One of the most protected origins in comics belongs to the Joker. No matter how much you think you know about him, there’s always more to learn. That mystique is why Batman can’t figure out what the Clown Prince of Crime will do next. Because if he had a hint of who he truly is, Bruce Wayne might be able to stop him. Now, in the Absolute Universe, some of The Joker’s backstory was revealed in Absolute Batman No. 15. Among the things mentioned is that he goes by the name Grimm. But that's just the beginning.
The good thing about Scott Snyder is that he knows how important the mystery of the Joker is. So, no matter how much he tells readers, just know that there’s more that hasn't been revealed. Grimm has been around since the 1800s, so imagine how much there is we haven't learned. However, among the things Snyder reveals is that Grimm has people ready to take Batman out, and they're a who's who of classic Gotham City villains.
Absolute Batman: Ark M creative team
- Writer: Frank Tieri and Scott Snyder
- Artist: Joshua Hixson
- Colors: Roman Stevens
At the end of Absolute Batman: Ark M, The Joker closes the journal of Dr. Amadeus Arkham and speaks to an unrevealed person who asks what he’s supposed to be looking at. Grimm says that it’s their target, Batman. Whoever Grimm was talking to wasn’t impressed by the Dark Knight and said that they could take him easily. Grimm agrees, but says he has plans. That’s when readers get the big reveal. There is a panel with the files of Kirk Langstrom, Pamela Isley, Hugo Strange, Jonathan Crane, Basil Karlo, and Jervis Tetch.
DC Comics fans know those names. To those who don’t, those are the real names of villains Man-Bat, Poison Ivy, Hugo Strange (no villain name), Scarecrow, Clayface, and the Mad Hatter. The Joker just released them from Ark M so Batman could be introduced to his “friends”.
Fighting Absolute Universe versions of these characters is bad enough, but it gets much worse than all of them combined. The person Grimm is talking to is one of the most dangerous villains in DC Comics. Readers, it looks like Bane wasn’t the most dangerous person Joker has in his arsenal after all, because Grimm was talking to none other than Deathstroke.
DC Comics brilliantly started the year by publishing Absolute Batman: Ark M. Getting more of Absolute Joker’s origin story was great, but readers also saw the future for Batman, and it’s (pardon the pun) grim.
It was also announced that Absolute Poison Ivy was coming. She may look gorgeous and normal, but she probably has a secret that will rival the plant in Little Shop of Horrors. And you have to imagine that the other villains are just as terrifying. That's what the Absolute Universe is capable of.
If Bane grew to the size of a building and Waylon Jones looks more like a monster than an actual crocodile, Man-Bat must be terrifying. And then, after all of them, Bruce will have to fight Deathstroke, who Alfred said is among the most dangerous people he’s heard of. And then there’s The Joker. Get ready, because things are going to get worse for the Dark Knight of the Absolute Universe.
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