Joker Reveals He is So Much Smarter Than Fans Think

Warning! Spoilers to Batman: Joker War Zone #1, out in stores now!

When facing the Joker, most people get distracted by his psychotic and unpredictable reputation that they underestimate his intelligence. Not only is the iconic Batman nemesis a genius chemist, but he is also capable of masterminding intricate schemes against his enemies, leaving a history of destruction, death, pain, and suffering unlike many ordinary criminals in the DC Universe. In Batman: Joker War Zone #1, the Joker explains that trauma is not just a side effect of his madness or close proximity but actually a weapon that he values greatly and would have strong words with those who waste it.

In the anthology telling stories within the ‘Joker War’ storyline, a story by writer James Tynion IV and artist Tony Daniel has the Joker visiting his old madhouse Arkham Asylum to pay a visit to the incarcerated Bane during the beginning of his takeover of Gotham. While Bane’s visitor grants him small sympathies such as returning his iconic mask to him, the Clown Prince of Crime wastes no time criticizing Bane’s recent actions, reaching his climax when he admonishes the infamous supervillain about his murder of Alfred Pennyworth, Batman’s butler and confidant.

Daniel’s artwork zooms in to show the Joker’s frustration and pure anger that Bane successfully took over Gotham, manipulated Batman from outside the city, and ruled the city from his Arkham fortress but ruined it all when he chose to kill Alfred in front of Robin, not Batman. Overlooking the Joker’s history of traumatizing Robin’s, the clown berates Bane for wasting that death, a loss that could have cut Batman in a way Joker never did, on Robin. The Joker continues to explain his critique by saying that he didn’t even break Damian Wayne in an amusing way, stating that Robin’s trauma was curable with a strong will and an endless supply of therapy when it could have been so much deeper. ” Trauma is a weapon,’ Joker declares. “One bad day can twist a person into an unspeakable monster. I know that better than anyone.”

That sentence alone states so much about the Joker and his unique relationship to Batman and his allies. We’ve seen Batman suffer through death traps, uncovered bodies with permanent grins etched into their faces, burning buildings and watched the constant cycle repeat itself over and over again, despite the Dark Knight’s best efforts. The Joker’s actions have certainly traumatized his allies – Barbara Gordon, Jason Todd, and Commissioner Jim Gordon come to mind – and Joker’s comment about it turning people into monsters could certainly apply to Red Hood’s painful and controversial second life. Tynion also references Alan Moore and Brian Bolland’s ‘Killing Joke’ storyline with his statement about one bad day, the clown had stated that all it took to turn a normal person into someone like him was one horrible day. To the Joker, trauma is the gold standard to everything he does and it infuriates him when he sees someone like Bane waste the best weapon villains hold in their arsenal.

In the end, the Joker basically declares war on Bane sometime in the future and then leaves his masked and enchained enemy to rot in Arkham while the Joker tends to his current business. As seen in the ‘Joker War’ so far, the Joker has put Batman and his allies through a physical, emotional, and psychological gauntlet that hasn’t been afraid to dig deep and traumatize everyone, including the citizens of Gotham City. He wields trauma like his treasured crowbar, showing a shrewd and calculating mind that does not want just superficial scars on his enemies. Bruises heal, scars can look cool or intimidating but good, honest trauma, that can last forever and that’s exactly what the Joker is counting on.

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