Considering the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and the effects it has had on the comic book industry, this delay comes as no surprise but can also quite easily be forgiven. DC Comics has announced that the upcoming and long in-the-works comic series, Batman: Three Jokers, has been delayed. Originally set to be released on Wednesday, June 17, the publisher has announced that the first issue of the three issue limited series will now be published in open and operating comic book stores and participating digital retailers on Tuesday, August 25. by Geoff Johns penned the story, which has been teased for years now by the scribe, with artist Jason Fabok penciling the story.
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“As more stores are finding ways to operate and service their customers, our release schedule is under constant review,” SVP and Editor-In-Chief Bob Harras said in a statement. “From placing orders to on sale, moving Batman: Three Jokers to August will enable more stores to order and sell this incredible story that Geoff and Jason have crafted.”
DC fans have been teased with the idea of “Three Jokers” for years now, with Johns first planting the seed during the “Darkseid War” storyline and revealing the trio of clown villains in DC Rebirth #1, first published in May of 2016. The series will not only focus on the titular Jokers but the people most effected by the Joker in the past including Batman himself, Barbara Gordon/Batgirl, and Jason Todd/Red Hood, all of whom have a complicated and violent history with the clown prince of crime.
“It goes back to the beginning when Batman first encountered the Joker, but it’s also The Killing Joke and A Death in the Family that speak to the book and that we’re building off emotionally,” Johns previously told EW. “Barbara and Jason have gone through so much, as has Bruce, and it’s really focused on healing, on scars and wounds and what that does to somebody. If you suffer some trauma, you don’t just get over with it and move on with your life, it changes who you are. Sometimes it changes you for the better, sometimes it changes you for the worse. You can heal right, and you can heal wrong. That’s really what the book’s about: Healing right, healing wrong, and surviving.”
Johns previously confirmed that this new story won’t introduce a “multiverse of Jokers” and isn’t out to specifically change the characters forever, but to dig deep into the relationships between these DC heroes and the clown prince of crime. You can check out four new preview pages from the first issue of Batman: Three Jokers below!
