We may receive a commission on purchases made from links.
Spoilers for “Absolute Batman” #15 follow.
“Absolute Batman” #15 is a Joker origin issue. While those paying attention to the advertising might have pieced together the book’s mysteries, writer Scott Snyder and guest artist Jock still weave a terrifying tale.
The Joker has appeared infrequently in “Absolute Batman,” but he’s the story’s main villain. One of the world’s wealthiest men, the Joker has funded all the horrors in Gotham that Batman has faced: Black Mask’s Party Animals, Mr. Freeze, Ark M, and Bane.
The “Absolute” Joker is a public figure, so unlike the classic Joker, his real name is public knowledge. “Absolute Batman” #15 reveals it: Joseph “Jack” Grimm V, supposed scion of the wealthy Grimm family. Both “Joe” and especially “Jack” are names associated with the Joker; recall his sometimes alias, “Joseph Kerr,” and his real name being Jack Napier in the 1989 “Batman” film. “Grimm” is likely a pun, referring to how this Joker never laughs or smiles.
Both “Joe” and Jack” are very generic names too. That reflects that the Joker could be anybody, both in the sense he was an unremarkable “average Joe” before his clown phase and his deluded belief that deep down, everyone is as evil as him. The “Absolute” Joker, though, is far from ordinary: He’s been alive since at least the 1880s, and Jack Grimm I-V are not a familial line but a single man posing as such.
The issue also gives us the first look at the Joker’s monster form, teased in previews and covers, and his transformation into it. His spine twists, a green “krack” sound effect contorting around it, as he grows into a 15-foot tall, pale-skinned, green-horned beast with long claws and multiple rows of teeth. From that horrifying maw, we finally hear the “Absolute” Joker laugh.
