I love the idea that Joker hates not being the source of Batman's deepest pain.... So much so that he helps Bats find closure and heal that wound. That is definitely next level sadism, and exactly what I'd expect from The Joker.

So joker plan was to heal batman so he could annoy him more. That makes sense

did anyone see the cleaner who took away Jason's note, kinda weird that his company was called "Funtime Cleaners" and he's also wearing all purple like the Joker. I feel like this was a sly way of showing that the Comedian may learn that Jason Todd has feelings for Barbara and he'll use this against him in the future.

I'd like to note: this doesn't just confirm the Killing Joke backstory as true. It also confirms the whole "multiple choice past" thing that Joker claimed as well. We see a few flashbacks of his wife - but NOT the way Joker described it to Gordon. We see her as being afraid of him, needing to fake her own death just to escape him and protect herself and her unborn child. So we can see: he's not the hapless Nice Guy who turned evil after having one bad day. There were always undercurrents there.

"the note was swept away by just some random guy" - you never noticed you dont see his face, he has a purple suit, and works for "funtime cleaners"?

The biggest takeaways from this series is that: 1) Bruce eventually forgave Joe Chill 2) TKJ Joker's wife and kid are still alive The second of which could have HUGE implications if this ends up canon.

Honestly, that was satisfying shedding a light on Joker's wife and kid. And yeah, that's one secret that should remain secret.

The Joker is so evil he made batman face his greatest enemy yet; Therapy

If he knew the joker's name, why did he ask the mobius chair who the joker was?

The Criminal: Heath Ledger The Clown: Mark Hamill The Comedian: The Joker

The real joker is the cleaner who took the Jason's letter from the floor. He is the 4th joker the big boss the one who is still hide his self in the shadows & he used the other 3 jokers for his plans against batman...

Batman: "I knew Joker's real name a week after we met." Also Batman: "Morphius Chair, who dat boi? Who him is?"

The voices of the three Jokers if this ever gets animated I would like to see this. The criminal Kevin Michael Richardson The comedian Mark Hamill The Clown John DiMaggio

If this comic ever gets green lit for an animated movie, my top picks for voice actors for Joker are Mark Hamill, Troy Baker, and Richard Epcar. They all sound very close to each other but still very distinct

"Joker wants to be at the center of Batman's life." Wait, so that wasn't just a joke in the Lego Batman Movie?

The reason why the slippery slope argument works is because Batman is actually insane. His moral code is the only thing that keeps him grounded in reality and if he breaks it, he’s going to become a psychopath.

At this point, Joker's entire personality revolves around his man-crush on Batman and his compulsion to constantly say "Hey, ever notice we're two sides of the same coin? Really makes ya think!" Maybe that's why Batman is so defensive about killing him. None of the other villains have a strict "never actually kill me" clause in their contract.

So my question is: which Joker has Harley been going around with or have they been switching up on her?

If you look closely, the "random guy" that swept up the letter was wearing purple, and his jumpsuit said "fun time cleaners", i think its entirely possible this was either another joker poison victim or henchman or possibly the joker himself. It just seems like a weird choice if not supposed to be hinted at being joker related. Making sure jason never gives up being the red hood.

Please tell me I am not the only person who caught the guy sweeping the letter from Jason under the door wearing a "funtime cleaners" uniform...... Joker.......

Even when Jason is written good, it’s always in tragedy😭

BATMAN: "No one can know his name." Me: "Uh... Joe Kerr."

I loved the ending. My problem with "The Killing Joke" is that it makes The Joker too sympathetic. This shows that he always was a bastard. He sucked as a comedian because he didn't have the empathy to be funny.

It's super hard to believe that Jason Todd's one true weakness is using cheap tape on a love note.

The fact that Joe Chill killed Thomas and Martha because he thought all rich people were the same and were what led to him being poor really mirrors Batman. He beats up criminals because he thinks they're all bad and they're what caused him to lose his parents.

This is a magnificent companion piece to The Killing Joke.

