The following article contains spoilers from Flashpoint Beyond #5, on sale now from DC.
DC's Flashpoint Beyond #5 reveals the Joker's real name is Jack Oswald White.
Flashpoint Beyond #5 comes from writers Geoff Johns, Tim Sheridan and Jeremy Adams, artists Xermánico and Mikel Janín, colorists Romulo Fajardo Jr. and Jordie Bellaire and colorist Rob Leigh. In Flashpoint Beyond #4, Batman/Thomas Wayne discovered the identity of the mysterious Clockwork Killer to be none other than his wife, Martha Wayne, who previously turned herself into the Joker of the Flashpoint Universe. Thomas breaks into Arkham Asylum to confront Martha in Flashpoint Beyond #5, resulting in a fight that gets caught off by a handful of security guards.
Martha and Thomas take cover in a cell, which is when Martha reveals she killed Psycho-Pirate -- a character who came to the Flashpoint Universe to hide from the events of Dark Crisis. Before killing him, Martha says she got him to explain everything about "how this world was changed from what it should be." In addition to learning their son, Bruce, is the Batman of the mainstream DC Universe, Martha says Psycho-Pirate told her all about the Joker. "The Joker was a man..." she tells her husband. "His name is Jack Oswald White."
Martha continues to say she went to visit Jack Oswald White after learning this from Psycho-Pirate to see how he turned out in the Flashpoint Universe. "In this world, Mr. White was a failed comedian with a wife and child, stuck in a menial job cleaning the bathrooms at Wayne Casino," she explains. "But they're a happy family." Martha then reveals to Thomas she's created a time machine and intends to travel into the past in order to ensure Bruce lives and the two of them die in Crime Alley.
The Past Identities of the Joker
DC has given the Joker a number of different names in the past. In Tim Burton's 1989 Batman film, the Joker's name is Jack Napier. Sean Murphy's Batman: The White Knight, an out-of-continuity story set within a different universe, and the accompanying sequels also refer to Joker as Jack Napier. In the 2019 Joker film starring Joaquin Phoenix, Joker's real name is Arthur Fleck, among other examples.
Flashpoint Beyond #5 features cover art by Mitch Gerads and variant cover art by Xermánico, Scott Kolins, Howard Porter and Tomeu Morey. Artwork featured in this article comes from Gullem March and Tomeu Morey's cover art for 2021's The Joker #1. Flashpoint Beyond #5 is on sale now from DC.
Source: DC