Comics Explained: The Batman Who Laughs

Despite only debuting in 2017 the Batman Who Laughs has made a big impact on DC comics. A mixture of his design, the premise behind him, and his significant presence in the Dark Knights: Metal storyline has made him a quickly popular character. Despite his recent appearance, he has already made a cameo in other media being an alternate skin for a character in Mortal Kombat 11. Created by Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo for their new Dark Knights: Metal story, where they wanted to create Batman's worst nightmare, and Scott hoped that he would be popular enough to remain a constant in the DC Universe. At the moment, his desire has come true. Before we discuss the Batman Who Laughs we have to first set out how this character came to be.

The Dark Multiverse

Barbatos

Many comic books have the idea of the Multiverse - including DC. Prior to the Flashpoint event, when the Multiverse was in existence, there was feasibly an infinite number of realities were an infinite number of variations of characters can exist. After the Flashpoint event the Multiverse was reduced to just 52 realities - among them a world where all crime is gone and the children of heroes live a reality TV show like life, a civil war among superhumans from Injustice, and even a universe where all the characters are anthropomorphic animals. Scott Snyder for Dark Knights: Metal created the Dark Multiverse. Over the course of the event more information was revealed about the Dark Multiverse. The Batman Who Laughs summed it up quite well:

Stop me if you've heard this one... worlds will live, worlds will die... but imagine if your every fear, each bad decision, gave birth to a malformed world of nightmare. A world that shouldn't exist. And desperate as it fights to survive in the light of the true multiverse far above... these worlds are doomed to rot apart, and die, because they are wrong at their core. Welcome to the Dark Multiverse. Home to stories that should never be... It's all one big cosmic joke, except no one on this side is laughing. ...well, almost no one...

As you can tell, the Dark Multiverse was a version of the Multiverse where nightmares and bad decisions lead to the creation of universes who were unstable in their structure. In the past, a being named the World Forger was tasked with having these unstable realities destroyed, and the energy from these destroyed worlds to be used to create new realities. The World Forger used the 'Great Dragon' Barbatos to destroy these worlds, but Barbatos later betrayed the World Forger and destroyed it. Barbatos allowed these universes to germinate with the intention of using them to invade and destroy the Multiverse. When the main reality Batman got transported through time by Darkseid during the Final Crisis event this brought him to the attention of Barbatos, who recognised the similarity between itself and Batman. Barbatos would use Batman to open the gateway between the Dark Multiverse and Multiverse, which is where the Batman Who Laughs comes in.

Origins

The Joker Robins

Although the Batman Who Laughs was introduced thanks to the Dark Knights: Metal event, it was actually in The Batman Who Laughs #1 which explored his origin. In Earth -22, Bruce Wayne and the DC Universe matched the mainstream reality except with one difference - it was based on Batman's fear of becoming like the Joker. In Earth -22 the Joker found out Batman's secret identity, and decided to perform the ultimate attack on Batman as a finale, due to the chemicals which turned him into the Joker now killing him. First wiping out all of Batman's villains, and killing Commissioner Gordon via an acid trap in his notebook, planned to merge the fates of himself and Bruce Wayne. He killed the parents of a few children in front of them, and then introduced them to his Joker Venom - copying the origin of Batman and the origin of Joker. To make his plan complete he had Batman witness the children's turn into 'Joker Robins'. A broken Batman broke free and choked the Joker to death, but the clown had a secret weapon - when he died his concoction would be released infecting whoever killed him. 

Killing the Bat Family

A few days later members of the Bat Family were training with robots programmed by Batman, but they were fighting surprisingly harder this day. When they confronted Batman about this, he revealed that he had been infected by the Joker's toxins, and was slowly becoming the Joker. While Nightwing assumes that the robots were set to harder difficulties so they could beat Batman when the time came; it turned out that the turn had already came. With the robots failing to kill the Bat Family, a now changed Bruce Wayne proceeded to shoot Nightwing, Batgirl, Red Robin, and Red Hood. Turning his son, the current Robin Damien Wayne, into another Joker Robin he soon wiped out the Justice League. Confirming his descent into the Batman Who Laughs, he used a type of kryptonite on Superman and Superboy causing them to kill Lois Lane before dying themselves. Laughing, he drew a smiley face on a window of the Justice League Watchtower in the blood of his former friends. Using the weaponry of the Justice League he soon proceeded to destroy life on the planet, and this is what made Barbatos to approach him to become his right-hand. Barbatos tasked the Batman Who Laughs to recruit the 'Dark Knights' - a collection of the most twisted versions of Batman who take over the Multiverse. 