If Joker found out his wife and son lived, I see it could go in two directions. He gets even worse and tries to kill them or he feels that the joke is ultimately him, meet her then leaves them alone forever, before going white knight jack Napier or ends himself, taking the character off the board until someone finds a way to reinvent him/creates a new 4th Joker or something. Maybe one who see himself as a nemesis; an adversary who does thing just to see how it will play out, like some sort of Trickster test people for any possible reason.

I would love to hear the Mark Hamill voice The Criminal.

Asking why Batman doesn't kill Joker is to remove all responsibility for the Gotham judicial system, which needs to sentence Joker to death. Batman's only "responsibility" it to make sure Joker is arrested. A judge and jury is responsible for punishment.

I can’t lie, I’m gutted that babs didn’t get that letter from Jason😭😭

Bruce: "No Todd! Leave my Husbands alone!"

I don’t know if we can confirm that the comedian is the one true Joker, he’s just the only one Batman has any knowledge of. The Clown and Criminal don’t have defined origins (that we know of) and Batman says that the Criminal is more like the first Joker they met, but Batman claims to have known his name a week after they met, but the origin he refers to is about the comedian, not the criminal. It’s weird.

The only thing I hate is how that simple change with Killing Joke Joker's origin makes him no longer a somewhat tragic character. The whole "all it takes is one bad day..." theme no longer applies as it's being implied he was already seen as a ticking time bomb and potentially an abusive husband.

"It's not about the money. It's about sending a message." - Joker

“There is no stopping the Batman” -Starfire

The ending of Jason and Barbara’s subplot was brutal.

GOD Damn The real Joker was the guy who swept away that letter

Bruce: "You don't get it, Jason. Killing him IS the weakness, giving in to my anger, IS the weakness. The strength is NOT doing that. The strength is the fortitude to be human."

Great video rob, keep them coming!

To me, this was never going to end in a satisfactory way everyone would be happy with. But I really like this ending. The hype was way too much for such a concise and quick story, but it was as good as anything else Johns has written.

I think people miss one of the best arguments as to why its not Batman's fault: he isn't judge, jury and executioneer if anything the problem comes with Gotham's system. If a psycothic mass murderer gets arrested by the cops and keeps getting out of jail would you blame the cops or the systems for A: not keeping him in the facality (which is difficult in comic universe, and B: not giving out a death sentence. It is not Batman's responsibilty to kill the Joker its the government

There's a difference between alcohol and murder Rob, when you drink one glass of whiskey you are not an alcoholic, but when you kill someone you are a murderer.

LOVED THIS VIDEO ROB, LOVED IT

I like the argument you made on the slippery slope because also take into consideration what the other Gotham Rogues would do if they found out Batman KILLED The Joker. Don't you believe they'd think twice before committing another crime? I mean I'd be thinking that if Batman would kill The Joker, THE JOKER...what would stop him from killing me?

I really liked how the comic was heading, until the very end. "A defined joker? One with a name? An identity? Why, that ruins the very definition of me!" *2 pages later* Lol yeh here's the joker's confirmed backstory The joker is a multiple choice question and you just told us the answer that people kept quiet about for close to a century.

That was awesome!! Thanks!

The fact that they showed the Joker with his Family shows that he knows she isn't dead, wouldn't he have killed them or worse if he had found out she ran? And that is if finding out she was alive wasn't enough to cure him. Just feels like a loose end.

Golden Age Batman stopped killing once he adopted a kid.

The three jokers is the best thing coming out of DC rebirth rn, if god was writing comics rn this is what it would look like

Having revisited the first part, this is a beautiful Batman story about Bruce's healing. It starts off with him thinking of Joe Chill and his parents' murder still being a "wound deeper than others" and ends with him reconciling with him.

Been waiting on this !

This was incredible how Geoff Johns didn’t ruin the killing joke and almost paid homage with this story , he basically blended this into cannon so well! You’d think it impossible to tip toe around this concept but that ending was perfect!

Three Jokers voice cast : Mark Hamill : the comedian John DiMaggio : the clown Richard Epcar : the criminal

This proves Batman DID NOT KILL THE JOKER AT THE END OF THE KILLING JOKE lmfao!!!! HA!!!! PROOF!!!

