WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for Year of the Villain: Hell Arisen #3, by James Tynion IV, Javier Fernandez, Steve Epting, Nick Filardi and Travis Lanham, on sale now.
There's a long-standing rule in the DC Universe that nobody crosses the Joker. While many of the various villains may have found some level of community with one another, the Clown Prince of Crime is such a threat that even figures with incredible superpowers do their best to avoid enraging the classic Batman villain.
One group of nominally threatening bad guys just proved that point in Year of the Villain: Hell Arisen #3. In that issue, the Joker just saved Lex Luthor's life by absolutely destroying another long-established group of villains in the DC Universe - the Brotherhood of Evil.
After saving Lex from the Infected members of the Justice League, Joker calls in for "a quick warp." A confused Lex is surprised to see that this specifically refers to the villain known as Warp, who promptly arrives with a goofy hat on top of his costume. This teleporter has been apparently tortured into servitude by the Joker, serving as the Joker's personal transport across the world. Warp is able to take Joker and Lex back to Joker's hideout, an abandoned amusement park, easily evading the corrupted heroes.
When Lex points out the Justice League technology could track Warp's teleportation, Joker orders Warp to teleport around the globe to seven other remote locations. He then hands Warp a gun to shoot himself in the head with after he completes the seventh jump, complaining to Lex that Luthor now owes him a new form of transport. Warp complies and is last seen teleporting away with the gun in his hands.
Nearby, Monsieur Mallah screams and threatens the Joker for his actions, while his longtime partner the Brain tries to calm him down. It's revealed that Lex actually wanted to approach the Brotherhood of Evil with one of his empowering offers, but that they had been missing at the time. It turns out it's because Joker thought the idea of a talking brain in a jar and a giant french gorilla were hilarious and decided to capture them for himself. The joke seems to have run its course by the end of the issue, however, as Joker seems to abandon them and the base.
The Brotherhood of Evil is a long-running team of villains from the DC Universe. Created by Arnold Drake and Bruno Premiani in the '60s as enemies of Doom Patrol, the team was led by the enigmatic Brain, his dedicated partner (and talking militant gorilla) Monsieur Mallah and the cruel shapeshifter Madame Rouge. A handful of other villains like Warp also joined the team over the years. Befitting their beginning as Doom Patrol villains, the Brotherhood was also responsible for forcing the original Doom Patrol to apparently sacrifice their lives to save a small town of civilians.
Former Doom Patrol member Beast Boy eventually crossed the team's path, which led them to become consistent Teen Titans villains too. The group's various members have been killed multiple times over the years, only to always reappear down the line. Still, this might be their most humiliating defeat, even more so than the time the Brain got a robot body only to have it explode it moments later. The Joker has turned them into a sideshow attraction and has even cowed Mallah into fear with some trick that involves a hose.
While the Brotherhood of Evil has been involved in some dark stories over the years, this is an incredibly dark moment for everyone involved, and it also shows why some of the scariest villains in the DC Universe are terrified of the Joker.
KEEP READING: The Infected: The Justice League May Hold The Key To Restoring The Heroes