Warning: The following contains spoilers for Batman #98 by James Tynion IV, Jorge Jimenez, and Tomeu Morey, on sale now.

Batman #98 reveals that Punchline truly believes in Joker's message but also thinks the Joker has lost focus due to his obsession with Batman. In this issue, Punchline and Harley Quinn come to blows as Punchline tells Harley her true motivation and how she will get the Joker to refocus on the mission at hand.

Punchline is a newer character created by James Tynion IV and Jorge Jimenez. She first appeared in Batman #89 and was gradually brought into the fold as her character was revealed little by little. When first introduced, Punchline came across as a Harley Quinn-like character who is simply Joker's new girlfriend. Over the years, Joker has manipulated and, in his own way, seduced unbalanced women before.

Related: Joker War Proves Batman Still Doesn't Know Gotham

Harley Punchline

As Punchline began to make more appearances in Batman, it became clear that she is not the next "Harley Quinn"- that she is more than just a Joker groupie or his new squeeze. The Joker 80th Anniversary 100-Page Super Spectacular proves this. The story, "What Comes After A Joke" by James Tynion IV with art by Mikel Janin and Jordie Bellaire provides a short origin story of Punchline. Her real name is Alexis Kaye and she is a college student who became enamored with the Joker. Kaye's infatuation with Joker isn't a schoolgirl-like crush or due to some mental imbalance. Kaye has become inspired by Joker's actions and sees him as a kind of mentor who she wants to work with to destroy society.

In "What Comes After A Joke," Kaye reveals that she has become disgusted with the broken and misguided world the previous generation left for her generation. She wants to change the world and she sees the Joker as someone who can do that. She believes wholeheartedly that Joker can bring about the necessary changes to this world. She then kills the dean of her college to prove to Joker that she isn't “just another creepy fangirl.”

Since her debut, Punchline has slit Harley's throat, shot Catwoman, beat Batgirl in a fight, is helping Joker mind control Nightwing, and she was able to poison Batman with a new strain of Joker toxin that she created. Punchline has proven she is more than Joker's new side-chick. She is a formidable supervillain in her own right who wants nothing more than see Joker's ideas come to fruition.

Related: Batman: Joker War Shows Why Punchline Is More Dangerous Than Joker

In Batman #98, Punchline gets the drop on Harley and as the two engage in a knockdown fight, Punchline reveals that it took her a long time to track down Joker and even longer to prove to him that she was serious about his vision. As she tells Harley, "I believe in the Joker. In what he stands for." Punchline believes Joker wants to tear down society one city at a time, and Gotham will be the first of many. When Harley tells her she is fooling herself and that, "There's nothing in this world he's ever going to care about more than that stupid Bat," Punchline reveals her true mission.

Punchline, after kicking Harley's butt, tells her that she'll prove the Joker cares about bringing down and changing society. She reveals that she will kill Batman herself so the Joker can refocus on the bigger mission at hand.

Punchline has proven that she is not another "Harley Quinn," and that she deeply believes in the ideals of the Joker. She works to aid the Joker in destroying the current broken society. What makes her so deadly are her beliefs and that there are no limits to the depths she'll go to complete Joker's vision. Batman isn't just fighting Joker and a sidekick, he is fighting two deadly supervillains with the same deadly vision and ideals.

Keep Reading: Punchline: DC To Explore The Origin Of Joker's New Sidekick In Oversized One-Shot This November