Matthew Rosenberg Teases The Joker’s New Blood-Soaked Mystery (Exclusive)

Launching a New Volume of The Joker

ComicBook.com: How do you method a sequence like The Joker, the place you are attending to relaunch it with a brand new primary, whereas additionally selecting up the baton from James Tynion?

Matthew Rosenberg: It’s all the time difficult to method a e book like this, as a result of The Joker clearly has a tremendous historical past and over 80 years of tales to tug from. So you wish to do one thing that feels recent and completely different, however you additionally wish to just be sure you’re honoring every part that got here earlier than. For this e book, it is particularly difficult as a result of James and Guillem [March] and that workforce made such a tremendous e book, and it is so latest, so it took me a very long time to crack precisely how we needed to deal with selecting up from there.

I believe the concept is we’re form of treating it like a continuation of what they have been doing, but in addition a very recent begin. So if you have not learn it earlier than, you need to, but when you have not learn their e book, we’ve a brand new protagonist within the sequence, we’ve a brand new route, however storywise The Joker is selecting up only a few weeks or perhaps a month after the place that sequence ended. And so we wish to make it possible for the followers of what they did, which I’m an enormous fan of what they did, we wish to make it possible for these followers know what they’re getting and perceive it and it feels pure, but in addition by the top of what we’re doing, it ought to really feel like a very completely different e book and a very completely different expertise if we did our jobs proper. So it is a difficult balancing act, however I really feel like we have pulled it off within the first few points. I really feel like nobody’s going to be misplaced, and everybody’s going to understand that we’re going someplace completely different with it.

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The Joker’s New Status Quo

For readers that might not be updated, what’s the established order of The Joker when readers choose up the primary challenge?

The Joker was on the run after being hunted by a number of very harmful individuals and Jim Gordon, who was working for a few of these individuals and in addition working for himself. And on the finish of their sequence, he vanished. He’d left Gotham and was gone. When we choose up, that is The Joker’s return to Gotham. He’s come again, he is had somewhat time away from town to suppose and see what he needs to do, and he has some huge plans.

He needs to get again to the standing that he is had of being essentially the most harmful villain in Gotham, or perhaps on the earth. And so he is setting the plan in movement and arising towards some issues and a few resistance, particularly in Gotham, the place if you go away, they do not maintain your home for you. People will take over, and he runs into a few of his previous coworkers within the type of Two-Face and Black Mask, and other people like that, and so they’re not precisely welcoming to him coming again. So that is the place we form of are available, is that The Joker is able to get began once more at being the basic Joker, and discovering that perhaps there is not fairly room for him.

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Joker’s Cross-Country Journey

What went behind the choice to place Joker on a cross-country highway journey throughout the US?

It’s a number of issues. It’s arduous to inform a Joker story in Gotham that does not find yourself turning into principally a Batman story, and we did not wish to do this. This is The Joker’s e book and that is Joker making an attempt to return to his glory, and it is arduous when you might have Batmans and Robins and Nightwings and all these individuals who will get in his means. So as he will get to Gotham and tries to return to his glory, he in a short time realizes that it is not going to work and he has to develop and alter what he does and alter his location. So it is Joker on the transfer, however there’s additionally a number of Gotham stuff in there. I’ve to be somewhat imprecise about it right here, nevertheless it’ll begin to make sense. The metropolis is an enormous a part of The Joker’s lore, and so we wish to be certain there are ties to it, however we additionally wish to see him increasing to new locations he is by no means been.

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DC Universe Guest Appearances

Aside from seeing some Batman characters within the sequence, the highway journey side of it serves up a singular alternative to take Joker to some completely different places within the DC Universe. Are there probabilities of seeing some non-Batman characters present up within the sequence?

For positive, yeah. That’s a part of the enjoyable of what we’re making an attempt to do, is make it possible for The Joker has an opportunity to show who he’s by placing him in locations he is by no means been. That’s actually the concept. And so there are a pair early on, a pair non-regular Batman characters who’re going to make appearances, and as we go, it should be a e book that takes you locations you have by no means been within the DC Universe. But additionally, there will be some acquainted faces who he will come throughout, for positive.

