To say that DC’s Absolute Universe has been turning everything fans know and love about the publisher’s world of iconic superheroes on its head is an understatement. As the darkest corner of the Multiverse yet, the Absolute books have seen huge changes to both the heroes and the villains and this is especially true for Absolute Batman. Scott Snyder and Nick Dragotta’s hit series has reinvented just about everything familiar about Batman, especially his villains and now, we’re getting a look at Absolute Joker and not only is he a horror show straight out of nightmares but we might just have Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight to blame.
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On social media, Snyder dropped the first look at the design for the Absolute Universe’s Joker and to say that he’s terrifying would be a wild understatement. The creature — which is honestly the only way you can truly describe this version of the Joker — has some familiar elements, namely the pale, white-cast skin, the too-wide mouth, and green hair but that’s where the similarities end. This Joker looks more like a demon or some sort of evil, dragon-like creature and it might just be the most dangerous take on the Clown Prince of Crime yet.
The character is set to debut in Absolute Batman #15 in December. DC describes the issue as follows: “Alfred reveals to Bruce the story of the man he’s been chasing for years. Enter: Joker! Scott Snyder and Jock for an epic tale in the Absolute Universe!”
Absolute Joker Is Pure Nightmare Fuel, But We’ve Seen Hm Before (Sort Of)
While this new version of the Joker is pretty unique to anything we’ve seen on the pages of DC Comics, he’s not exactly unfamiliar to DC fans. Fans of Nolan’s The Dark Knight will be eerily reminded of the joker playing card used by Heath Ledger’s take on the iconic villain in the 2008 movie. It’s not a one-for-one situation, but the pose, the devil-like tail, and even way the jester hat sits on the figure’s head all are mirrored in Dragotta’s Absolute Joker design. It makes for an interesting take on thins and has readers wondering just how much this new horror show of a Joker will be like more mainstream takes or if we’re going to be getting something completely insane.
The new look at Absolute Joker also seems to prompt some questions at least in terms of what we’ve previously heard about the origin of the character. Earlier this year, Snyder explained at Dragon Con that the Absolute Universe’s joker would be the opposite of Batman, just as he is in the mainline universe, suggesting at the time that this Joker could be a billionaire with all the resources. That said, we have also previously seen a glimpse at Joker before now that suggests there could be something much darker at play that would preserve the idea of Joker being Batman’s opposite and somehow make this transformation even worse. Absolute Batman #1 teased him looking generally human, which is also how he appeared in issue #11. But Absolute Batman #6 revealed him to be receiving a transfusion of sorts from the blood of babies. It suggest that there might be something wrong with the Joker, prompting the sort of experimentation and transformations we’ve seen done to other iconic characters in Absolute Batman thus far. Or it could potentially be something far, far worse. Whatever it is, no one’s laughing at this Joker.
Absolute Batman #15 goes on sale December 10th.
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