A Joker Just Saved Red Hood From Batman

You read that headline correctly: in an ironic reversal of history (or a really twisted joke), DC's The Joker just saved Jason Todd (aka Red Hood) from Batman, marking a very strange new twist on the longstanding drama between the trio of characters. 

(SPOILERS) Joker: The Man Who Stopped Laughing chronicled the cross-country war between two of the (three?) Jokers currently running around the main DC Universe. The book began with one scrappy, low-rent Joker in Gotham City finding himself shot in the head and left for dead in the sewer – while out west in Los Angeles, a more flamboyant and traditional version of the psychotic villain was wreaking havoc on the West Coast. When both Jokers learned their authenticity was being called into question, they collided in Gotham to see who would survive to carry the mantle of Joker for himself. 

The Man Who Stopped Laughing #12 brings a fitting climax to Matthew Rosenberg and Carmine Di Giandomenico's sordid crime mystery tale. The Gotham Joker (actually former Joker henchman John Keyser) launches a scheme to crash a train of explosives into Gotham, annihilating the city. He recruits Red Hood to fight on his side by telling him he can kill the real Joker like he wants to so badly (without mentioning the bombs, of course). 

However, there is a major snag in Joker-Keyeser's plan: Batman had psychologically sabotaged Jason during the "Gotham War" feud between The Dark Knight and Catwoman. Jason experienced paralyzing dread whenever his adrenaline spiked, effectively taking "Red Hood" and his killer-vigilante campaign out of commission. Well, who better to understand Jason Todd's journey than a  pretend Joker who was shot and left for dead by the original?

Joker-Keyser and his gang (Solomon Grundy, Mr. Scarface and The Ventriloquist, a few loose clowns) ambush Jason at an old park, and Keyser blasts him with a specially-made cocktail of "the teensiest, tiniest, dose of Joker Toxin" included in it. "Just enough to bring back that psychotic alter-ego of yours, I hope." 

The crazy technique works: Jason Todd heads into the final battle with the Jokers as Red Hood, operating with no problem. Thanks to Joker-Keyser, Jason finds fear funny, arguably making him a potentially more unhinged and dangerous version of Red Hood. That said, by the end of the battle, Jason once again joins sides with Batman, in order to stop both Jokers from gassing and/or blowing up all of Gotham.

This quick about-face change in Jason Todd/Red Hood from Gotham War to this Joker series finale is somewhat baffling. The Man Who Stopped Laughing #12 all but invalidates one of the most shocking (and interesting) turns of the Gotham War, and raises even more questions about the abruptness of that finale. 

Joker: The Man Who Stopped Laughing is on sale at DC Comics.