On Friday, DC Comics gathered a group of comic journalists for a video conference call with James Tynion IV to discuss ‘Joker War,’ his first big crossover since taking over the “Batman” title earlier this year. The call began with Tynion talking about his vision for the event.
I am really, really freaking excited about ‘Joker War.’ This is something that around this time last year, I started talking to DC about the possibility of taking on the Batman book, and what I really, really wanted was to build towards a big event story. And it was something that I had been a part of from the start of being a part of DC Comics. My first issues ever were the backup stories as a part of the ‘Night of the Owls’ crossover, as a part of the year one of the New 52. I used to love those big crossover moments in the Batman line because it felt like it really unified the family. And it was something that story could build to and story could flow out of.
And that was something that I know that especially when we first started talking about my “Detective Comics” run a few years ago, we thought in the ‘Rebirth’ era we might do that again, but we only really ever did ‘Night of the Monster Men.’ And it was something that I was hoping to see some more of. So it was something that getting in here and then using the character like the Joker to tell a really, really big story. Now, as that was all building, the question started to be raised. What could be done with the Joker’s story that I feel like I haven’t really been able to do before, or haven’t seen before? There were a few different angles that I knew I wanted to bring into it. One was something that I talked a lot about in my “Detective Comics” run, was very much about how the presence of Batman impacts Gotham City. How Gotham City changes, how the people around Gotham transform with the presence of Batman, and I did that with characters like The Colony and the Victim Syndicate, and all of that.
But in this story, I wanted to show what the impact of Joker is on Gotham. It’s something that’s always been fascinating to me, the idea. But you have to imagine in a world, like our real world has so many podcasts about serial killers and stuff like that. What does the actual world see of the Joker? I imagine there are entire shelves in Barnes and Noble in Gotham City filled with books about the crimes of the Joker and stuff like that. I wanted to build off of that, I wanted to bring back the idea of Joker leading a gang, because both in Scott Snyder’s stuff and in Tom King’s stuff, we had a Joker that was more solitary. And then on top of all of that, I wanted to do a story that really clipped the dynamic, and the core high concept conceit is I wanted Batman’s fortune to be ripped away from him and given to the Joker. I wanted Joker to have all of the Batmobiles, Bat planes, Bat gadgets, and Batman to have none of them. And that’s the dynamic I wanted for a story.
So it was like all of those pieces coming together, and those were the things that I started throwing at DC almost a year ago, and now we’re finally sitting here and we have an incredible story for you. Absolutely phenomenal, Jorge Jimenez art, and some big, exciting new characters, and really cool stuff. So I’m really, really excited.
Multiveristy got to ask three questions of Tynion, the first of which was “Your ‘Detective Comics’ run was incredibly tied into the Bat-family, whereas the “Batman” series as of late as been far more about Batman himself. Since you’re flipping the script on the Batman/Joker relationship, will we see more of the ‘Joker’ family?”
Continued belowOh yeah. That was definitely one of the big goals that I wanted for this story, and one of the things that led to the creation of Punchline. I wanted to really explore the fact that Joker having this whole group of people around him in the same way that Batman has his family around him, like at the moment that Joker successfully hit a bunch of fracture points that has separated Batman away from his family, and some of those fracture points, Bruce hit himself. But now Joker has this big family all around him. He has Punchline, he has this whole gang of clowns in masks and all of that. And Bruce doesn’t have anyone around him. That’s where ‘Joker War’ starts. And then we’re going to see that change over the course of the story as Batman realizes who he needs to reach out to to win. So the building of a Joker family, I definitely have a post it note somewhere in this office that says Joker family underlined three times from last October or something like that.
A year ago, this story likely had relevance and tonal connection to the real world, but since 2020 has shined a spotlight on the brokenness of our American system, how does the Batman story change? Is there a way to reconcile Batman’s rampant capitalism and ‘copaganda’ with the world we find ourselves in and, more importantly, the world we want to live in?
I absolutely think that there’s a way to reconcile those pieces, and I think that there are ways in which I think the Batman comics are perfect to lean into those stories, and I think there are ways in which it’s better to lean away. We’ve been having a lot of conversations about this. Like, this is not something that we want to approach lightly. The benefit of a story like ‘Joker War,’ clearly, is it’s not meant to be a grounded story. That was something that was part of the goal of the story to begin with. This is something where the horror of the moment is meant to feel real, but it’s definitely like this is Joker gangs out in the streets and driving around Batmobiles. It’s not meant to represent what’s happening in the real world. But there are core aspects to it that tap into the way Bruce has kind of without thinking created an arsenal that other people can pick up and use. I think there are elements of his wealth and his position in Gotham that are right for picking at for stories and making Batman analyze.
You’ll see little pieces in there as a part of ‘Joker War’ that might touch on some of that, but it’s definitely been more of a discussion about the stories that we’re building moving forward, and the status quo that we want Batman in for 2021 and beyond. So I think you will see more of that, and I think you’ll see Batman being confronted with the ways in which he should do more in Gotham City and the way in which he wants to do more and he wants to be better. Obviously, ‘Joker War’ is him versus the Joker. It’s Bruce in a dark mindset, but it is something that as the story goes on, we see him come back with the family in this big uplifting way.
Part of it is how to build a better outlook for Batman moving forward and how…not necessarily happy Batman, but Batman who is a bit more centered and a bit more grounded, and not feeling like he’s losing track of everything, that his whole life is crumbling in his hands every five minutes. BSo those are all pieces that we are having active conversations about and I think you will see shape some big stories in 2021 and beyond.
The Bat-books have been quite silo-ed from the overall DC Universe for quite some time now. Did you ever want to bring some non-Gotham characters into “Joker War” and, if so, who did you want to bring over?
Continued belowHonestly, I haven’t. But that might come from the fact that I’ve spent the last few years in Justice League land. For a while, I’ve been playing with the whole DC Universe and cosmic universe and everything tied into “Death Metal” and “Justice League” and “Hell Arisen.” And honestly, I just want to deal with Gotham right now. And I find that deeply exciting in getting to zero in and not particularly worry what Superman has to say about a situation and all of that. I love the DCU, I love all of those characters, but I am definitely very, very happy and excited to play in this specific arena. And I don’t see that changing in the immediate future. But I will say the one character who’s been announced that we are bringing back in is Grifter, the Wildstorm character who I love and is badass. It is one of those things where I was just talking to [Bat editor] Ben Abernathy and I needed this character to fill this beat, and it was just like, oh yeah, we’re totally going to use Grifter because Grifter’s freaking cool.
And I think as moments like that arise, there are always little fun ties to the larger universe around Batman that then can set up new exciting story in all of that. But I would love to play with Plastic Man as a character. That’s a character I haven’t had a lot of time to play with, but I would love to. I don’t necessarily know that I am dying to bring Plastic Man into being a recurring character in “Batman” just yet.
‘Joker War’ begins in “Batman” #95, out this week from DC Comics.
Written by James Tynion IVCover by Jorge Jimenez
Illustrated by Jorge Jimenez
Colored by Tomeu Morey
Lettered by Clayton CowlesIt was always going to come to this. The Clown Prince of Crime and the Dark Knight Detective go head-to-head for the last time. The Joker has never wanted to win before, he’s never wanted his battle with Batman to end, but now his motivation has shifted. He has decided that one way or another, this will be the final chapter to their story. “Joker War” begins here!
