The Joker’s New Origin Story Might Be the Most Chilling Version Yet

After months of anticipation the Absolute Universe’s Joker has finally arrived. While fans got their first glimpse of the terrifying villain at the end of Absolute Batman #1, he’s been a figure largely in the background up until now, shadowy and disturbing as even more pieces of the puzzle that is a chilling new take on Batman’s most iconic enemy were revealed. Now, after months of anticipation, this week’s Absolute Batman #15 has finally given readers not only his horrifying true form but has delivered an origin story that might just be the most terrifying of any we’ve seen in the Absolute Universe to date.

Warning: spoilers for Absolute Batman #15 beyond this point.

Absolute Batman #15 is presented as Alfred briefing Bruce on the Joker, but it isn’t as straightforward as you might expect. We get the information and, thus, the Joker’s origin in a couple of waves: what is known and what is “true” about the Joker and what Alfred believes. Both are juxtaposed against what the Joker is currently doing on a “hunting trip” to one of his private islands. What is revealed to be “true” is that the Joker’s name as we know it is Jack Grimm V and he is named for his great-grandfather, a street performer who rose to fame and wealth, going on to form J.K. Holdings where he became a titan of media and industry and quietly funding philanthropic endeavors across generations which continues with Jack Grimm V. But there’s so much more to things — and the public truth is not what it seems.

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The Grimm Family Story is a Lie — and Both “Truths” Are Terrifying

What’s interesting is that there are two “truths’ to the Joker’s family story. When pressed by Bruce, Alfred reveals that the Grimm family isn’t as good and philanthropic as they seem as they have actually made their money by playing both sides. They fund both right and left wing media. It’s shown that they funded the Allies and the Axis in World War II. They fund both peace and war. All of their efforts are geared towards manipulating things so that they make as much money possible by leveraging both sides against the middle for their own best interests. That makes Jack Grimm V — who is now a near-trillionaire — the most powerful and monstrous of villains in the sense that he’s controlling the world all for his own financial gain. But that’s not terrifying enough.

When pressed further, Alfred reveals that he believes the Grimm family front to be a lie and that there is no actual Grimm family. He believes that there has only ever been one Jack Grimm and that he is actually an ageless, horrifying monster — be it through science or a pact with the devil, Alfred isn’t sure — and as we see on the page by watching Jack’s hunt on the island play out, Alfred is correct. On his island is a man, Harvey Harris, who was looking into disappearances associated with the Grimms only to vanish himself and now, he is Jack’s next victim — taken out by Jack who transforms into a terrifying monster with horrifying razor-like teeth.

Absolute Joker Is the Most Chilling Absolute Version Yet

There is a lot to unpack about this Absolute origin for Joker. We already knew that whatever his backstory he was going to be truly horrific — one of the previous teases we saw of the villain was of him seemingly draining babies of their blood to sustain himself and it doesn’t get much darker than that. However, finding out that he’s not only potentially functionally immortal due to his disturbing practices, but actually behind global atrocities makes him not just a comic book monster, but something far worse.

This take on the Joker, Alfred says, funded the Nazis privately while publicly funding those fighting them, and as we were taken on a trip through the “Grimm family” business history in terms of their media empire and everything else they’ve had their hands in over the decades as well as it being made clear that there is no family and it is all just one twisted man behind it all, the picture we’re getting is that this Joker is not just a threat to Batman or Gotham, but is potentially a global threat or larger. That line from The Dark Knight about some people just wanting to see the world burn comes to mind It’s truly terrifying and it makes him potentially a much bigger problem for the overall Absolute Universe than one might expect.

What’s also interesting here is that he serves as a bit of commentary on the concept of Batman as well. The final pages of the issue reveals that Jack Grimm pretty much has the life fans are most accustomed to seeing had by Bruce Wayne: the manor, the butler serving him, even the entrance to a secret cave hidden behind a grandfather clock with the time set to a very specific hour and minute. One of the common conversations about Batman is that, as a billionaire, Bruce Wayne is a contributor to the very problems Batman aims to solve. By having Joker in the Absolute Universe be an example of that, one can’t help but look at Batman with a little bit different of a lens — and even ask some big questions about whether anyone in the Absolute Universe even stands a chance.

Absolute Batman #15 is on sale now.

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