him more, especially since he's been missing for the last six-ish months now.
Yep, it appears the Secret Files issues are doing a lot of support work for the line as a whole. Huntress seems to be building off the 'Tec arc, I assume Signal's will be prepping the Outsiders story coming in the fall, Miracle Molly's ties into Fear Itself, so it makes sense for Clownhunter's to be re-establishing him and prepping for his back-up.
Agreed. A lot of good work has gone into building Ghost-Maker, so I doubt we've seen the last work focusing specifically on him and his world.
Agreed. Along with Ghost-Maker, Clownhunter feels like other breakout character of Tynion's. It surprises me that he's basically vanished since the Annual. So I, too, am glad that he'll be resurging in some consistent form in the latter part of this year. His Batman backup story seems to be putting him through a vigilante crucible, too, so it'll be intriguing to see what we'll learn about Bao from it and where and in what ways he'll emerge out if it.
So far, Secret Files is putting in a lot of work spotlighting and shoring up characters who haven't or couldn't get their due. I'd love for The Signal's to lead into his own ongoing or mini, if not something Outsiders related. Duke's been overdue for his own solo.
Yeah, I've felt the handling of Clownhunter has been odd so far. Gets introduced in Joker War, has a major supporting role in Ghost Stories, then has an Annual to flesh out his backstory- just to disappear from the books entirely. I was leaning towards the theory of him becoming Red X for a while, though I feel like his return in the Bat-books disproves that. It seems like they had a glut of Bat-characters to focus on, and Bao got put on the backburner. While I'm not sure what to expect from his Secret Files issue, I appreciate that his back-ups will place him right in the midst of the ongoing story, and develop him more during Future State. Makes me hopeful he'll have a more consistent presence after the crossover.
I would be totally down to see Duke get a solo project of his own. But with the Urban Legends Outsiders story confirming more Outsiders coming this fall, and Duke getting mentioned by name, I assume he'll be left with them for now. At the very least, he'll continue to get page time. That's better than some characters can say, like Azrael or Batwoman at the moment.
I was also totally onboard the "Clownhunter is Red X" train. But I've well since come to feel that's not the case, and probably never was. Bao's absence in that time period was coincidental to the rise of Red X.
But yeah, when you compare, say, Ghost-Maker's presence, which hasn't wavered (just changed trajectory) since his debut, to Clownhunter's, who had a similar dynamic and bombastic introduction that left an impression narratively, it becomes even more surprising and jarring that Clownhunter basically vanished for half a year's worth of storylines. While I guess it could argued that he was placed in line with other Bat-World story threads getting focused on, again, Ghost-Maker didn't have this caveat to the flow of his presence past his initial introductory arc. Even once his backups end, Ghost-Maker is still going to have a prominent role in the mainline stories to come. Which makes me wonder all the more what the deal was for Clownhunter's absence. (I get the feeling that August's Secret Files is probably not gonna explain anything in that regard.)
While that's true in a vacuum, and it did help keep Duke in-print, the Outsiders' writer, Bryan Edward Hill, didn't really do Duke's character and narrative canon any real favors. He may have gotten a new facet to his powers (albeit, in a way that felt like it was trying to "fix" what the writer felt was broken, while not really taking advantage of showing why the change was a "fix" in the first place) and while Duke's relationship and friendship with Cass has been the absolute best takeaway for him, Duke/The Signal suffered from Batman and The Outsiders due to character stagnation and character and narrative regression. Hill treated Duke like he was a Day-0 newbie, which is far from the truth, even if that's a thought-line many readers who are largely or entirely ignorant of Duke share.
While future Outsiders endeavors could differ (especially with a different writer in this case), it's a dangerous line as to what the trade-off of consistent exposure is versus the detriment of consistent misuse.
Jason Todd offered to train Clownhunter in the Secret Files
december 21st has passed where are my superpowers?
Of all the bats, vigilantes, and anti-clown people in Gotham, Jason probably is the best choice for that. He knows the price for underestimating clowns too well. And certainly has his own beef with them. So keeping a kid alive, while putting the hurt on Joker's devoted, is a win-win.
Legit fan-dream come true! I still remember one of Bao's first fanarts was Red Hood's declaration of protection!
https://twitter.com/therealryouko/st...83829443198978
This one!
Last edited by J. D. Guy; 08-17-2021 at 11:09 AM.
Link to full page, for best context.
https://twitter.com/aditiv41_/status...44664543338520
http://majorspoilers.com/2021/08/17/...-clownhunter-1
Releasing a lettered preview of an issue on the same day it's released feels really silly. Or obnoxious, one. I'm not sure which.