Joker: Year One Gets Striking Artwork From Writer/Artist Chip Zdarsky

Writer Chip Zdarsky has shared some of his own handcrafted artwork to promote Joker: Year One. The upcoming storyline in Zdarsky's Batman run will put the spotlight on Joker and expose some deep, unrevealed secrets about the Clown Prince of Crime's history. Joker: Year One takes place after the "Gotham War" crossover event in what DC's calling their "most brutal fight of all time." To get fans hyped up for the Batman vs. Joker showdown in Joker: Year One, Zdarksy unveiled some chilling artwork of the Dark Knight's most ruthless nemesis.

"Yeah! For the month of February we're putting out a special story within the pages of Batman called THE JOKER: YEAR ONE!" Chip Zdarsky wrote in a Substack post. "Giuseppe Camuncoli and Andrea Sorrentino have come onboard to make this a really cool looking story. It takes place in two time periods: the period directly after The Joker's creation in the chemical vat, and some time in the future as Batman tries to unravel a mystery. It's been fun attempting to dance between the raindrops of continuity on this one!"

"Anyhoo, it's cool and pretty and I hope people dig it when it drops. Also! Jorge is still going strong! He's leading us into this storyline and picking up right after in issue 145!" he continued. "And yeah, I did the promo piece above. It may end up being a cover? Maybe?"

Trinity of Evil teased in Dawn of DC

Earlier this month, DC unveiled new details around a number of upcoming storylines, which are set to culminate in the debut of a "Trinity of Evil" in 2024. To convey the hype, DC unveiled a new version of the Dawn of DC timeline, as well as new looks at upcoming issues of Titans: Beast World, Action Comics, and Batman.

According to the announcement, these storylines — Beast World, Action's "House of Brainiac", and Batman's fight against Zur En Arrh — will have a significance in the DC storytelling going forward. Beast World will also help lay the groundwork for a new Suicide Squad series, which will be titled Suicide Squad: Dream Team and will launch in March of 2024. As the name suggests, the team will include Nia Nal / Dreamer, and will be set up in Action Comics #1060 and Titans: Beast World Tour Metropolis #1.

Let us know what you think about Chip Zdarsky's Joker: Year One promotional art in the comments!