Great video!

The slippery slope argument WORKS for Batman. If the Joker is deemed “killable” what happens when the next guy does something almost as vicious as the joker. And the next guy just almost as vicious, and then the next thing you know, the Batman is killing 2 time murderers, drug dealers, and so on. There is no line when it comes to stoping justice. The saying is “Justice is for all” and if that’s true, then “Justice” will indeed be for all criminals. Also the fact of the matter is, is people DO try alcohol “once” and become addicted, people try drugs “once” and become addicted. Who’s to say that when Batman kills “once” he won’t become addicted? Love you Rob but your argument is kinda weak IMO.

Someone disliked the video 14 seconds after it was posted. It’s almost as if their purpose in life is to make other people feel bad. That sucks.

EXCELLENT story telling.

The idea of batman knowing who joker was from the start and of joker knowing who batman was almost the entire time and neither of them acknowledging it in any way 99% of the time is great. ngl

I like the ending. I'm satisfied as a huge Joker fan. But it's sad to see the Criminal go. I liked him.

Well specifically the joker wants Batman to kill him so he can essentially turn him into the Most powerful joker so yeah it would be a slippery slope if he killed the joker

next issue: Joker becomes a therapist to help Batman find his inner peace and beat his demons then calls him fat

Been waiting on this.

I LOVE how bruce admits to knowing who joker was, he's literally the worlds greatest detective ofc he would know. this has also been a great way to write barbara, she really is the best batfam member imo

When the hell did Dick Grayson start acting and looking like Jason Todd? Also the dude sweeping is a Joker. Look at the company name.

Rob I read the comic but I was exited as hell to hear you're retell of it bro 😁

Excellent presentation

I'd always conceded that the Killing Joke was the definitive origin of the Joker anyway. I guess this story was just confirmation of that?

Regarding the Last scene with Jason's letter, I didn't understand the significance if its inclusion. Why have it randomly fall? The only thing I can think of is the joker intentionally removed the letter, as the janitor who swept it away had a shirt that coincidentally said "Fun time Cleaners"

To sum it up. There's only one Joker, it's the same one we already knew the backstory of, somehow despite being all about who the joker is they still pretend his identity isn't important (talk about having your cake and eating it too, DC), and this continues this stupid "Joker is just an obsessive ex girlfriend" thing. Nice.

Good video, watched from the beginning greetings from Ireland ☘

So, here is why the *slippery slope argument* is valid for Batman: 1) Victor Zsasz 2) Ra's Al Ghul 3) Professor Pig 4) Calendar Man 5) Court of Owls These five have NO qualms with killing innocent people en masse and all deserve to die. But when Batman starts to profile others, he'll see similarities between the others and those listed above and it will start a slope where he will fail to distinguish between deserved and perceived. Remember that Azrael, Clayface, Mr. Freeze, Poison Ivy, and Harley Quinn have all killed multiple people and have shown redeeming qualities despite everything they've done. _Edit_ : if we want to talk about the big issue, it's Batman as "the world's greatest detective". *WHO* The Joker getting help from that allows him to escape all the time? *WHY* is The Joker not held somewhere else on Earth that has better security especially since he's not just a local threat? *HOW* is it that Batman has not mentioned or looked into these??

The reason joker won't tell anyone who batman is because to him it's just a joke, and a joke that everyone knows the punchline to isn't funny

I’ve been waiting for this proper reveal for so long! Thank you Rob for your hard work! You’re a true legend in the comics landscape and yeah! Peace! ✌️

Omg just amazing this is one o fee my favorite batman story's of all time and I've read a lot of them

Also, the problem with the slippery slope argument is that every additional step it infers becomes less likely than the last. But again, a lot of fallacies aren't automatically wrong, but rather exist on a gradient. This is a perfectly valid argument: "Alcoholism runs in my family and I'm currently going through a rough patch in life, therefore I should not drink alcohol because I could become addicted." But if he added "If I become an alcoholic, I could lose my job" it becomes slightly less likely, though still probable. But if he adds "..and if I lose my job I'll have to pimp myself for booze money, and if I pimp myself I'll be picked up by the Saudi Royal Prince and forced to join his harem, but the friends I'll make at the harem will be the best I've ever had, but one of them will get shot trying to steal one of his BMWs, forcing me to swear vengeance, so I'll take up MMA to learn how to defend myself, but while sparring my training partner will suplex me directly onto my spine and paralyze me from the neck down, therefore I should not drink alcohol," then that would be an improbable argument.

