When DC Comics launched the New 52 last year, Batman fans found that The Joker didn’t stick around very long. His face was last seen in the pages on ‘Detective Comics’ #1, but after that he was presumed dead.
Then, last month, a gruesome image was released that indicated that artist Greg Capullo and Scott Snyder would be bringing the Clown Prince of Crime back to the DC Universe.
Details and images were being tightly held under wraps, but DC accidentally revealed the new look of the Joker online with the cover of Batgirl #14 yesterday, even though the character isn’t due to reappear in Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo’s Batman for another couple of months.
The cover in question, from “Batgirl” #14, features the art not of Capullo but artist Ed Benes. In contrast, Capullo’s cover for “Batman” #14 shows the Clown Prince of Crime from behind, successfully retaining the mystery.
Capullo, who’s designed the new look for the Batman arch-villain, had an interesting – and public – reaction to the accidental reveal on Twitter yesterday:
“As careful as I’ve been to save revealing our new Joker, the powers that be have let it out ahead of our book. Stay tuned for MY pics,” he tweeted, adding that “In my younger days, I’d have punched several holes in the walls of my office by now. Rest assured, I will give you terror when I draw him.”
Batman’s arch nemesis returns to the New 52 in ‘Batman’ #13 on October 10th with a crossover story arc titled “Death of the Family”, which is a nod to the classic storyline “A Death in the Family” where The Joker killed the second Robin, Jason Todd.
And now, the Joker’s new look as seen on the cover of ‘Batgirl’ #14.
Just two days after DC Comics spoiled the big reveal of the redesigned Joker with the cover of Batgirl #14, Jock has provided a close-up look at his take on the Dark Knight’s arch-nemesis from an upcoming backup story in Batman.
Much of the story, which begins in Batman Issue 13 is a nod to the long history of the dynamic between the hero and his archenemy, a symbiotic relationship that at times has been almost co-dependent. It will feature the Joker’s first encounter in a while with his old foe, but also will have him face Batgirl — whom the Joker shot through the spine and crippled in Alan Moore’s Batman: The Killing Joke — and Todd, now resurrected and going by the name Red Hood.
