Summary

• Joker's plan to bring out Batman's inner darkness has set off a chain of events that threaten to devastate Gotham City.
• The Joker is revealed to be the one who convinced the Penguin to fake his death.
• The Joker's obsession with finding Zur-En-Arrh has unleashed a brutal era in Batman's history.

Warning! Preview pages ahead for Batman #146!The Joker has done a lot of horrible things to Batman, but this latest development changes everything about the Clown Prince of Crime. The Dark Knight may challenge the Joker, but the super-villain is only going to be fulfilled when he faces off against the ultimate Batman.

But it wasn't enough for the Joker to wear down Bruce Wayne. The Harlequin of Hate needed a little help from another Batman rogue to get Joker's most ambitious plan is still having drastic effects on the DC Universe in way he never even saw coming.

Everything the Joker Has Done Has Been to Summon Batman's Worst Self

For years, Batman and the Joker have fought each other in a never-ending war. But early in Batman's career, the Joker saw something that changed his perspective on the Dark Knight forever. During a confrontation with the Joker, the villain accidentally triggered Batman’s backup personality, the Batman of Zur-En-Arrh. The more vicious Batman brutalized the Joker and nearly killed him before Bruce regained control of his body. The Joker, unaware that Bruce had an alternate personality, developed an obsession with the Batman of Zur-En-Arrh.

The Joker's first experience with Zur-En-Arrh was seen in the backup story "I am a Gun" in Batman #128-130!

What Batman wasn’t aware of, however, was that Joker had also trained to develop alternate personalities, and was taught by the same mentor Bruce once had. Shortly after the Joker emerged from his chemical bath, he was recruited by Dr. Daniel Captio, the man who expanded Bruce’s mind. Captio was interested in creating an equal to Batman which Captio succeeded in by working with Joker. Joker created three distinct personalities nestled within one another, ranging from trickster personas to absolute monsters.

After Joker discovered Zur-En-Arrh, Joker sought Captio out and itted how infatuated Joker was with Batman’s more unrestrained side. Joker desperately wanted to see Zur-En-Arrh again and wanted him to be Batman’s dominant personality. Captio reminded Joker that Zur-En-Arrh was created to help Batman deal with stress and encouraged Joker to create ‘emergencies’. Captio’s line of thinking was that increasingly worse events would draw out Zur-En-Arrh over time to the point that Zur-En-Arrh would see Bruce’s personality as a hindrance and take over Batman’s body permanently.

The Joker ‘Killed’ the Penguin to Get What He Wanted

In a preview for Batman #147 by Chip Zdarsky, Jorge Jiménez, Michele Bandini, Tomeu Morey, Alex Sinclair, and Clayton Cowles, the Joker’s worst actions through history are shown. From killing Jason Todd in “Death in the Family” to shooting Barbara Gordon in The Killing Joke, everything the Joker has done has all been in the name of getting the Batman of Zur-En-Arrh to take over. But Joker never found success until he kidnapped Alfred Pennyworth in “Death of the Family”.

The Joker picked the Penguin as his patsy and Joker began manipulating Penguin from the shadows.

The Joker learned that Alfred was meant to keep Batman’s contingency Failsafe from activating in the event Batman ever took a life. Joker later discovered the Failsafe robot and told Captio everything about Zur-En-Arrh’s plans to stop Batman from crossing the line. Captio theorizes that Failsafe mistakenly activating could potentially be the event that causes Zur-En-Arrh to take over for good. After Alfred was killed by Bane during “City of Bane”, Joker just needed a reason for Failsafe to activate so Zur-En-Arrh would emerge to try and stop his creation.

The Joker picked the Penguin as his patsy and Joker began manipulating Penguin from the shadows. Not only did the Joker tip off the cops and the Bat-Family about Oswald Cobblepot’s moves, but the Joker gave Penguin mercury poisoning to boot. With Penguin facing immense pressure, Joker convinced Penguin to fake his death, frame Batman, and leave Gotham. The Joker even assisted Cobblepot by giving the Penguin a detailed plan of how it would work. Through the narration, Captio criticizes Batman for failing to see how out-of-sorts Penguin’s plan was.

The Joker Has Also Triggered a Penguin War

The idea that everything the Joker’s done in the pursuit of getting Zur-En-Arrh to supplant Bruce as the dominant personality is a shocking one indeed. It’s often been assumed that Joker’s various attacks on the Bat-Family were all just part of his usual brand of unpredictable chaos. But this new wrinkle to Batman’s history confirms that Joker’s crimes have never been random, but all part of a coordinated effort to erode Bruce’s psyche and have it replaced by the personality Joker deems the ‘perfect’ one.

When the Penguin faked his death to frame Batman (activating Failsafe in the process), it was assumed to be an odd event that just spiraled out of control. This one action kickstarted a whirlwind of events from Failsafe taking over Gotham, to Bruce being sent to an alternate universe, and even Batman brainwashing Jason Todd during “Gotham War”. Joker might not have planned on all those things happening, but they can all be tied back to Joker convincing Penguin to pretend that Batman murdered him.

Both Penguin and his children are prepared to spill blood in order to take control of the Gotham underground.

What’s worse is by roping Penguin into Joker’s gambit, the clown managed to ignite a firestorm that’s about to bring hell to Gotham. When Penguin ‘died’ his children Addison and Aiden Cobblepot took over their father’s criminal enterprise. However, the Penguin has become the United States' government’s controlled asset and is being coerced into taking his old turf back. Both Penguin and his children are prepared to spill blood in order to take control of the Gotham underground. So as bad as things are in Gotham with Zur-En-Arrh right now, the Penguin’s war is going to make things worse.

Oswald Cobblepot's journey to reclaim his old territory can be seen in The Penguin (2023)!

The Joker's Latest Plan is Going to Destroy Gotham

Right now, Zur-En-Arrh is in control of the Failsafe body and is leading a crusade to bring Gotham under his control. At the same time, the Penguin is back in town and his war with his kids is going to tear the city apart. Neither would be an ideal scenario by themselves, but by happening around the same time, these events are putting stress on Batman’s city and putting an incalculable number of innocent citizens in harm’s way.

All the Joker wanted was to bring out the Batman of Zur-En-Arrh, even if that meant taking out someone like Penguin. But the Joker’s short-sighted actions have kicked off a chain of events that could be leading into one of the bloodiest eras in Gotham’s history. Hopefully, the Joker’s plan was worth it, because things are undoubtedly only going to get worse from here.

Batman #146 is available on April 2nd from DC Comics.