Dark Knights: Metal

The Batman Who Laughs's major appearance was during the Dark Knights: Metal event, but I don't want to give away too many spoilers for the comic. As it was recently published it is still available in stores, and it's a good story, so I would recommend reading it yourself. Instead, I'll just quickly go over some notable events which the Batman Who Laughs oversaw. Naturally, being the right-hand of Barbatos, he lead the initial attack on the Multiverse, arriving in the main reality and setting the Joker Robins on the Court of Owls. The Court of Owls is a sinister group, and it is difficult to quickly summarise them, but for the purpose of Dark Knights: Metal, they worship Barbatos and worked to use Batman to bring them into the Multiverse. Now, with their purpose fulfilled, the Batman Who Laughs had them killed, and then sent the Dark Knights to attack the home cities of the Justice League. To secure his base in Gotham, he handed out cards which could alter reality to the Riddler, Poison Ivy, Firefly, Mad Hatter, Bane, and Mister Freeze - if someone wished to take down his base, they would have to fight through the warped version of Gotham created by the villains. Through the rest of the story, the Batman Who Laughs tries to wipe out reality and his enemies, but was challenged by a team of alternate reality Batmen led by the main Batman. However, what took the Batman Who Laughs was that the Joker helped in the fight. The Joker simply explained, the Batman Who Laughs still had the planning of Batman so they had to do something which Batman would never expect: fighting alongside the Joker.

After the Dark Knights

The Batman Who Laughs managed to survive the defeat of Barbatos, and was later found to be under the custody of Lex Luthor. The other members of the Legion of Doom, especially the Joker, were uncomfortable having the Batman Who Laughs at their base, and he himself goaded Luthor about knowing the secrets of the Multiverse. It turned out that the Batman could escape whenever he wanted; he was biding his time to see how events were going on the outside. Later, in exchange for information, Luthor released him. He then began his new goal: taking down Batman. To achieve his goal he recruited another Batman from the Dark Multiverse - the Grim Knight. A mixture of Batman and the Punisher, this version of Batman killed Joe Chill, who murdered Batman's parents, when he dropped his gun. This put him on a course to becoming a murderous Batman who turned Gotham into a police state. The Joker, meanwhile, realised that his Batman didn't have the same disregard for human life as the Batman Who Laughs and Grim Knight, so he infected Batman with a diluted version of the Joker Venom. He would become another Batman Who Laughs, but with more control. In the end, a confrontation in the Wayne graveyard main reality Batman defeated the Batman Who Laughs, and Alfred gave him a serum stopping him from becoming a new Batman Who Laughs. Despite his incarceration in the Hall of Justice, he began his new plot to tear apart the Justice League and this reality: infect Superman with the Joker Venom. He came close using an infected Shazam and Blue Beetle to get Superman in position, and he would have succeeded if not for Supergirl grabbing a batarang designed to affect Kryptonians before it could hit him. 

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Comics Explained: DC Multiverse

A map of the Multiverse

One of the key aspects of the DC Universe (DCU) is the Multiverse. An idea of a Multiverse is not unique to DC and some scientists have even hypothesized that we may even be living in a Multiverse. A Multiverse is basically a parallel universe where things are different; for example, there could be a reality where an alternate version of you got your dream job. Some scientists, like Ethan Siegal, have argued against the idea of alternate universes. DC comics has had a long and complicated history with alternate realities so the purpose of this post is to make it simpler. Due to how complicated DC's Multiverse has been this will be more of an overview so if you've noticed that I've missed something it's likely intentional - although feel free to mention it in the comments. DC's Multiverse originated as a way to justify a retcon...

