Question everything you know about the Joker in ‘The Joker Year One’

DC promises to reveal untold secrets about the origin of the Joker in an upcoming Batman story next year, titled “The Joker Year Zero.,” which will run through three weekly issues in February.

The new storyline is by writer Chip Zdarsky, artist Giuseppe Camuncoli, inker Stefano Nesi, and colorist Alejandro Sánchez, with artist Andrea Sorrentino and colorist Dave Stewart drawing a “juxtaposed” story. It’ll follow the current Batman arc, “Mindbomb,” which also features the Joker.

Here’s a look at the two different art styles, starting with Camuncoli, Nesi and Sánchez’s tribute to The Killing Joke:

And here’s Sorrentino and Stewart’s artwork; they make a great combo for a darker, moodier approach:

Each issue of “The Joker Year Zero” will ship weekly in February. Here’s what to expect from the three-issue arc:

“The Joker Year One” begins in Batman #142 by Chip Zdarsky, Giuseppe Camuncoli, Stefano Nesi, Andrea Sorrentino, Alejandro Sánchez and Dave Stewart. In part one, the tragic “death” of the leader of the Red Hood Gang in a vat of chemicals has become the subject of myth…but what is the heartbreaking and gruesome tale of the monster who walked away from that violent birth? From the first pages of “The Joker Year One” onward, eager readers will be questioning everything they know about The Joker!

Next, in Batman #143, the terrifying tale of “The Joker Year One” continues as a mysterious figure from Batman’s past has come into Joker’s orbit, changing the Clown Prince of Crime forever! And what secrets does the re-formed Red Hood Gang have for Batman’s future? Batman #143, written by Chip Zdarsky with art by Giuseppe Camuncoli, Stefano Nesi, Andrea Sorrentino, Alejandro Sánchez and Dave Stewart, will publish on February 13, 2024.

Batman #144 features the climactic, chilling conclusion to “The Joker Year One,” delivering massive repercussions for the future! The Red Hood Gang is on a rampage and the only man who can stop them…is The Joker! And can Batman stop a devastating new virus in a future where The Joker looms over everything? Batman #144, written by Chip Zdarsky with art by Giuseppe Camuncoli, Stefano Nesi, Andrea Sorrentino, Alejandro Sánchez and Dave Stewart, will publish on February 20, 2024.

As previously announced, Batman #145–#148 will feature a story called “Dark Prisons” where Batman will face “a terrifying figure from his past in order to survive Zur’s onslaught. And if Batman survives, a new enemy is waiting in the wings: Amanda Waller and the U.S. military!” She and Batman’s inner bad guy, Zur En Arrh, make up two-thirds of DC’s trinity of evil for 2024, so that storyline will be fully packed with evilness.