The final mystery of the three Jokers is upon Batman, Batgirl, and Red Hood as they are forced to save the one-person Batman doesn’t want to, Joe Chill. Spoilers for Batman: Three Jokers #3 follow.
The finale to the series four years in the making is finally here and was the hyper for Batman: Three Jokers worth the wait? Well, to put it bluntly, this is why you should put aside hype and excitement once you begin to read or watch something because this series is more than likely absolutely not what most people were expecting it to be. This is a series focused on trauma and how to move forward in one’s life. The mystery around the Jokers was the catalyst, but never really the focus. For some, this will more than likely be incredibly frustrating, but for me, it made for a really solid, albeit flawed, series and final issue.
What this final issue does incredibly well is what the previous two issues have also done well, focus on the trauma of the main three characters, with Batman taking the main focus of this issue. A lot of this issue revolves around his feelings toward Joe Chill and what that means for him. Seeing him save Chill multiple times, it makes sense for Batman to do because that’s simply who he is, but it means something more because this is the man who killed his parents.
He’s putting aside his rage and anger to do the right thing, which is a great characterization of Batman. And, in the end, this issue goes to incredible lengths to show that this version of Chill is incredibly remorseful for his actions to a point where Bruce forgives him. It’s definitely cathartic to see, even if this series isn’t in the main continuity.
Speaking of continuity though, this series really does bring up a lot of issues regarding that, but the only real answer I have to it is that, it doesn’t matter. Obsession with universal continuity instead of what a story is aiming for is not the right way to experience something. So, at the end of the day, were there ever three Jokers in the main DC continuity, it doesn’t matter.
Speaking of those Jokers though, what’s the explanation with the three of them and why are there three? Again, the answer to this is the same as the continuity question, it doesn’t matter. It never mattered who the Joker was and the final pages of the issue basically says as much. However, while this may seem like a disappointing “reveal,” it really stays within the themes of the series. Sometimes, with trauma, we don’t get to know the why or the how and sometimes, sometimes it doesn’t matter how trauma occurred. What matters is about moving forward, no matter how difficult that may be.
With all that said though, this issue doesn’t stick the landing with certain things regarding mostly Jason. There doesn’t really feel like a proper resolution to his arc here and it honestly feels like a lackluster ending to the all-new trauma he experiences in issue two. His ending isn’t terrible though, it just lacks a lot of punch that it could’ve possibly had. The ending is also going to probably piss off a lot of Alan Moore purists, but is that really a bad thing?
As for the art though, once again Jason Fabok and Brad Anderson absolutely kill it for this final issue. Every single panel is racked with detail and care and there are so many moments that are simply gorgeous throughout this issue. This team does some of the best work of there career on this series and it’s really hard not to just repeat what was said about them for the previous two issues. Their artwork is simply phenomenal on every level.
