Since the book is written by Geoff Johns (Blackest Night, Doomsday Clock, etc.) and illustrated by Jason Fabok (Batman Eternal, Swamp Thing: The Talk of the Saints, etc.), it shouldn’t be too surprising to say that Batman: Three Jokers is teeming with highly detailed Easter Eggs and callbacks to Batman’s Golden and Silver Age days.

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Many of these homages and tributes are just fun references to DC Comics’ long and illustrious past, but some are actually pivotal clues and spoilers in plain sight. The thing is, most of these would only make sense on a second or third read.

10 The “I’m Batman” Meme Becomes Canon

Three Jokers Im Batman

A favorite punchline among comic readers or anyone even vaguely familiar with superheroes is the phrase “I’m Batman.” This is an intentional cop out that abruptly answers all questions because, as DC Comics and diehard Batman stans would have it, Batman solves everything and wins every hypothetical fight ever by virtue of being a rich guy in a batsuit.

Three Jokers acknowledges this meme not for a cheeky gag, but to put one of Batman’s biggest plot holes to rest. In the end, Bruce tells Alfred that he found out who Joker really was almost immediately because he’s, well, Batman. But for other people’s safety, Bruce chose to act like Joker was a walking paradox and not a predictable joke he figured out eons ago.

9 Joker's Drastic Personality Changes Are Acknowledged

Joker Golden Age Debut

Three Jokers reflects Batman’s long comics tenure through the titular trio, who aren’t just an explanation for Joker’s constantly shifting personalities, but manifestations of him throughout the ages. Batman even mentions this in the third issue, acknowledging the passage of time.

The Criminal (a mastermind) parallels Joker’s Golden Age days, where he was a cunning serial killer. Fittingly, his splash page mirrors his 1940 debut (above). The Clown (a campy villain) came from the Silver Age, when Joker showed his cartoonish side and most famously deployed the laughing fish scheme – which returns in Three Jokers. The Comedian (a sadist) represents the late Bronze and early Dark Ages, where Joker evolved into the complex and psychologically charged madman he’s known as today.

8 Obscure Batman Villains Get Cameos

Three Jokers Obscure Villains

When Batman drops by Blackgate Prison, he passes by forgotten villains’ cells, specifically Rupert Thorne, Alexander Sartorius (aka Dr. Phosphorus), and Joe Chill. Another layer to this is that their prison numbers reference their comics debuts. Cases in point: 04691977 (Thorne appeared in Detective Comics #469, 1977), 0197705 (Dr. Phosphorus started in Detective Comics, May 1977) and 0331939 (Joe Chill showed up in Detective Comics # 33, 1939).

A more obscure reference appeared early in the story, where the nightly news reports the Moxon Crime Family’s execution at the hands of Joker. The Moxons are one of the older criminal organizations in Batman comics that, at one point, even had Joe Chill in their payroll.

7 Joker’s Cap Cracks A Pee-Wee Herman Joke

Three Jokers Large Marge Trucking

Tim Burton is an undeniable influence on modern-day Batman comics, and Three Jokers paid homage to him in a pretty unexpected way. When the Jokers converge at their cottage, The Clown shows up wearing a cap with “Large Marge Trucking” clearly printed on it.

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This is a shout-out to Burton’s movie Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure, specifically the part where Pee-Wee hitches a ride with the trucker Large Marge. Marge is revealed to be a ghost and an urban legend among truckers, since she died years ago but continues to plow through routes.

6 Joker’s Henchmen Came From The ‘60s

Three Jokers Henchmen

Thanks to his Silver Age heritage, The Clown is basically a murderous version of the fun-loving Joker seen in the ‘60s Batman TV show. Three Jokers hammers in this parallel in the first issue, where The Clown’s goons are dressed up in a manner not too different from the ‘60s-era Joker’s henchmen.

