The Three Jokers are the informal name for a super-villain organization from the DC storylines Darkseid War and Batman: Three Jokers, created by writer Geoff Johns. They are a reimagining of the Joker and his origins, separating him into three separate characters who represent different incarnations of the character, namely: the golden-age depiction of the character, the silver age version of the character (inconsistently mixed with 1980s versions) and a version of the character specifically based off of Batman: The Killing Joke . The canonicity of the team is unknown.
History[]
Origins[]
The Three Jokers were seemingly founded by an early foe of Batman who was known as the original, "Joker". It is likely that this Joker was doused in chemicals though anything regarding his origins is unknown. Pragmatic and calculated, he began exposing others to the chemicals to have them become Joker replacements that could hurt Batman more effectively. The team expanded to include two Jokers who replaced the original, one of whom was more campy and silly while the other was more sadistic and deranged.
Three Jokers[]
Batman learned of the Three Jokers' existence when asking the cosmic artifact the Mobius Chair of the Joker's true identity. Investigating this, Batman found out that the Three Jokers were using chemicals to create more Jokers who could potentially inflict serious pain on Batman. Jason Todd/The Red Hood falsely believed himself to be the target to be next Joker and after a confrontation at an aquarium, shot the Clown Joker dead in cold-blood.
Batman would find the actual target to be Joe Chill, the killer of his parents. Batman and the original Joker confronted one another before Batman saved Chill and the Comedian Joker shot the original Joker dead. The Comedian was then arrested as the only Joker left, delighted at now being the only Joker in Batman's life.
Members[]
Former members[]
- The Joker (The Criminal): The original incarnation of the Joker who is a grim criminal-mastermind of unknown origins and surprisingly, he is the only one being serious of the the three Jokers, claiming that smiling and laughing physically hurt him. This Joker is obsessed with hurting Batman and creating more incarnations of the Joker aliases to break him, including the targeting of Joe Chill. He is also implied to be the Joker active in, "The Harlequin's Hoax" of stealing seemingly useless items to black-mail people via references to their traumatic pasts. He was murdered by the third known Joker, "The Comedian".
- The Joker (The Clown): This version of the Joker was the second and was far more goofy, fun-loving, campy, colorful, showman-like prankster and theatrical and was accompanied by a dwarfed henchman called, "Gaggy". He is implied to be the Joker who created the Laughing Fish and who murdered Jason Todd. He was murdered by an adult Jason Todd later in life.
- The Joker (The Comedian): This Joker was a mentally-ill, failed stand-up comedian named Jack who used to work at ACE Chemicals and who believed he was widowed by his wife Jeanie (who actually escaped with their unborn child to Alaska). Jack was pressured by mobsters into becoming the Red Hood and robbing ACE Chemicals where he ran into Batman and fell into a vat of chemicals, turning him into a much more sadistic Joker. As Joker, he shot Barbara Gordon in the spine to kidnap and psychologically torture her father at Amusement Mile.
Notes and canonicity[]
- While written to be cannon by Geoff Johns, the story has largely existed in a vacuum and features some continuity contrivances. The story's artist Jason Fabok claims the story is not cannon and main-line Batman writer James Tynion IV stated that the story did not effect the main continuity's story.
- The story treats Joker's back-flashes from Batman: The Killing Joke as being indisputibly cannon while Batman: The Killing Joke itself references them as likely being imagined events and leaves their validity as ambiguous.[1] The story is also supposedly set in Prime Earth continuity where this backstory was not applicable as Joker (implied to be either, "The Comedian" or, "The Clown") was crime-lord leader of the Red Hood Gang who became obsessed with Batman in his first year as a vigilante before willingly jumping into the acid.
- The story is inconsistent in deciding which of the Jokers is the intimately Batman-obsessed Scott Snyder depiction of the character from Batman: Death of the Family and Batman: Endgame. On a screen of the Three Jokers, Batman sees two images of the Joker from Batman: Endgame seperate from that of the golden age Joker, and Joker from Batman: The Killing Joke which implies Snyder's Joker to be, "The Clown". However, while looking over case-files, Batman flashes back to being attacked by Joker in Batman: Endgame while talking about, "The Comedian" and implies the Comedian to be Snyder's Joker.
- In Issue 1, The Clown remarks how the Comedian's Killing Joke shirt belongs to the former which.
- In Issue 2, The Comedian also claims to be the who beat Jason Todd with the Crowbar
- "The Criminal"'s characterization is based off of Joker's solemn first panel appearance rather than his first actual comic portrayal, as the golden age Joker almost constanly smiled and cackled maniacally (including on the same page of Batman issue 1 which the panel is taken from).
- Each of the three "Jokers" represent the three eras in DC comics "The Criminal" represents the Golden Age "The Clown" represents the Silver Age and "The Comedian" represents the Bronze/Modern Age.
- While not officially proven, it is theorized that the Comedian is the real Joker while the Clown and the Criminal were just people he brainwashed as the criminal laughed uncontrollably and remarked how it hurt to do so.
References[]
- ↑ “I'm not exactly sure what happened. Sometimes I remember it one way, sometimes another... If I'm going to have a past, I prefer it to be multiple choice!"