Bruce Wayne's fortune stolen by Joker to wage war on Batman & Allies in War Zone

(Image credit: DC)

What would the Joker do with Bruce Wayne's fortune? Well, you're about to find out in the new "The Joker War" tie-in anthology coming this September.

In Batman: The Joker War Zone, the event's architect James Tynion IV leads a group of creators including John Ridley, Guillem March, James Stokoe, Joshua Williamson, and David Lafuente in stories that will feature faces from Batman's extended family.

"Gotham City is a battleground as the Joker takes over the Wayne fortune and wages a street war against the Dark Knight and his allies!" reads DC's description of the one-shot. "Enter the 'war zone' on September 29 with short stories featuring characters like Cassandra Cain, Stephanie Brown, and Luke Fox…and see how they’re fighting back in a city under siege!"

The publisher says the new character Clownhunter will also debut in Batman: The Joker War Zone, although Tynion has previously said the "mysterious new anti-hero" would debut in Batman #96 - which is scheduled for August 4.

"Jorge and I just created a new character named Clownhunter, who shows up in Batman #96, part two of 'Joker War,'" Tynion said back in March 2020. "I am very, very, very excited about him, and the absolutely brutal wrench he’s going to throw into the mix of that story."

"The Joker War" began in the recent Batman #95, and will continue through #100 - and also run through Detective Comics #1022-1026, Batgirl #47-50, Harley Quinn #75, Catwoman #25-26, Red Hood: Outlaw #48 and this Batman: The Joker War Zone anthology special.

And while DC is promoting the special as a key issue in the Batman mythos, promising "the future of Gotham City starts here!", keep in mind Generation Zero: Gods Among Us was the beginning of the "march towards DC's future," and that event hasn’t been rescheduled since it was originally solicited for May.

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)