The Clown Prince of Crime finds himself allied with Solomon Grundy in the upcoming The Joker: The Man Who Stopped Laughing #8.

Revealed in DC's solicitations for May 2023, The Joker: The Man Who Stopped Laughing will unexpectedly see the notorious Batman villain find an unlikely sidekick in Solomon Grundy. The synopsis for the issue reads, "After getting hit by a train, the Joker awakens in the Gotham sewers, being cared for by…Solomon Grundy?! While his mind and body are recovering, the Clown Prince of Crime and his new sidekick learn they’re not the only monsters currently calling the sewers home! And the second Joker has set a course to find and destroy his alter ego..." While there's no telling what sort of threats Mr. J and Solomon Grundy might face together, the main cover for the issue shows Joker gleefully dueling Killer Croc, who could be the other sewer-dwelling "monster" hinted at in the issue's description.

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Solomon Grundy's Role In The Man Who Stopped Laughing

While Solomon Grundy and Joker might seem like an unusual pairing, the pair have worked together in the past -- notably in The Long Halloween, the classic Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale series which featured all of Batman's villains in his early years of fighting crime. The Man Who Stopped Laughing has also featured Joker negotiating with unexpected characters as he survives life-threatening injuries and tries to uncover the identity of a doppelganger. The Joker: The Man Who Stopped Laughing #4 saw Joker having a frank conversation with Red Hood where he acknowledged the second Robin as Jason Todd and even referenced the fact that he once used the identity "Red Hood" himself.

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Aside from The Man Who Stopped Laughing, Joker has also taken on the role of an impromptu sidekick himself in Batman & The Joker: The Deadly Duo, a Black Label book written and illustrated by Marc Silvestri. The series features Batman and Joker forced into an unlikely alliance to defeat a foe with a grudge against both of them. The Joker: The Deadly Duo #4 even featured Joker calling himself Gotham's newest "superhero."

The Joker: The Man Who Stopped Laughing #8 is written by Rosenberg and illustrated by Carmine Di Giandomenico and Francesco Francavilla. Giandomenico provides the issue's main cover while Francesco Mattina, Clay Mann and Ivan Tao provide variants. The issue goes on sale May 2, 2023, from DC.

Source: DC