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A deadly new villain debuted in April 13's The Joker #2 by James Tynion IV and Guillem March - one who is taking after her daddy.
A new villain named Vengeance debuted last week, the daughter of Bane. The latest in a long line of new characters Tynion has introduced to the Bat-family over the past year, Vengeance was even played up with a secret variant cover slipped into comic book stores' shipments of Joker #2 issues - with one copy of this variant for every 50 copies they ordered of the issue.
As a whole, The Joker #2 came jam-packed with potentially significant reveals that could shake up Batman's world. Spoilers ahead for this (and more) on the issue.
In Tom King's Batman run, Bane played the eponymous big bad of the 'City of Bane' arc, which included the death of Alfred Pennyworth by his hands. The storyline is still reverberating in Tynion's Batman run today, although the Joker has taken back the reins as Batman's arch-nemesis, cementing his role in Infinite Frontier #0 with the 'Jokerization' and death of Bane.
That story thread is being picked up in The Joker ongoing series. Issue #2 opens up with a Jim Gordon monologue over scenes of various characters, including a group of people wearing Bane masks seemingly experimenting on a screaming, muscular woman in a tank of water with dozens of tubes injected into her.
At the end of the issue, the scene expands to include identifying the location as Santa Prisca prison (the 'birthplace' of Bane) with the same group of scientists wearing Bane masks. An unmasked man speaking Spanish says the green Venom (presumably the same 'Venom' that gives Bane his powers) is reacting positively to her blood as they hoped and that her conditioning is holding up well.
Now removed from the tank, she's asked by someone in a Bane mask if she "knows her enemy" and she replies (while putting on a Bane mask herself), "Joker."
With Bane's death directly tied to the Joker, this seemingly plan of vengeance isn't surprising, but there's still a lot of questions that need to be answered. What is the direct connection between this group and Bane? Who is this woman? Will she become the next Bane? Will Jim Gordon team up with even more villains to hunt down and potentially kill The Joker?
As Newsarama recently detailed, Tynion and Batman writers he succeeded like Scott Snyder and Tom King have made a priority of expanding Batman's cast, so it would not be a surprise if Tynion is adding a female Bane to the ranks.
The Joker #2 is on sale now with the third issue set to hit comic book stands May 11.
The Joker #2 not only includes this potential new Bane reveal, but also a role reversal unmasking with Jim Gordon disclosing to Batman and Barbara that he knows his daughter's identity as both Oracle and Batgirl, as well as Ms. Clarke (the mysterious woman who hired Jim Gordon to kill The Joker) taking her rightful seat with the Court of Owls.
The Joker left white clown make-up all over Newsarama's list of the best Batman stories of all time.
