PLOT:
Before becoming criminally obsessed with the Crown Prince of Crime, Doctor Harleen Quinzel once
theorized that the Joker's psyche was actually comprised of a set of shuffling
super-personas with no true Self. The past incarnations: The Satire Years of outlandish vehicles and death traps mocking the Dark Knight, the Camp years and the New Homicidal era that
paralyzed Barbara Gordon and killed Sarah Essen Gordon. All of them were created in the dark recesses of the mad man's mind seeming to shift from one to another with little warning.
Now, recovering from the gunshot wound to his face, a surgically acquired smile constantly scarred across his face, the Joker prepares to unveil his newest Self at the stroke of midnight and he hopes to have the
Dark Knight in attendance.
Going undercover as Doctor Wisakedjak (a name derived from the name of the Cree Indian Trickster god), Harley receives orders from the Joker to wipe out his old associates to
start anew. Delivering red and black roses to former henchmen that begin to emit poisonous Joker toxin when combined, Harley succeeds in killing several of Joker's former hanger-ons before
Batman intervenes. Arriving in time to save the life of Sheeba, the deformed dwarf from Joker's attempt to drive
Commissioner Gordon insane, Batman tries to convince Harley that the person
responsible for shooting the Joker was not him but she won't hear of it.
Unfortunately, Harley discovers the hard way that she too is considered part of the old crowd by this newly birthed Joker persona.
After the Joker cuts a bloody swath through Arkham, she can only
stand in awe as she stares at the perfection that has evolved from "Mistah Jay".
Batman arrives by midnight as part of the plan but he was only intended to be the audience for this final act of murder. Before the "boogieman of the new
millennium" can kill his former love, Batman steps in and
the two duke it out.
Eventually, a broken hearted Harley shoots Joker through the shoulder, allowing Batman to gain the upper hand and drag Joker back to his cell.
"What's the matter. Don't you love me anymore?" asked the black and red checkered clown. The jJoker only stares back in resonse as he breathes heavily through his
gutted mouth.
NOTE:
The issue consists of prose written by Grant Morrison accompanied by CGI illustrations by John Van Fleet
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