The Joker War is a Batman storyline that ran through the various Batman titles in 2020 as part of the Batman (James Tynion IV) run.
Gotham City and Batman has been through a lot. Bane performed a massive mental and emotional breakdown of Batman, then took over Gotham City. Batman recovered and he and his allies took back Gotham, but not without a massive toll: Alfred Pennyworth, Batman's trusted butler and confidant, was dead, his neck snapped by the muscled man. As Batman tried to move on and started shoving his allies away in pain, the Joker caught wind of this. Realizing Batman was trying to build a better Gotham, he decided it was time to bring it all down on him and, even more, possibly cap off their long rivalry. It was time for war.
The storyline ran through Batman (James Tynion IV) #95-100 with sidestories in Nightwing (Rebirth) #72-74, Batgirl (Rebirth) #47-50, Catwoman #25 and Detective Comics (Rebirth) #1025-1026 as well as a one-shot title, The Joker Warzone.
The storyline was preceded by the Their Dark Designs which sets up the cirumstances of The Joker War.
Tropes Featured in This Story:
- Bittersweet Ending: Joker is stopped and Batman has reunited his Bat-Family again with a pledge to be a better Batman than he was before and it seems that Harley Quinn has finally joined the side of the angels. However, Batman's lost his fortune, his gear and most likely his company, Gotham's seemingly lost faith in Batman, the Joker is seemingly still alive and Punchline just might walk free.
- Brainwashed and Crazy: Nightwing's story completes that "Ric Grayson" storyline by having Dick taken over by the Joker and turned into a cruel fighter called "Dickyboy". Batgirl and Bea save Dick, but at the cost of Ric's memories, leaving Bea alone again.
- Brought Down to Normal: In a sense. Joker is able to take away the Wayne Fortune, Wayne Enterprises and the Bat-Tech he's used, forcing Batman to use his wits and whatever gear he has.
- The Bus Came Back: The Batwing story in the Joker War Zone one-shot ends with Lucius Fox's wife saying that it's time for their son Tim to finally come home. Pre-Crisis, Tim Fox was Lucius' teenage son, but the character pretty much dropped off the face of the Earth after Crisis on Infinite Earths, with some fans even speculating that he'd been written out of continuity.
- Canon Immigrant: The final Batgirl tie-in issue marks the first official DC Universe appearance of Ryan Wilder from Batwoman (2019).
- Continuity Snarl: The entire Batgirl storyline doesn't fit in well with the main storyline or the rest of the tie-ins.
- Does This Remind You of Anything?: The scene where Lucius is nearly accidentally gunned down by some GCPD officers seems like a nod to the high profile debate around police brutality against African-Americans that was going on in real life at the time.
- Eye Scream: Harley blasts the Joker in the face, taking out an eye.
- Face–Heel Turn: In The Joker Warzone, Poison Ivy returns to villainy and rechristens herself as Queen Ivy once she discovers the ruins of Eden caused by Punchline's attack.
- Fiction 500: Joker and his gang have stolen all of the Wayne fortune and as such, are able to pull buy and bride as much as they want.
- Heel–Face Turn: By the end of the story, it seems that Harley Quinn is more firmly on the side of the angels.
- He's Back!: Multiple ones:
- Nightwing regains his memory at the end of Nightwing #74 and puts back on the costume in Batman #99.
- Batgirl reclaims her identity as Oracle in Batman #100.
- Cassandra Cain dons the familiar black Batgirl costume once again in The Joker Warzone, while Stephanie Brown dons a fusion of her Batgirl and New 52 Spoiler costume.
- Karma Houdini: The ending to Batman #100 seems to hint that Punchline will get off the hook for her actions. This is confirmed in the Punchline oneshot, where she manages to sell herself as a victim of the Joker while simultaneously spreading what she thinks of as his message.
- Too Dumb to Live: Joker's plan revolves around getting Gotham citizens to see his "special" cut of Zorro after buying every theater in Gotham by offering each person $10,000, reasoning that nobody can resist that much money. He does this by broadcasting a tied-up theater owner with a bleeding Z wound on his face saying this and then shooting him at the end. And this plan is to take place while his goons are looting and razing the goddamn city. The people of Gotham fall for it, hook, line, and sinker.
- Ungrateful Townsfolk: The Joker's main plan is for Gotham to give up on Batman and superheroes in general. It seems to have taken hold, seeing as many citizens refuse to turn in Clownhunter and Lucius Fox has become disillusioned with Batman's crusade against crime.
- Villainous Breakdown: Joker finally stops laughing when Batman walks away from him covered in bombs, implicitly saying he won’t save him this time, and starts shouting at Alfred's Jokerize corpse to shut up.
