Joker R.I.P.


The majority of the attention and speculation from the “Batman R.I.P.” storyline has been appropriately focused on how this will affect Batman. It is, of course, called “Batman R.I.P.” and is happening in books named after and starring Batman.

But while reading Batman #680, I couldn’t help but notice the dramatic changes that are happening to the Joker, and I’m actually starting to wonder how (or even if) he’s is going to come out of this storyline.

There are the obvious changes to the character’s appearance — he’s got a bullet hole scar between the brows, and he’s got new Heath Ledger-esque “smile” scars. In this latest issue, he gave himself a forked tongue by slicing it with a razor blade mid-monologue.

But deeper than that, The Joker now also definitely knows Batman’s secret identity, which can’t bode well for Dick Grayson, Tim Drake or Alfred. The conflict between Batman and Joker has always been at that symbolic, larger-than-life level, so Bruce’s secret hasn’t necessarily been all that relevant; but at the same time, it seems silly that the Joker wouldn’t use that information if he had it.

Ironic as it might seem, I actually think the character of Batman can handle a drastic status quo change more than the Joker can. If a new Batman puts on the mask, that’s a story in itself. Regardless one’s feelings about Knightfall, Ed Brubaker’s Captain America has shown that putting a new person into an iconic role can work very well if there’s a good story to support it. But I was reading The Greatest Joker Stories Ever Told a week or so ago, and the clear message in the foreword was how changing the Joker doesn’t work — the most dismal era for the character was when writers tried to tinker with his basics.

One could argue that Grant Morrison’s changes to the character are simply continuing the Joker’s return to his vicious and murderous ways that began in the 1970s. But regardless of whether or not that’s the intention, it’s gone beyond a renewal of the character’s fundamentals; if anything, it’s a destructive caricature of them.

The key is going to be where DC goes after this story, and whether or not they acknowledge there has been a change to the character. While I don’t really care for what’s happening to the Joker, it’ll do even more damage to the character if the first post-Morrison Joker story has him getting plastic surgery and a mindwipe.