Apart from the briefest of cameos in Detective Comics #12, where only his eyes were shown and he uttered “time to put on a happy face”, The Joker hasn’t been since Detective Comics #1 (September 2011), when a villain called Dollmaker surgically removed the skin from his face.
He returns in Batman #13, when Snyder and Capullo begin ‘Death of the Family’ (a reference to ‘A Death in the Family’ by Jim Starlin and Jim Aparo no doubt), a multiple crossover arc lasting 6 months, the effects of which will not only be felt by the Bat-Family but across Gotham.
For which you’ll need to add the following titles to your pull list:
| October 2012 | November 2012 | December 2012 | January 2013 | February 2013 |
| Batgirl #13 | Batgirl #14 | Batgirl #15 | Batmangirl #16 | Batman #17 |
| Catwoman #13 | Catwoman #14 | Batman #15 | Batman #16 | |
| Batman #13 | Batman #14 | Batman and Robin #15 | Batman and Robin #16 | |
| Suicide Squad #14 | Detective Comics #15 | Detective Comics #16 | ||
| Nightwing #15 | Nightwing #16 | |||
| Red Hood and the Outlaws #15 | Red Hood and the Outlaws #16 | |||
| Suicide Squad #15 | Teen Titans #16 | |||
| Teen Titans #15 |
As readers of Red Hood and the Outlaws #0 found out, the Joker claims that he orchestrated most of the major events in Jason Todd’s life, from his father going to jail to his mother’s OD. He then built him up, only to tear him down.
With Snyder already stating that “Joker is my favourite villain of all time…this is my big exploration of the Joker, my ‘Arkham Asylum or ‘The Killing Joke, only bigger in scope” just what can we expect?
Greg Capullo has warned “it ain’t for the faint of heart”.
Does the Joker know a secret identity or two?
Mark Brassington 