There are a lot of Jokers running around the DC Universe right now. At the moment, the Batman Who Laughs -- a Jokerized Batman -- is trying to rewrite the multiverse in Dark Nights: Death Metal, while the standard Joker holds complete control of Gotham City and its dead, after taking everything away from Batman in "Joker War." Now, even more Jokers are set to invade with the release of Batman: Three Jokers #1, written by Geoff Johns and drawn by Jason Fabok.
After being teased since the final days of the New 52 era, Three Jokers is set to reveal more about the three individuals who have served as the Joker during some of Gotham's most pivotal moments. Since this enigma has remained unanswered for so long, let's look at how Batman even learned that his greatest foe wasn't just one individual.
This mystery's origin was found in the midst of "Darkseid War," the finale to Geoff Johns and Jason Fabok's Justice League run during the New 52. When the Justice League found themselves embroiled in a war between Darkseid's Apokolips forces and the Anti-Monitor, who was joined by the daughter of Darkseid, the heroes were desperate for answers on how to put an end to this conflict. After being boom-tubed out of battle by Metron, the heroes were unwilling to play the New God's usual game of doom-saying warnings and cryptic answers. Using the Lasso of Truth, Wonder Woman learned that the only way to get a clear solution to their problem was to take the Mobius Chair from him. After accomplishing this, the chair nearly departed from them before Batman took a seat on the alien relic and became possessed by it.
The Mobius Chair has always served as one of the most powerful items tied to the cosmic side of the DC universe. Since its introduction in Jack Kirby's New Gods, the Mobius-created chair has proven itself to be virtually untouchable to most powers throughout the multiverse. Allowing its user to travel anywhere through time and space, the Mobius Chair has become a source of limitless knowledge and secrets after all of its many travels. Its wielders are transformed upon connecting to the chair, causing them to become callous to those around them.
After taking a seat, the first question Batman asked was for the name of the man that killed his parents. When the chair provided him with the answer of Joe Chill, which he already knew, Batman then proceeded to ask the Mobius Chair for the identity of the Joker. At first, the answer remained hidden with Batman only expressing disbelief and confusion before returning to the matters at hand. It wasn't until the end of the battle with Darkseid and the Anti-Monitor -- after he gave up the Mobius Chair -- that Batman revealed the answer the chair had given to him. While talking to Hal Jordan within the Batcave, Batman answered that the chair did not respond with a name, but simply said that there were three Jokers.
As seen in both Justice League and the DC Universe: Rebirth one-shot, it seemed that each of these three Jokers was tied to an era of Batman stories. As Fabok revealed, the first of these is a criminal mastermind whose most similar to the Golden Age Joker. He's joined by the" Clownish Joker," who pulled off ridiculous gags in the Silver Age of Comics. This trio is rounded out by the "Comedian Joker," the psychotic killer from comics like Batman: The Killing Joke
During the course of "Darkseid War", the members of the Justice League each learned massive secrets about their past and future. However, the revelation of multiple Jokers completely changed the dynamic between Batman and his greatest enemy. Now, he understood that the undertaking of the Joker was never limited to one man. While the Mobius Chair went on to be wielded by characters like Wally West in the lead-up to Death Metal, Three Jokers seems set to answer questions that have puzzled both Batman and DC fans for years.