Some upcoming variants for Joker #1

[cyberghostface]

Joker's getting his own ongoing and DC is going all out with tons of variant covers. Here are a few that stuck out to me. 

J. Scott Campbell:







Mimi Yoon:



Jonboy Meyers:



Ryan Brown:



Raf Grassetti:



And finally none other than Neal Adams:

Comments

[agent8]

I'll take the Neal Adams variant.
For a title that's supposed to be about the Joker it sure seems like Punchline is getting more cover exposure.

[cyberghostface]

lol it reminds me how Punchline was featured in nearly every variant for Harley Quinn #75 when I think she showed up in maybe three pages of the actual issue in the backup.

[leahandillyana]

I really like the kimono one!

[janegray]

The art is gorgeous. I especially like the Japanese one, but they all look really good.

[stubbleupdate]

I like how every time people tell J. Scott Campbell that somebody else's culture isn't a costume, this happens

[cyberghostface]

People in Japan aren’t bothered by tourists wearing Japanese clothes.

https://www.quora.com/Could-a-foreigner-wear-a-kimono-I’m-an-American-with-all-of-my-ancestry-coming-from-European-countries-but-I-would-love-to-try-on-a-kimono-someday-The-Japanese-culture-really-fascinates-me-and-I-think-kimonos-are-so-beautiful

Not to mention Wolverine’s done it whenever he visits Japan.

[angelophile]

That's a sweeping statement. And also not tourism.

[cyberghostface]

It’s not. Most people living in Japan don’t care if foreigners wear kimonos. I’ve searched all over nothing indicates that this would be controversial to them in any capacity.

As it is I’ve only seen a few white people complaining about this cover on twitter.

[janegray]

Two words: Batman Ninja.

[locuatico]

Japanese Americans exist and they DO have an issue with it.

[cyberghostface]

Thanks for letting me know they exist, I thought they were a myth.

So Japanese-American people are bothered by people visiting Japan and wearing kimonos or depicting someone visiting Japan and wearing kimonos?

Because otherwise I don't see what makes it worse than Wolverine in Japan.

[lizard_of_aus]

First and foremost, how can one construe from a cover that Joker's a tourist here, and he hasn't set this whole scene up in a back garden in Gotham or something?

But that's beside the point here, which is that saying that playing dress-up in Japanese regalia is a non-issue, purely because people in Japan don't have a problem with it, is a false equivalence. It's like going around asking people in a far-flung African nation what their opinion is on Oscars So White.

[cyberghostface]

I'd say this cover is a non-issue just as that Wolverine image is. There has been virtually no discussion on it aside from a very small amount on twitter. Compare it to the endless outrage over the Joker Batgirl cover.

I'm well aware of issues regarding stuff like Katy Perry using Asian people and culture as props but fictional characters like Wolverine or Joker visiting Japan is not the same.

[themajesticmoose]

I don't have any issue with Joker's whole samurai thing here but the way Punchline is drawn feels uncomfortably like it's playing into the way a lot of white people fetishize asian women in my opinion

[leahandillyana]

The Japanese do this themselves all the time. For example, perhaps the most famous image of Allois Trancy is him wearing a feminine kimono, and in current arc Ciel Phantomhive is posing as a Chinese girl servant.

[lego_joker]

Huh... good to see that DC has finally stopped running to Brian Bolland every time they have a Joker Variant Cover Bonanza (or did he do one that wasn't included here?). Woulda liked to see something from Bruce Timm, though.

I am, however, a bit side-eying the fact that Adams' parody cover didn't even bother reversing the "LOOK OUT, GOTHAM!" caption.

[ladymidath]

Love the artwork, especially the Japanese one and the one with Joker sitting on the chair holding Batman's cape.

[beeyo]

First off, good to see DC sticking to their guns with this Punchline thing. Thought it wouldve fizzled out by now but they are really trying to make her a thing.

But I thought we were done with Joker for a while. Joker War was like, one Batman arc ago.

[cyberghostface]

DC already made Punchline happen. People were dressing up as her as soon as her first cover came out. These covers are less DC trying to push her onto people and more the artists choosing her because they know she sells.

[janegray]

Any theories as to why she got so popular? She is not a bad character or anything, but the sudden explosion of popularity reached Wolverine-levels in a very short time, it's weird.

[cyberghostface]

I think a lot of it comes down to her design and her being Joker’s new girlfriend.

[magicrubbish]

The 1st cover is very... eye catching , can't deny.