Writer: Geoff Johns / Penciller: Jason Fabok / Colour Artist: Brad Anderson / Letterer: Rob Leigh / Editors: Mark Doyle & Amedeo Turturro / DC Comics
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26th August 2020
The Pitch: Thirty years after Batman: The Killing Joke changed comics forever, Three Jokers re-examines the myth of who, or what, The Joker is and what is at the heart of his eternal battle with Batman.
One of the longest delays between joke and punchline came to end last week when the first issue of Batman: Three Jokers finally hit the comic stands. The first question you have to ask is 'was it worth the wait?', the second has to be 'why the hell did it take so long?' To answer the second question first, the delay(s) were caused by Johns' ever-changing role at DC / Warner Bros, Doomsday Clock and therefore decisions about where the story would fit in Johns' overall structure, as well as the issues caused as Justice League changed shape. It's fashionable to bash Johns right now, something I'm not going to join in on without cause. It's also become something of a sport to attack The Joker as a character. That too seems dubious. Don't get me wrong. I can honestly say, hand on heart, that the Joker is one of my least-favourite Bat villains. That I read so many comics featuring him is a design of his ubiquity. You just can't escape him. But hey, I like Batman. So, in for a penny, in for a pound.
I can see the troublesome aspects of the Joker, particularly with the recent film. But it's clearly a character that speaks to something in the modern psyche. This book seems to riff off the long-held idea that The Joker can represent the changing psychological extremities of the age. Only here it seems to have been given its most literal form. This might simplify the idea a little too much for some, but sometimes it's refreshing to have a thing laid out in an ostensibly easy way. And look, it's the first issue. If we want the entire load shot for us after just 30-odd pages of #1, we might be the problem. The first issue should at least present us with a mystery, a question, that the next two issues should attempt to solve and answer.
THE MYSTERY ITSELF IS A CLASSIC DETECTIVE STORY
The mystery itself is a classic Detective story: How can one person commit at least three murders at the same time? The book dispenses with any doubt that there are indeed Three Jokers pretty early on, leaving us with another mystery... How is the Joker, of all people, capable of having three versions of himself running around? Well, hopefully, we'll only have to buy this series to find out, instead of seeing it spin into reams and reams of story. Like any good lover of fiction, I think it's sad when things end, but it doesn't mean I'm not happy when they do. But I digress... The Jokers we're presented with are representative of key points in the Joker's history. We get the Killing Joke version, complete with a beach outfit. We get Jason Todd's killer. And we get an older, more classic version, seemingly the leader of the pack.
the book is about trading on past glories, past defeats and past lives
It's fitting that the Clown Princes are marked out by these time periods, not just because both Barbara and Jason are key to the story, but because the book is about trading on past glories, past defeats and past lives to inform who we are now. The layouts and art recall Killing Joke, something that has drawn a little criticism as if all comics don't in some way trade on their own histories. It's probably the most self-referential medium out there and anyway, isn't that one of the reasons we love it? Here it's taken to the nth degree. The past scars – not just Bruce's body in the opening moments, but the actions Barbara and Jason take here and now.
Johns clearly enjoys delving into the history of the character, something that is a speciality for him. There's a little rewriting of history, too. Something that may come into play later in the story. This fits the Joker perfectly – a man who can't even decide on his own origins. If indeed they are his origins. The script is well-paced and tight. It gives away just what it should just when it should. Fabok's art is beautiful, recalling Gary Frank and Brian Bolland yet bursting with its own muscular energy. The character's faces are haunted by their actions and the sense of a never-ending war that's taking its toll. Anderson's colours are rich and balanced, never tipping the stylisations over into the extremes, but instead keeping the atmosphere and tone of the scenes interesting, popping in all the right places. Rob Leigh's work on the letters shows us why he gets so many of the big-name, luxury books. His screams and dialogue are a masterclass. What you have with Three Jokers is a deluxe treatment of an interesting idea that needs exploration. Sure this is the punchline, but it's a joke crafted by master storytellers. “Knock-Knock..”
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