By: Nick Winstead on July 2, 2012
While there have been many anticipated returns, reboots and character introductions in DC’s new 52, none may be more hoped for by readers and more dreaded by those in Gotham City, than that of Batman’s arch enemy The Joker. A chilling and jarring new teaser image was released today, which sees the character returning to action after his brief introduction in Detective Comics #1, where his face appeared to have been sliced off. This October, Batman #13 sees the character return in a brand new story arc, one that writer Scott Snyder is anxious to see get underway.
“Joker is my favorite villain of all time,” Snyder told The Source. “Not just in comics. In everything – film, books, TV. He’s the greatest, hands down. So this story is something extremely important and personal to me – something I’ve been building in my head ever since I started working in Gotham. Basically, this is my big exploration of the Joker, my Arkham Asylum or The Killing Joke, only bigger in scope. Bottom line: it’s the biggest, baddest, most shocking Joker story I could tell. This is Joker completely unleashed. He has been away for a full year planning this revenge, watching, plotting, setting things up. And now he’s back. He has his traps set, his knives sharpened… And wait ’til you see him. Greg’s sketches literally gave me chills. Point blank: This is Joker like you’ve never seen him before. He has a mission. He has a secret. And he has a serious axe to grind with Batman. It isn’t going to be pretty, but it’s going to be a wild ride. Thanks for taking it with us.”
The storyline will be titled “Death of the Family”, a play on the very familiar “A Death in the Family” storyline from a couple of decades ago, when the Joker famously killed off Robin (Jason Todd), with the help of a few fans and a 1-900 number. After all of his evil acts, Robin’s death, the paralysis of Barbara Gordon, his heinous acts in earlier days, just what will Snyder and series artist Greg Capullo have in store? You’ll have to wait and find out when Batman #13 lands in comic book stores on October 13th
