The following contains spoilers for The Joker: The Man Who Stopped Laughing #5, now on sale from DC Comics.

The Joker has always been a character defined by pushing limits with mortal consequences. Now that there are two Jokers in the DC Universe, that chaos has only been amplified in the worst kind of way possible. In an unexpected bid to handle a conflict, one of the Jokers ends up doing something that's been utilized by another version of the character.

The Joker: The Man Who Stopped Laughing #5 (by Matthew Rosenberg, Carmine Di Giandomenico, Romulo Fajardo Jr, and Tom Napolitano) sees the two Jokers moving against one another, with one of them reprising the kind of strategy his counterpart from the Batman: Arkham video game series used. This includes recruiting another iconic Batman villain for a surprising role, but things don't quite work out as well for the comic book villains as they did in the video game.

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The Joker Uses Clayface in His Scheme

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There are currently two Jokers running around the DC Universe -- both claiming to be the real deal. While one of them has been causing chaos across the United States, another has made his presence known in Gotham City. This has led to all sorts of trouble for people like Harley Quinn and Red Hood. Finally frustrated with the apparent imposter in his old city, the scarred Joker at the heart of the series finds himself trapped by his counterpart.

But this Joker - who Harley Quinn claimed isn't the real deal - has a few tricks up his sleeve when dealing with the other Clown Prince of Crime. The scarred Joker is able to turn the tables against his captor and even disfigure him with acid, sending him running into the tunnels under the city. Chasing after him, he eventually finds his counterpart and demands answers. The clearly fake Joker reveals he was hired by someone else but is shot by Red Hood before he can reveal who. However, the gunshot reveals the injured Joker to be Clayface in disguise. While the scarred Joker disappears after seemingly being hit by a train, Clayface informs the actual other Joker of what happened, prompting him to finally return to Gotham.

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Joker is Bringing Back a Plot Point From Batman: Arkham City

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The moment comes as something of a surprise in the story, with the scarred Joker proving to be a very effective threat in the process. But it also takes cues from another Batman story from an entirely different medium, which also saw Clayface hired to replicate the Joker's mannerisms. Throughout Batman: Arkham City - the second game in the popular series - the Joker was seemingly dying. However, he was spotted during the game in far better health, which confused the heroes. It wasn't until the story's end that Batman realized it was because the healthy Joker had been Clayface all along which also explained how the Joker was repeatedly in two places at once.

The two plans are very similar in practice, even if their ultimate goals are wildly different. In Arkham City, the plan worked splendidly. The discovery of the truth came too late to save Talia al Ghul, who was murdered by the real Joker while the pair was distracted, allowing Joker to almost claim victory over the Dark Knight. By contrast, Clayface isn't able to trick the scarred Joker, even though he's been having some internal doubts regarding his own identity. This forces the other Joker to show his hand and reenter the fray himself, highlighting how it can't work on someone as purely chaotic as the Joker. But it's a fun parallel between the comics and the game, giving two very different versions of the villain a common thread.