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We're two issues into The Joker: Year One - the three-issue arc that's playing out weekly in the headline Batman book this month. Last week's #142 got things off to an intriguing start, bouncing between a past and future Joker in an issue that called back to both Batman: Zero Year and The Killing Joke. This week's issue goes several steps further, presenting us with an issue that is intent on piecing together his journey from that chemical vat to becoming the elemental monster we all know and fear.
It's an issue that's pretty much guaranteed to stir up debate, but before we get into all that, here's Giuseppe Camuncoli, Stefano Nesi, and Tomeu Morey's cover.
Big spoilers for Batman #143 ahead
The Joker War: Part Two kicks off once more with a brief scene in the future timeline, where the Joker has infected everyone in Gotham, transforming them into deranged versions of himself. (A side note, but it is noticeable and a little unfortunate that this is coming out on the same day as Action Comics #1062, which does pretty much the exact same thing with Bizarro.)
From there we cut back to the past and to the Joker. A mysterious figure, who claims to have trained Batman, has offered to become his mentor. The Joker is sceptical about that until an attempted hit from the Red Hood gang draws Bruce's attention - at which point the Joker panics and flees.
As the issue progresses, it becomes clear that what we have here is a version of the Joker who is still a twisted psychopath, but not yet quite the force of nature he will one day become. The reason for this is that he still feels fear - specifically a deep terror of Batman. It's time, then, to give that mystery man a call...
This, it's revealed, is Dr. Daniel Captio, a character from 2022's Batman: The Knight (which was also written by current Bat-scribe Chip Zdarsky). Captio trained Bruce Wayne to conquer his fear and to turn off pain when necessary, but Bruce ultimately rejected Captio's ways. That has left him feeling slighted and he now intends to get revenge by training another student: the Joker.
But that's not the half of it! Captio, it turns out, also has his own "backup personality" like the Batman of Zur-En-Arrh, named Kahr Em Zed. He allows this persona to "possess" him and teaches the Joker the benefits of creating multiple identities "to be used and focused when you need them."
The Joker really takes to this idea, creating three distinct people within himself. The first of these is the clown. The second is a force of pure evil that causes Captio to muse, "I don't believe in heaven or hell, but if I did I'd think this man has existed for millennia, tormenting humanity in the service of something greater." The third is the Joker at his most malevolent, referred to here as simply "cold death."
Eventually the Joker kills Captio, leaving him to muse in his dying moments that he has created something perfect with which to foil Batman. And that's where the issue leaves us, with the story concluding in next week's #144.
Hmm.
There are going to be some who hate this tweaking with the character, especially when it leads to dialogue like the Joker musing, "I guess Batman is like a brother to me now." I don't hate it, but neither do I personally see a super-compelling reason for it, and it further tangles the already convoluted Zur-En-Arrh and three Jokers plot threads.
All that said, this is of course an ongoing story and maybe Zdarsky and Co. have some larger reason for all of this that we've not gotten to just yet. His writing for Batman remains compelling and, as with the previous issue, there's some truly fantastic art from Andrea Sorrentino and Giuseppe Camuncoli, who really make the most of the two different time zones to tell a bold and visually-exciting story. We'll see how it all comes together next week...
Batman #143 is out now from DC.
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