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Backup Stories

I noticed within the unique announcement that there are going to be backup tales, with the primary pairing Joker up with Mirror Master. Are these going to proceed because the sequence goes on?

Yeah. First, we’ve Francesco Francavilla drawing them, in order that they’re lovely and superb, and yeah, the backup tales are uncommon. It’s not like a standard backup story the place it is a separate concept precisely. What they’re because the story goes goes to form of change and evolve, however they’re very unusual backup tales, is what I can say. They’re humorous and peculiar, and so they tonally really feel very completely different from what we’re doing. They’re way more comedic and way more wacky, however there’s a motive for that, and it should turn out to be clear because the story goes that these aren’t simply completely different Joker tales precisely. That’s all I can actually say. But they’re essential to who The Joker is, who our Joker is on this e book. They’re very key to unlocking that in a mysterious means.

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Mystery Character Hunting Joker

And after all, with out freely giving spoilers, there seems to be a bigger thriller occurring with Joker by the point individuals readers get to the top of the primary challenge. What can followers count on out of this growth that pops up?

Yeah, there is a huge thriller that drives the entire e book, and it has quite a bit to do with our character who’s looking The Joker and what he needs. And mainly, the entire concept is we’re making an attempt to problem what you already know about The Joker and what you suppose you already know about him. I all the time really feel like Joker works greatest when you might have extra questions on him than solutions, and so we’re making an attempt to essentially elevate as many questions and maintain you not sure of what you already know because it goes. And that is going to proceed. That’s form of a theme of the e book, of who The Joker actually is, is what we’re making an attempt to have individuals attempt to determine, and we will make that very tough for them.

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Collaborating With Carmine Di Giandomenico

What’s the collaboration course of been like with Carmine Di Giandomenico? Is this your first time working with him?

No, I used to be fortunate sufficient to work with Carmine on my very first thing again at DC a short while in the past. We did two points collectively of Future State: Grifter, which form of began my journey into the WildCATS. Carmine’s superb, he’s persistently an artist who I really feel actually pushes me to do my greatest work and lay out my greatest pages, after which he consistently is available in and simply ranges every part up and makes it higher. And so then you definately wish to work more durable, and it looks like an infinite arms race of who could make the e book look higher. I’m all the time arising with issues the place I’m like, “This is a superb panel,” and he’ll do actually good, after which it comes again and it is even higher.

I really like working with Carmine. He’s such a wise storyteller, and he is so good at constructing the world simply within the little particulars. So I actually really feel like persons are going to fall in love along with his Joker and the best way his Joker interacts with every part. You get an actual sense of simply his place in Gotham and his place within the greater world. And so every part I do is form of in service of making an attempt to present him sufficient house to essentially make issues huge and loopy and creepy and peculiar and enjoyable, and he is doing it pretty much as good as anybody.

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What the Future Holds

What can readers look ahead to as The Joker continues?

I believe it is one of many craziest issues I’ve ever written. It’s some of the enjoyable and thrilling issues I’ve ever labored on. I hope individuals give it an opportunity and see that we’re making an attempt to ensure we honor the legacy of The Joker and actually do issues that make you query every part about The Joker on the similar time, and that is a extremely harmful steadiness. It’s a extremely arduous tightrope to stroll, and we wish the readers there with us to really feel that form of rigidity, of every part might go incorrect and every part you already know could possibly be incorrect.

So I’m hoping that when the primary challenge comes out, individuals actually dive in and provides us their belief as a result of we’ve a extremely loopy plan for all of this that I do not suppose anybody is kind of going to see coming. And aside from that, I might say individuals ought to, when the e book comes on the market’s going to be some spoilers on the market about issues, or perhaps they are not spoilers, however simply watch out. You ought to learn it earlier than you go browsing, can be my recommendation.

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