What if the Comedian Joker knew his family was alive as well?

all right. this was clever. very well done

If the Joker is so obsessed with Batman, why did all of them only operate during a particular period of time? Batman outright says the criminal is the one from his earliest confrontations, so what was he doing all those years after the new jokers took over? If the comedian is the original, why did it take so long for him to confront Batman directly?

The absolute earliest I’ve been to any of these, and “lemme tell you sumthin!!!” I love these That’s it, thanks for coming to my Ted talk

The slippery slope argument does apply to addicts: an alcoholic *shouldn't* ever have a *single* drink. Because it's never a single drink. Addicts are trying to fill a void in their lives, their selves with something that can never fill that void. A physical dependency can be overcome: go cold turkey, sweat it out, take chemical countermeasures. A psychological dependency is far more insidious. The void Batman is trying to fill is the one created when he stood helpless when his parents were murdered. He's addicted to preventing that tragedy over and over again, in every permutation, on every level (except of course the one he can never prevent. Even if he could reach back in time and save his parents, he wouldn't, because by so doing he'd doom everyone else he's ever saved). He has plans within contingencies within wheels within wheels ad infinitum. He even plans ways to neutralize his fellow Justice League members (the best people he knows) on the tiny chance they might abuse their power -- because he knows if he had it, he would. He doesn't kill because he knows that if he took the power of life and death into his hands, he'd abuse it, and that's what Joe Chill did. And that's who he can never allow himself to become. That's what made that moment in Batman v. Superman actually work if the viewer paid attention: It wasn't so much that Bruce Wayne's mother and Clark Kent's adoptive mother happen to have the same first name (and have for decades in the comics, of course). It's that in that moment, with him holding a weapon over a dying man who just wanted to protect Martha, Bruce realized what Luthor had nearly tricked him into becoming.

Does no one else find the guy in purple, working for a dodgy named company, sweeping the halls of Barbara's flat, and 'accidentally' sweeping up Jason's letter, proper dodgy?

Awesome conclusion thank you

“Nobody is as bad as The Joker” Rob....Batman already shot someone with a gun and killed him. Darkseid.

The letter to babs from Jason was sad, it would be cool to see what could’ve happened but we’ll never know now.

The woman’s suit case says “JW” on it.

Man, that last panel with Jason’s note being swept away was gut wrenching

Geoff Johns and Tomasi are currently the only few people that seem to actually understand what heroes are all about these days.

There was a pretty big thing Barbara says to Jim that got glossed over here.

I love how the video starts with Batman taking a break to look through his comic book collection, all meticulously bagged and boarded, of course.

Awesome job Rob! I loved this series! I was one waiting on this since Darkseid war and have thoroughly enjoyed it! Though I do recognise there are continuity issues with Joe Chill's personality in contrast to his persona during Darkseid War & this series were he is clearly deeply remorseful, still, I have thoroughly enjoyed Johns & Fabok's work yet again. Keep up the great work Rob.

Batman sees them as kids...... Me: but hasn't batman kissed and maybe had sex with Barbara??????

That title got me here real quick

Thank you for the "slippery slope" stuff! This story line is a perfect example of how that only works with people who have no self control.

this was epic !! must have comics to keep

Let me be the first “love you Rob”

Damn that was a strong ending to this comic. Didn't expect it to be the Comedian who got the last laugh but its fitting. Just kinda wish we got more of the clown it seems like a story of two jokers more so than three.

Thank you

You miss the Barbara and Jim Gordon talk part. That was very important too.

Bro Barbra ain't adopted her being with Jason ain't weird at all