Batman/Spawn might feature the Court of Owls as the main villains, but the Clown Prince of Crime makes a cameo to briefly assist Bruce Wayne and Al Simmons -- and the version of Joker on display is the nightmarish, faceless one from 2011's "Death of the Family" story arc.
McFarlane explained why this incarnation, who is technically out of step with current comic continuity, returned in Batman/Spawn in a CBR exclusive interview. "[It was] for two reasons," he said. "One, I just thought, 'I've seen Greg's Jokers [and] I think it's the coolest one he's drawn.' Forget continuity, forget anything else. It's fun to look at, right? So I go, 'Man, I want to see that guy again.' So now I've got control. I can get Greg to draw the Joker I want. Shit, that's the Joker I want. It also allowed me to have the moment where he takes his mask off. People who know the folklore of Spawn [know] that he's basically got the hamburger face, right? To just have Joker go, 'Well, so do I, dude,' he's just like, 'Hey, you and I are basically kindred spirits.' [That's] some odd stuff that actually shows the craziness of Joker while at the same time saying, 'Well, is that actually true?' Because they physically look like each other at times. Could there be some weird connection between the two of them? I don't know. That's a story for another day."
Joker's Surprise Cameo
In Batman/Spawn, Joker makes a surprise appearance halfway through the story as the two dark heroes hit the streets for more information on the Court of Owls. In a surprising character turn, Joker offers a helping hand and delivers useful information on the Court, but only because he's secretly partnered with Violater to deliver an even darker fate for Batman and Spawn in the near future.
Notably, Joker removes the flappy skin mask covering his face to reveal a horrific glimpse at his musculature before delivering his intel. This marks the first time that audiences have been treated to an up-close-and-personal look at Joker's terrifying visage as it appeared in "Death of the Family," the 2011 story arc that saw Mr. J psychologically terrorize each and every member of the Bat Family.
Joker's no-face appearance was popularized by Capullo's run on Batman during DC's New 52 reboot initiative of 2011. The Clown Prince of Crime was seen having his face removed by the grisly villain Dollmaker in 2011's Detective Comics #1 and later confirmed that he had undergone the procedure to make himself stand out as a deadly foe even more unpredictable than before.
Batman/Spawn is written and features inks by McFarlane, pencils by Capullo, colors by Dave McCaig and letters by Tom Napolitano. Cover art comes from Capullo, McFarlane and McCaig and variant cover art from Gabriele Dell'Otto, Sean Murphy, Dave Stewart, Francesco Mattina, J. Scott Campbell, Sabine Rich, Capullo, McFarlane, Brian Haberlin, Brett Booth, Sandra Hope, Ivan Nunes, Jim Lee, Scott Williams, Alex Sinclair, Jorge Jimenez, Jason Fabok, Brad Anderson and FCO Plascencia. The issue is on sale now from DC.
Source: CBR