Batman: Three Jokers #1 Review

The Criminal, The Comedian And The Clown

Written By: Geoff Johns

Art By: Jason Fabok, Brad Anderson, Rob Leigh

Cover Price: $6.99

Release Date: August 25, 2020

After four years of waiting from when we first found out that there were three jokers at the end of the Darkseid War, it's finally here. The answers that we've all been waiting for (I hope we're still waiting because damn, four years is a long time to care about something) will finally have some light shed on them and we can understand what the Mobius Chair was talking about when Batman asked it who the Joker really was. Let's jump into this issue and see Batman team up with the two Bat-Family members who have been hurt by the Joker the most and see as they come together to get to the bottom of a mystery that has shocked the world of Batman. Let's check it out.

With the hype that this book has, whether that's a good thing or a bad thing, you'd think that this book would want to grab you right from the get-go and make sure that it never loses you along the way, especially for the type of story that they're trying to lay on us and the Bat-Family. Now, this is kind of the case here because while it initially did grab me since I'm one of the people that have both been waiting patiently and impatiently for this book to finally come out, it did start to lose me along the way since we are at one point in this book just brought to a cabin in the woods, where we see the Three Jokers interacting and where they're allowing one of them to be the boss of the group. I would like to say that this is the first and only time that this has happened, but even the lead up to the idea that not only will our heroes be facing three Jokers, but the GCPD as well, we are given three different crimes that are committed by the Joker at the same time and while these are callbacks to the things that the Joker has done before or things that he has strived to do in the past, it just kind of feels like it goes on a little too long to get our three heroes of this story together so that they can take the fight to the Three Jokers themselves. 

So yeah, not a flawless book in my mind, but even with the parts that I thought went on too long or even just the Three Jokers themselves, which is a concept I'm not fully on board with yet, there are moments of great subtle storytelling that enhances the book and the relationships of the characters involved in what they will be doing here, while also having great easter eggs from old continuity for people who have been following Batman for a long time, which was really fun. Ultimately though, the book shines and blows the parts that I didn't care for out of the water by the end when our team finally confront one of the Three Jokers and from the point where they piece the clues together to figure where the Joker is going until the last page of this book............ Well, I was floored and couldn't get enough of what this book was giving me. With that, I can't wait to see where we go from here and what the Three Jokers has in store for us.

All in all, the creative team on this book is comprised of my individual favorites when it comes to their craft and right from the beginning this aspect gave me a smile because I knew that at every turn I'd be getting something special from each of these people....... and they didn't disappoint. The atmosphere, the dialog, the character-building on aspects that we thought we fully knew only for small things being presented here that would turn the idea on its ear, it's all pretty amazing. Was the middle and the setup a little slow at times? Yeah, but the book is building a mood and I can understand what they were trying to do even if it's something I'm not a fan of, and in the end I'm happy as hell with this book and can't wait to get more.

Bits and Pieces:

It's been four years since we first got the shocking news that there were Three Jokers out and about and now we can finally get the information a lot of us have desperately wanted ever since that reveal and for this first issue to those answers....... it didn't disappoint. Do you know for certain what's going on here...... no. But you get some ideas that will keep you wondering along the way, while also being a book that has a super-star creative team that does some of their best work along the way. Check out the Three Jokers. You won't want to miss this.

9/10