The following contains spoilers for Batman: The Brave and the Bold #1, on sale now from DC Comics.
The return of Batman: The Brave and the Bold comes with an all-new anthology of astonishing tales for fans of the Caped Crusader. As with almost any story set in Gotham City, the comic features one or more of the Dark Knight's iconic villains, and none are riper for the spotlight than the Joker. Unfortunately, the Clown Prince of Crime's latest tale yet again brings readers back to the beginning, which is precisely the last setting any Joker story needs to be.
"Batman: The Winning Card" (by Tom King, Mitch Gerads, and Clayton Cowles) brings readers back to "Year One" in Gotham City, where at the Claridge Estate, Captain Gordon does everything he can to keep things under control. As it turns out, the Joker has been leading the GCPD in circles, though Gordon isn't quite convinced that the threat is real. At least, he isn't until the Joker kills Mr. Claridge who Gordon and his men were protecting while also carrying out another murder far from the crime scene.
The Joker Has a New Year One Story
The setup of "Batman: The Winning Card" is undoubtedly intriguing, with the threat of the Joker having yet to cement itself as genuine, serving to give the villain even more room to carry out his schemes. This concept also gives the story an easy way to ramp up the tension and control the pace as different characters come to realize the severity of the situation. On the surface, this same foundation could be applied to nearly any Arkham regular and result in a heart-pounding thriller, but digging deeper makes it clear that it could just as easily be an utter disaster.
From the Joker's very first appearance in1940's Batman #1 (by Bill Finger and Bob Kane), the Clown Prince of Crime has been little more than a murderous enigma. This isn't to say that the Joker's impact on the Dark Knight or others hasn't been profound, but rather that his origins have almost always been mired in mystery. Of course, there have been a plethora of one-shot and Elseworlds comics that have offered one or more ideas as to where the Joker really came from. However, the score when it comes to pinpointing the beginnings of the Joker fans know best continues to be zero even after the events of stories such as Geoff Johns and Jason Fabok's Batman: Three Jokers.
DC's Expansion of the Joker's Mythos Could Hurt the Character
Overall, this sense of anonymity has been a boon to the Joker, as definitive origin stories for the character have rarely won over fans. It also makes stories like "Batman: The Winning Card" walk a fine line between adding something unforgettable to the Joker's mythos and setting in stone aspects of the character that no one really needed. Even if only by filling in the gaps in the character's timeline, delving too deep into his history could very well be what undoes the one thing the Joker has had going for him from the beginning.
That being said, there is always going to be room for any early exploits to be sequestered outside the confines of the primary DC Universe. At that rate, it would take a monumental addition to the Joker's mythos to shake the legacy he has made for himself. And, if the picture ever gets too clear for comfort, the Joker will likely end up finding a way to carve another bloody facet into his history that can never quite manage to be set in stone.