What if there is more than one...?
On Three Jokers (contains spoilers)
I often avoid big events. When companies claim an event will “change the comic book landscape forever” I tend to take a step back. Come on. Just tell me a story. So when I first heard the concept of the Three Jokers I was naturally skeptical.
Then I read it.
My pre-conceived critique—three Jokers? Really?—was turned on its head with one line of dialogue late in the book from Jason Todd that simply reiterated my initial hesitation:
“What if there have always been more than one?“
Suddenly this story was no longer about three Jokers; it was about the possibility of three Jokers. That one, simple line made the story a mystery and leaves Jason—and by proxy, the reader—unsettled and left questioning what you thought you knew about the Joker.
What if there have always been more than one Joker? Damn. Imagine—this entire time, Joker has always had a card up his sleeve, always one step ahead, his entire act up until now but a preamble to the main show. Damn.
The story in book one sees Joker escape from Arkham, but spotted in three separate locations at the same time throughout Gotham shortly thereafter. Batman, Red Hood, and Batgirl—the three most affected by the man—track down clues and capture one of the Jokers, this one claiming to be the one who killed Robin. But is he really Joker?
Of course Jason Todd is unsettled by this because of his obvious troubled past with Joker. Back from death, Jason has left the ideals of Robin behind to bred forth a new alter ego. To Joker, though, Red Hood and the boy wonder are still one in the same. Geoff Johns’s brilliant dialogue is in full display during this scene, late in the book.
“Have you ever wondered why he uses my former moniker?” Joker asks Batgirl, referring to Jason’s “Red Hood” persona. “Who in their right mind would take on the identity of their killer?”
Joker, despite being tied up and outnumbered, holds all the power. Jason pulls a gun to the discomfort of Batgirl, telling Joker that he’s only made him stronger. Even now, looking down the barrel of sure death, Joker takes away any remaining power when he tells Jason that his death was never about him. “Because he’s all that matters,” Joker laughs back, referring to Batman. “Not you. Never you.”
Joker taunts Jason again and again, and after literally coming back from death at the hands of the man he now has tied up, Jason Todd pulls the trigger. But even in death, Joker holds all the power, as Jason looks down upon the body inn doubt and says, “I hope that’s the right one.”
What if there’s more than one..?
All of this comes in the final scenes of the first book. When Jason wonders aloud about the possibility of three Jokers, a lot of the groundwork had already been laid. So, when I mentioned that it was this line of dialogue that made me turn my skepticism into intrigue, it was because of the work the creative team had put into the story thus far that really made that line deliver with such decisive impact.
With the seamless flow of Johns’s writing, Jason Fabok just absolutely blew my already-high expectations out of the water. Despite being hesitant about the plot, it was Fabok’s spectacular art and Brad Anderson’s colors that urged me to give it a shot when I thumbed through it quickly in my local comic shop.
Fabok’s illustration gives instant credibility to any story with his classic-style renderings of these iconic characters. (It’s this very reason I was so impressed with Johns’s writing, as it kept pace with the mastery of Fabok’s work). Batman and Batgirl were very traditional in the sense that their costumes were at its most basic; Batman sported the yellow bat-oval, Batgirl with her famous cowl and yellow interior cape.
Book one called for three separate Jokers, two of which have their most infamous incidents—the shooting of Barbara from The Killing Joke and the crowbar-beat down Jason took from Death In The Family—relayed back to us with Fabok‘s pencils. He was able to navigate those murky waters, making those moments instantly recognizable—while also his own—in no small measure due to the colors of Brad Anderson.
Anderson’s contribution to the book was what allowed me to settle into the story. Fabok’s classic interpretation afforded Anderson the opportunity to set the atmosphere. It felt like Gotham City. It felt like a mystery, with lingering horror around the corner. That’s all mood—and that’s all setting. That’s thanks to Brad Anderson.