Posted in: Batman, Comics, Comics Publishers, Current News, DC Comics | Tagged: Batman #139, dark knight, joker, killing joke

Joker Fight in Batman #139 Does Dark Knight & Killing Joke (Spoilers)

Batman comes up against Joker for Mindbomb in the wake of not just the Gotham War but also the two most famous Batman/Joker stories of all.

Batman: The Dark Knight Returns by Frank Miller, Klaus Janson and Lynne Varley and Batman the Killing Joke by Alan Moore, Brian Bolland and John Higgins may be the two most influential Batman comic books of all time, ahead of Year One, Long Halloween and Hush. And even more than Batman: The Knight by Chip Zdarsky and Carmine Di Giandomenic, referenced in today's Batman #139.

But as Batman comes up against Joker for the beginning of the Mindbomb storyline, it is in the wake of not just the Gotham War but also the two most famous Batman/Joker stories of all.

"Another life. Your last Joker" brings us back to the classic "the last two ,Joker… my vow."

And Batman hasn't killed anyone? Well, he didn't then. and Zur-En-Arrh, his back-up personality was responsible for Failsafe which was triggered when it was believed that this is what Batman had done. But maybe something else is going on. We did have a theory here…

The Joker getting Batman to kill him was also part of the Joker's Dark Knight plan. But there are other books to reference as well, looking at the idea – pushed by Zur-En-Arrh – of standing alone in Gotham.

A recognisable scenario from The Killing Joke, intended to play on Batman's mental state.

But more reflecting John Higgins' colouring job on the book, which was gaudier, brighter and clashier.

Is Mindbomb another return to the sanity, or not, of the Batman?

BATMAN #139 CVR A JORGE JIMENEZ
(W) Chip Zdarsky (A/CA) Jorge Jimenez
NEW STORY ARC BEGINS! BATMAN VS. THE JOKER, MORE BRUTAL THAN EVER! Following the cataclysmic events of The Gotham War, Batman finds himself completely isolated from his family, struggling to keep the rage of Zur in check. But he can't stop, because he's out there, haunting the city, taunting the Dark Knight: The Joker. And the new Batman is ready to stop him once and for all. Mindbomb begins! Retail: $4.99 In-Store Date: 11/7/2023

Batman: The Dark Knight Returns
by Frank Miller, Klaus Janson and Lynne Varley
Writer/artist Frank Miller completely reinvents the legend of Batman in this saga of a near-future Gotham City gone to rot, 10 years after the Dark Knight's retirement. Forced to take action, the Dark Knight returns in a blaze of fury, taking on a whole new generation of criminals and matching their level of violence. He is soon joined by a new Robin—a girl named Carrie Kelley, who proves to be just as invaluable as her predecessors.
Can Batman and Robin deal with the threat posed by their deadliest enemies, after years of incarceration have turned them into perfect psychopaths? And more important, can anyone survive the coming fallout from an undeclared war between the superpowers—or the clash of what were once the world's greatest heroes?
Hailed as a comics masterpiece, The Dark Knight Returns is Frank Miller's (300 and Sin City) reinvention of Gotham's legendary protector. It remains one of the most influential stories ever told in comics, with its echoes felt in all media forms of DC's storytelling. Collects issues #1-4.

Batman the Killing Joke
by Alan Moore, Brian Bolland and John Higgins
ONE BAD DAY. According to the grinning engine of madness and mayhem known as the Joker, that's all that separates the sane from the psychotic. Freed once again from the confines of Arkham Asylum, he's out to prove his deranged point. And he's going to use Gotham City's top cop, Commissioner Jim Gordon, and his brilliant and beautiful daughter Barbara to do it. Now Batman must race to stop his archnemesis before his reign of terror claims two of the Dark Knight's closest friends. Can he finally put an end to the cycle of bloodlust and lunacy that links these two iconic foes before it leads to its fatal conclusion? And as the horrifying origin of the Clown Prince of Crime is finally revealed, will the thin line that separates Batman's nobility and the Joker's insanity snap once and for all? Legendary writer Alan Moore redefined the superhero with Watchmen and V For Vendetta. In Batman: The Killing Joke, he takes on the origin of comics' greatest super-villain, the Joker–and changes Batman's world forever. Stunningly illustrated, Batman: The Killing Joke The Deluxe Edition has been lushly recolored by artist Brian Bolland, presenting his original vision of this modern classic.

BATMAN #140 CVR A JORGE JIMENEZ
(W) Chip Zdarsky (A/CA) Jorge Jimenez
It's Batman versus The Joker in their most brutal fight of all time. But wait…Batman is also battling a legion of himself! What has Zur done? And who will walk away? The brutal Mindbomb continues! Retail: $4.99 In-Store Date: 12/5/2023

BATMAN #141 CVR A JORGE JIMENEZ
(W) Chip Zdarsky (A/CA) Jorge Jimenez
Zur-En-Arrh has done the unthinkable. And now, cut off from everything and everyone, Batman has to face off against his most devastating enemy in a brutal fight for the future as the specter of The Joker hangs over everything. The stunning conclusion to Mindbomb is here! Retail: $4.99 In-Store Date: 1/2/2024

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