Coming Soon—The Joker Year One
A never before seen insight into The Joker's backstory written by Chip Zdarsky will soon be appearing in the pages of Batman.
The Joker is at once a unmissable, larger-than-life character and a character surrounded by mystery. Heath Ledger’s cinematic version of The Joker included a variety of origin stories that undermined any sense of certainty.
The secrets of The Joker’s past are about to be revealed in a three-part story contained with the pages of the Batman monthly comic.
The Joker is one of the greatest villains in comic book history. This three part event is promising “a terrifying story” that will face Batman with “the terrible secret behind his greatest enemy”. They certainly are big claims.
The first Joker origin story will be over 70 years old this February. In Detective Comics #168 in February 1951, a story named ‘The Man Behind the Red Hood’ gave rise to the first Joker origin story. Told from the perspective of The Joker (can we trust anything he says?), it is the story of a lab technician who decides to steal one million dollars and retire. An accident with the chemical turns his skin pale and his hair green.
The new Joker story is from the mind of Chip Zdarsky who has recently shaken up the world of Batman with tales of Batman’s past (such as the creation of the alternate personality Zur-en-arrh) and dangers to his present (with the Failsafe AI robot determined to put an end to a Batman that has taken a life) as well as multi-dimensional travel (and don’t forget the robot hand!).
What can we expect from Zdarasky’s Joker stories? There will be references back to elements of previous origin stories such as the Red Hood Gang. We have been promised a “heartbreaking and gruesome tale” of Joker’s origin. In addition, the story will contain the reforming of the Red Hood Gang and “a devastating new virus” with the possibility that only The Joker can stop the danger ahead.
From the start of the story, we are told that readers will “be questioning everything they know about The Joker!” Once the story begins, we won’t have to wait too long for the next issue. All three parts of the story will be released in February. So watch out for those releases and a number of variant covers.
Batman #142: February 6, 2024.
Batman #143: February 13, 2024.
Batman #144: February 20, 2024.
The Joker Year One will be appearing in the pages of the monthly Batman comics starting in Batman #142, February 6th. If you are in need of a little Joker mystery and mayhem, check out Batman: Three Jokers. The title gives away the premise but still manages to include a whole host of characters and is full of Joker insanity (this is a paid affiliate link and as an Amazon Associate I will earn a small income from qualifying purchases, but won’t cost you any more).