As if to double down on the ‘60s imagery, the goons have name tags with onomatopoeias on them, such as “Biff!,” “Pow!” and “Sock!” These words and their accompanying musical stings are synonymous with the TV show, as they were used to cover up what was deemed excessive violence at the time.

5 Joe Chill Probably Saw Joker (2019)

Joker 2019 Wayne Murder Clown

Three Jokers gives Joe Chill the most character development he’s ever seen, rewriting him into a more sympathetic person than expected. Here, he impulsively killed the Waynes when he recognized them on the street. He blamed the philanthropist billionaires for Gotham’s severe income inequality and his own bad luck, though he regretted his actions almost immediately.

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Joe’s new motive parallels the one seen in Joker (2019), where a masked rioter randomly spots the Waynes leaving the cinema and guns them down in a fit of misplaced anger. Three Jokers started in August 2020, roughly a year after Arthur Fleck fought society. This could be coincidence or the comics’ way of acknowledging the divisive yet undeniably popular movie.

4 There Are Parallels To The Killing Joke

Three Jokers Dinner

Given its influence on Batman lore and comics as a whole, it isn’t surprising that Three Jokers pays many tributes to The Killing Joke. The most obvious reference is the comic’s biggest twist, where The Comedian is revealed to be the Joker seen in Alan Moore and Brian Bolland’s graphic novel. Additionally, the Joker’s camera, Hawaiian shirt, and squid dinner make cameos in Three Jokers.

Subtler tributes include the Comedian’s dinner with mannequins in a room that resembles his apartment from The Killing Joke and Fabok’s art and paneling. In a Tweet, the artist revealed that Three Jokers’ Batmobile is a combination of Bolland’s and his interpretations, while the comic’s opening rainy close-ups are directly influenced by The Killing Joke’s first page.

3 There Are References To Watchmen

Three Jokers Comedian

Another Alan Moore book Three Jokers tributes is Watchmen, the watershed superhero deconstruction. The nods are more obscure, but they’re noticeable to keen eyes. These include the Jokerized dogs in Judge Walls’ house that reflect the dogs Rorschach saw in the serial killer’s backyard and Reverend Evans, who serves the same role as Rorschach’s psychiatrist Malcolm Long and even shares fashion sense with.

The most obvious parallels are “The Comedian” used as a moniker for the “real” Joker (who shares a similarly nihilistic and self-absorbed ideology to Edward Blake) and the nine-panel grid. While not unique to Watchmen and even The Killing Joke, the layout is commonly associated to Moore’s famous work due to its revolutionary use there.

2 Batman’s Bluff In ‘Death Of The Family’ Finally Pays Off

Death of the Family

Before Three Jokers, Batman not knowing who Joker's real identity was canon for the longest time. This status quo changed in the Black Label comic, but it was actually set up as far back as the New 52-era arc Death of the Family.

In the event’s climax, Batman turns the tables on Joker by claiming to know his identity. This freaks Joker out but it’s ultimately an empty threat. Death of the Family keeps it vague if Batman was bluffing or not, and it’s proven unimportant by the end. Three Jokers finally paid this off in a big way, revealing that Batman unearthed Joker’s real name a mere week into their rivalry. Whether this will remain canon or not is currently up in the air.

1 Issue 2 Spoiled The Ending

Three Jokers Issue 2 Foreshadow

The selling point of Three Jokers was the mystery as to which Joker was the real one, or if there was even one in the first place. The Comedian was revealed to be the real one in the finale but in a reread, the answer was casually dropped in the second chapter. While flipping through case files, Batman looks at a globe that zooms in on Alaska when he thinks of The Comedian, while The Criminal and Clown got close-ups of folders.

This laid out the pieces of the final reveal (albeit in scattered pieces), where Joker’s family from The Killing Joke faked their deaths to escape his abuses. The final pages where Bruce visits Alaska to check on Joker’s ex-wife reminds some fans of Breaking Bad’s similarly Alaska-based ending Jesse, but this could be coincidental.

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