The Joker gets grilled over the Puzzlebox in new series

The Joker Presents: A Puzzlebox
(Image credit: DC)

Incoming The Joker co-writer Matthew Rosenberg is already spreading the laughs with a new standalone digital-first limited series titled The Joker Presents: A Puzzlebox. The seven-issue series finds the Clown Prince of Crime arrested and in the Gotham Central interrogation room, grilled over what he knows about an unfolding mystery.

(Image credit: DC)

"The G.C.P.D. discover a mysterious corpse, a magical box, and a murderer's row of the city's most dangerous villains sitting in a jail cell. Now all they need to figure out is what exactly happened! Fortunately, one suspect is willing to talk," reads DC's description of The Joker Presents: The Puzzlebox #1. "Unfortunately, it's The Joker. And he's holding all the cards."

Each issue of The Joker Presents: The Puzzlebox will be a story within a story, with the Joker narrating seven "seemingly unconnected stories of his fellow inmates." As you can suspect if you've made it this far, the seven stories end up all connected and part of a larger plan for the Joker.

The Joker Presents: A Puzzlebox #1 will be drawn by Jesús Merino, Joshua Hixon, and Ulises Arreola. Here is a preview:

Future issues of The Joker Presents: A Puzzlebox will be drawn by Keron Grant, Dani, Domo Stanton, Juni Ba, Vanesa Del Rey, Ricardo Ortiz, Christopher Mooneyham, and more.

In addition to the comic book story itself, the DC Universe Infinite and print editions of The Joker Presents: A Puzzlebox will include a new DC feature: 'Director's Cut Bonus Box.' According to DC, this will have "additional clues and insights to help readers stay two steps ahead of the Joker!" According to the publisher, the 'Director' Cut Bonus Box material will not be included in the digital chapters sold outside of DC Universe Infinite.

The Joker Presents: A Puzzlebox will be serialized digital-first beginning on June 7, with print editions of The Joker Presents: A Puzzlebox going on sale August 3 in seven parts. The Joker Presents: A Puzzlebox #1 will have a primary cover by Chip Zdarsky and variants by Riccardo Federici, Christopher Mooneyham, and Jesús Merino.

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Chris Arrant

Chris Arrant covered comic book news for Newsarama from 2003 to 2022 (and as editor/senior editor from 2015 to 2022) and has also written for USA Today, Life, Entertainment Weekly, Publisher's Weekly, Marvel Entertainment, TOKYOPOP, AdHouse Books, Cartoon Brew, Bleeding Cool, Comic Shop News, and CBR. He is the author of the book Modern: Masters Cliff Chiang, co-authored Art of Spider-Man Classic, and contributed to Dark Horse/Bedside Press' anthology Pros and (Comic) Cons. He has acted as a judge for the Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, the Harvey Awards, and the Stan Lee Awards. Chris is a member of the American Library Association's Graphic Novel & Comics Round Table. (He/him)