Line #18 ComicBook/PunchlineTheGothamGame


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/tt_punchline_the_gotham_game.jpg]]
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3	''Punchline: The Gotham Game'' is a six-issue limited series from Creator/DCComics and published from 2022-2023 during the tail end of ''ComicBook/DCInfiniteFrontier'', but just prior to the commencement of ''ComicBook/DawnOfDC''. It is written by Creator/TiniHoward and her husband Blake, with art by [[ComicBook/Robin2021 Gleb Melnikov]].
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5	''The Gotham Game'' is a spinoff of Creator/JamesTynionIV's ''ComicBook/TheJoker2021'', picking up Alexis Kayne/Punchline's storyline in the wake of her trial and acquittal in that book's backup feature. Riding off the wave of public sympathy, Punchline is intent on resuming her plan and making herself Gotham's new Queen of Crime.
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7	But Alexis has also made plenty of enemies since ''ComicBook/TheJokerWar'' -- and they're all ''pissed'' she got off scot-free...
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10	!!''Punchline: The Gotham Game'' provides examples of:
11	* BuryYourGays: Cullen's boyfriend, Bluff, dies in issue #4.
12	* TheBusCameBack: [[spoiler:Over 2 years after ''Joker War'', Joker and Alexis finally reunite in the final issue.]]
13	* CanonImmigrant: The first issues sees the meta-teen incarnation of the Royal Flush Gang from ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'' cartoon make their comics debut.
14	* ContinuityOverlap:
15	** ''ComicBook/BatmanChipZdarsky'': Downplayed, but Bruce is finally back in town after having been traveling abroad during ''ComicBook/BatmanJoshuaWilliamson''. As he was out of town when the verdict was handed down, Bruce is ''not'' happy Alexis got off and is determined to stop her for good.
16	** ''ComicBook/Catwoman2018'': The mini-series is ''closely'' intertwined with Howard's ''Catwoman'' (enough to the point that they're unofficially crossing over and it's impossible to understand one without the other).
17	** ''ComicBook/TheJokerTheManWhoStoppedLaughing'': [[spoiler: Joker, plus his then-current injuries, finally pops up in this mini-series.]]
18	* ADayInTheSpotlight: For Alexis Kayne (and, to a lesser extent, the Royal Flush Gang).
19	* ImmediateSequel: The first issue opens immediately following Punchline's acquittal at the end of ''Joker''.
20	* LongGame: In issue #2, Bruce theorizes to Dick Grayson this is what Joker was ultimately trying to accomplish with Alexis. She is of the generation that grew up in a post-Batman Gotham and in the middle of the Clown's reign of terror. Bruce fears this is what Joker was playing for: To saturate Gotham's up-and-coming with constant fear and terror to the point where, rather than reject it, they would accept and embrace his ideology.
21	* MobWar: Punchline and her faction are on the cusp of one with Black Mask as the mini-series gets going (and aligning with the Gotham Mob tensions Howard has been seeding over in ''Catwoman'').
22	* SequelSeries: To the ''Punchline'' backups from Tynion's ''Joker''.
23	* {{Spinoff}}: Of Tyion's ''Joker''.
24	* VillainWithGoodPublicity: Punchline is still riding a wave of public sentiment and sympathy thanks to her acquittal in the ''Joker'' series.
25	* VillainousBreakdown: In issue #4, [[spoiler:it turns out that Black Mask and his associates, including Tiger Shark and the Ventriloquist, have taken advantage of her attack on Catwoman and her turf to invade Punchline's own turf to take it over. When she tries to get him to join her, he declines and revealed what he did, causing her to flip out]].

Context ComicBook / PunchlineTheGothamGame