DC fans are reacting on social media to a backup story starring a pregnant Clown Prince of Crime that's featured in The Joker: The Man Who Stopped Laughing #4.The Joker: The Man Who Stopped Laughing #4 features a non-canonical backup story titled "Knocked Upside Down!" by writer Matthew Rosenberg, artist Francesco Francavilla and letterer Tom Napolitano. The story opens with Joker declaring that Zatanna and he would make a "great couple" while she magically holds him upside down. When Joker begins talking about what he hopes their kids would look like together, Zatanna pushes his face into a puddle of mud and casts a spell declaring that nobody else will ever have his baby.
Joker awakens the next day to find, miraculously, he's somehow become pregnant. Doctor Phosphorus happens to be an OB-GYN and tries to help Joker deliver the baby; however, Joker instead winds up vomiting a large pile of mud that quickly becomes sentient. The mud begins to transform into a smaller version of the Clown Prince of Crime, who Joker then declares is "so handsome." The story ends with Joker bringing his spawn to Zatanna and telling her they now have a son.
Twitter Reacts to the Pregnant Joker Story
Talk about "Knocked Upside Down!" began circulating on Twitter shortly after The Joker: The Man Who Stopped Laughing #4's release.
Other users took a different approach and pointed out both how the story is non-canonical and matches the tone of older comics from the Silver Age. Rosenberg also tweeted a post to people's reactions, saying, "The reason people are mad at me today is the funniest reason people have ever been mad at me."
Previous non-canonical backup stories in The Joker: The Man Who Stopped Laughing have also taken on a similar, imaginary tone. The first issue of the series included a tale in which the Joker desperately tried to win over the affection of Power Girl, who he had fallen head-over-heels in love with. When those efforts failed, he turned his attention to Big Barda in the third issue's backup. The Joker: The Man Who Stopped Laughing #2 additionally includes a backup in which the Clown Prince of Crime fakes his death in order to see how others react at his funeral, only for him to then reveal himself as still alive to mixed reactions.
The Joker: The Man Who Stopped Laughing #4's main story comes from writer Matthew Rosenberg, artist and cover artist Carmine Di Giandomenico, colorists Romulo Fajardo Jr. and Nick Filardi, letterer Tom Napolitano and variant cover artists Lee Bermejo, Dustin Nguyen and Simone Di Meo. The issue is on sale now from DC.
Source: DC, Twitter