The Joker #6 Preview

[Hypo]

The Joker #6 Preview
Writer: James Tynion IV
Artist: Guillem March
Backup Writers: James Tynion IV and Sam Johns
Backup Artist: Sweeney Boo

[sifighter]

No one expects Texas Chainsaw Massacre in a Batman book!

[Frontier]

This really is a horror book.

Also, that's the most Harley-esque Punchline cover.

[Stars & Stripes]

I'm just mainly here for the continuing 8-page per month adventures of Bluebird and Punchline.

[Restingvoice]

What is happening in this book

[sifighter]

What is happening in this book

Joker is on the run internationally and a bunch of people are hunting him and trying to kill him.

1. Jim Gordon who has been sent by the court of owls. He doesn’t know it’s them and he’s being Gordon instead of a hired gun.
2. Vengeance the daughter of Bane
3. The family from Texas chainsaw massacre? Basically it’s them but they’re rich.

Oh and Punchline is in Jail gathering her faction while Bluebird is looking for evidence to prove she’s a psycho.

[Restingvoice]

I meant just the Texas Chainsaw Massacre family. That was sudden. So it is sudden? ^^

Vengeance is a good name.

[K. Jones]

A lot of signs leading to The Black Glove this issue ... but that being said they feel like nice nods and red herrings, not actual clues. We hear about Bossu but don't see him, Gordon mentions the Club of Villains, who he had the luxury of getting caught in a Wayne Manor death-trap with. There's just a blatant mime in a park; a natural Parisian sight but one that with the Bossu comments immediately draws the mind back to Pierrot Lunaire. There's Interpol, mention of "An unseen conspirator drawing a bunch of people we've never heard of into a revenge plot against Joker" that draws the thinking to both the Black Glove or the Court of Owls or some final addressing of the connection between the two. Doctor Hurt (a psychologist at Willowwood and Jack-the-Ripper American analog) would have had access perhaps to Billy Sampson in the past, definitely to the Parisian connections, possibly to Interpol through access to Spyral, and he does have Latin American connections via drug cartels though not specifically Prisca/Venom/Bane, who seem like they'd go Steroid-Catholic on a devil-worshipper and break him.

Which is why I think it won't be, but I do expect we might get at least one or two more winks and nods to this sort of thing and these sorts of mysterious connections that Joker has made internationally. From Ayatollah Khomeini to Pearly King Charlie English, Joker does seem to have these connections; like some actual allies and enablers in the International Villain Community, and as long as you don't do something stupid like call yourself "The British Joker" or wear a sombrero, he doesn't seem to murder them all (although their henchmen, yeah, all the time). But obviously Owls and Others will probably at least factor into the "list of possible suspects" as we go on. And I even like "fleshing out" the Sampson family ... these are supposed to be related to the Dollmaker, right? Or am I just intuiting that based on similarities? That would even link up New 52 loose threads ... Then again, speaking of red herrings and false clues, Gordon's use of the spiders & webs allegory made me think of Spyral or Kathy, believed dead (constantly), the queen of international espionage, the sort of person who might use being off the grid/MIA/KIA to start culling the herd of these unknown/below radar evil psychos. That might be a stretch too far, though.

I do think Cressida's naming convention is as simple as the notion that she's faithless and false; an obvious liar, and the deeper cuts of that name's origins won't have direct allegories or correlations in the narrative. We're meant to know she's a liar, it's like naming Jezebel Jet Jezebel Jet. I can't remember if she already talked to Owls last issue or I'm imagining it.

Ironically I feel like the wild card is Santa Prisca and Banette. While Joker and Bane have had a Gotham gangster rivalry of trash-talking and Bat-hating, it's not particularly personal. They'd kill one another given the chance but don't seem to go out hunting one another, but we've never really known Joker to have any kind of personal Santa Prisca connection, so other than "Vengeance of Vengeance of Bane" I'm not sure they're any more involved than that. Vengeance is a good name, props for that though. (Tangent; I wonder if anyone will ever acknowledge any of the other weird Venom-Generals of Bane from New 52/Forever Evil/Bat-Bane. We got Bird, Zombie and Trogg in City of Bane but the Venom-Generals were cute.)

Am curious who Babs might be drawing on. It's a woman, she indicates, with a personal stake. Could be Harley, obviously. Or a cute homage or bringing-in of a "Past Joker Henchwoman" from extra-media, which would be neat. Or Joker's wife canonizing Three Jokers, which would at least blow my mind for 30 seconds while I tried to make lemonade out of it.

Otherwise I don't mind a pacey issue with a lot of monologuing, conversation of a detective actually being shown doing detective work and bringing a lot of moodiness and vibe and Film Noir pacing to a comic book because I prefer these to punch-punch-splash-page-shock-reveal storytelling and think this is some of Tynion's strongest stuff in the Bat-verse. And hey, lovely that Bullock gets roped into this mess, too - he fits perfect here.

[signalman112]

Neal Adams Realtor exclusive cover to JOKER #6.

JOKER6Variant.jpg

[Frontier]

Neal Adams Realtor exclusive cover to JOKER #6.

JOKER6Variant.jpg

Neal Adams drawing a Talon .

[Charlie_1981]

Anyone notices that is so weird to have a book about the Joker in what he barely appears?

[Rac7d*]

Anyone notices that is so weird to have a book about the Joker in what he barely appears?

Makes sense to me I’m. Not intrested in his journeys or progression, nor should we see him achieve his goals. Bad guys are suppose to loose

[Stars & Stripes]

Anyone notices that is so weird to have a book about the Joker in what he barely appears?

Some people have theorized that this is really just a Jim Gordon book but with the Joker’s name in the title to increase sales.

[Frontier]

Tynion's outright said this is a Jim book and Joker's just the horror/slasher figure in the story.

That being said I feel like you could get more mileage out of a book with Joker as an actual protagonist.

[millernumber1]

Tynion's outright said this is a Jim book and Joker's just the horror/slasher figure in the story.

That being said I feel like you could get more mileage out of a book with Joker as an actual protagonist.

Is Joker Puzzlebox a story with Joker as protagonist?
I have negative interest in a Joker protagonist book, while I adore what Tynion is doing as the best book currently on the shelves