Year of the Villain: Hell Arisen #3

[cyberghostface]

"[Punchline] is, essentially, Joker’s new girlfriend. And she is Harley Quinn’s polar opposite. She is Joker’s #2… A silent, terrifying serial killer, sexy as hell. All of his henchmen are terrified of her and they should be. Imagine Joker being Joker and torturing a hostage, and then he gets tired and sighs, handing the scalpel to Punchline, who slits their throat." -- James Tynion IV

Comments

[lordultimus]

I know that, considering DC's recent trend of redeeming all their female villains, they need to make more to fill that slot...

But do they literally have to make replacements that fill that exact slot?

[cyberghostface]

Given how popular Punchline is to the point where an issue where she appeared in two panels sold out before publication and is selling on eBay for $30, I’d say they made the right decision.

[leahandillyana]

I'd rather have them bring back Joker's Daughter :(

[deh_tommy]

There are dozens of us! DOZENS!

In all seriousness, I’m not too gone on what they’ve done with her post-Flashpoint, so perhaps that’s for the best we get Punchline here instead.

[icon_uk]

IIRC, one of the points of introducing Harley into BTAS was that they could hand over some of the goofier part of the Joker's schick to her, whilst the Joker could get to be more scary. That difference made sense.

The Joker having a "stone cold serial killer" as a sidekick adds.. well, nothing, because this Joker is already a casual murderer/spree killer.

[liliaeth]

Does she ever say a word? Just wondering.

[cyberghostface]

She had a few lines in the previous issue of Batman.

[cyberghostface]

Tynion has already said she has a more sarcastic sense of humor than Joker and there’s still potential for Joker to interact with someone who’s more on his level and act as his straight man.

[lordultimus]

I thought Batman was his straight man.

[cyberghostface]

He is but he's mainly a tsundere towards Joker at this point so there's a different dynamic.

[nyadnar17]

Punchline is a nothing character. She has nothing to her at all beyond her ascetic and her very existence moves Joker even further away from being a dark humor/funny/clever killing into just a wanton killer.


....and I love her. Man strong character design is something else.

[super_fly]

You seen strong character design, I see Deviantart Original Character Donut Steel

[crinos]

Yeah I kind of dig Punchline.

Mainly because A) Her presence means as long as she's around we're never gonna try and put Harley and Joker back together, and B) we're eventually gonna get Harley and Punchline fighting.

And she's a good compliment for Joker because she's what Joker needs: A straight man (Or woman).

[shadur]

I admit, I kind of like how Mercy demands a million dollars hazard pay for spending an hour in the same room as the Joker and Lex thinks it over for a moment and then goes "okay, that's fair"...

[silverhammerman]

"Perpetua turned them into a throne" is such a delightfully deadpan editor's note that I almost suspect someone is taking the mickey out of Snyder's Justice League run.

[thediiem]

What is that line about the preponderance of female love interests that are Asian women with a colored streak in their hair?

[lego_joker]

A post-2011 Joker... actually making a good point?! Good lord, pigs must be flying.

(Seriously, I don't even care about the wonky art, I just want to cut out and frame that "Neither of us is supposed to go to the #%%# moon!" panel.)

[superfangirl1]

I wonder how the capture NIX? Batman who laughs walks into the basement of the hall of Justice and Nix is just there in a Capsule.


Joker has some excellent points regarding Apex Lex.

[kurenai_tenka]

"[...] sexy as hell"

Oh, well, good. I'm glad we got the important part sorted out. :P

[agent8]

why is Mercy worried about some psycho with a knife? Isn't she a renegade Amazon on par with Wonder Woman? Or has that been changed?

[bravest_spinja]

She didn't seem scared so much as just...creeped out. Like it's a principle of the thing.

[lbd_nytetrayn]

Huh, never heard that before. Was that from the animated series, or did that come later?

[agent8]

It's hinted at in the "President Luthor: Secret Files and Origins" comic. When Circe enters the White House, Mercy (and her partner Hope) were able to see through her magical disguise, and Circe recognizes them as Amazons. (After temporarily changing them into birds Circe tells Lex that he will need to hire "new Amazon bodyguards").

Mercy is identified as an Amazon in "Justice League: Cry for Justice".

Her Wikipeida entry says that "It is suggested that the two (Hope and Mercy) may be Amazons, as they have exchanged blows with Superman" but it doesn't give a source for that.