Real World Origins of the Multiverse

DC originated in the 1930s and 1940s and its cast of characters, with a few exceptions, were largely magic based. Of course there were exceptions, such as Superman, but heroes were largely magic based. These included Wonder Woman, Doctor Fate, the original Green Lantern (Alan Scott), and Hawkman. They proved to be so popular that in 1940's All Star Comics #3 a precursor of the Justice League, called the Justice Society of America, was made out of some of the more popular characters - however Batman and Superman weren't apart of it and 1940s sexism made Wonder Woman the JSA's secretary. After the Second World War interest in superheroes decreased. This did not just affect DC, Marvel's precursor Timely also faced this issue. Throughout the late-1940s and early-1950s comic book companies instead sold stories about horror (which crashed thanks to the Comics Code of Authority), romance, teen drama, Westerns, and war. Until the mid-1960s Archie Comics actually sold more than Marvel! With the exception of Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman and a few others superheroes were out. By the mid-1950s the Space Race had begun making a new generation interested in sci-fi so DC thought to bring back superheroes. Largely magic was dropped in favor of science, or science merged with magic. In 1956 Showcase #4 remade the Flash with Barry Allen as the titular hero; as a bit of meta ingenuity Barry Allen loved reading the Flash comics from the 1940s so chose that as his moniker. In 1959 Green Lantern received a sci-fi makeover in Showcase Presents Green Lantern #23. Soon enough the JSA was remade into the Justice League in The Brave and the Bold #28.

Fans weren't entirely on board with these changes. Of course it was very popular - after all it restarted the love for superheroes which only dipped thanks to the 1990s Comic Book Crash which you can read about here - but some long time fans weren't happy. Many older readers were wondering what happened to the older stories? Why are Alan Scott and Jay Garrick comic book characters but Wonder Woman, Batman and Superman 'real' in this continuity? What happened to the JSA? Something that can be compared to modern comics some Flash fans hated Barry Allen initially. After a while they did grow to like him but many were upset that the Flash they grew up with had just become a fictitious character in a comic. So in 1961 they decided to answer this question and create the Multiverse. Flash fans buying Flash #123 saw Barry Allen and Jay Garrick on the cover.

The Flash #123

In this story Barry Allen vibrates at a different frequency and accidentally travels into a different dimension where Jay Garrick lives. Garrick has aged in real time and inspired by Barry comes out of retirement. Thus the Multiverse was born. Throughout DC history we find out that each universe vibrates at a different frequency and when we dream we sometimes see different universes; the Gardner Fox and Harry Lampert of the DCU therefore saw Garrick's universe as they slept. The Flash #123 received a ton of positive fan mail. Longtime fans who liked both Garrick and Allen were thrilled to see them together; Garrick fans who disliked Allen loved that they paid respect to the character; and new fans who knew nothing of Garrick were eager to find out more about the interesting 1940s characters (comic guides wouldn't come around until the late-1960s). Barry Allen would occasionally go to Garrick's reality but in 1963 with Justice League of America #21 and #22 the Justice League met the Justice Society. The most recent universe, from the 1950s, was named Earth-1 while the older universe was named Earth-2. Until 1985 there would be at least one JLA/JSA crossover a year.

Expansion of the Multiverse and Crisis on Infinite Earths

With the Multiverse now created DC had fun with it. Earth-3 was introduced in Justice League of America #29 which is an 'opposite' world: Columbus discovered Europe, England rebelled against the USA etc. Instead of a Justice League we have the Crime Syndicate of America featuring Ultraman (Superman), Super Woman (Wonder Woman), Owlman (Batman), Johnny Quick (Flash), and Power Ring (Green Lantern). DC had also purchased Captain Marvel (now Shazam) - who at one time was even more popular than Superman - and Plastic Man from other companies so DC designated their old universes Earth-S and Earth-X respectively. When Marvel powerhouse Jack Kirby moved over to DC he expanded the Multiverse with New Gods beginning in 1971. The New Gods of New Genesis and Apokolips exist outside the Multiverse and figures like Darkseid interact with the Multiverse, mainly Earth-1, via portals called Boom Tubes. We also see the Source Wall which is a structure separating the Multiverse from the 'Source' - the literal origin of all knowledge and everything that exists. Since the 1970s the Multiverse continued and continued to expand. Power Girl is one just example. Power Girl is the Earth-2 version of Supergirl - older than her Earth-1 counterpart she got trapped on Earth-1 so created her own identity as there was already a Supergirl there. 

Destruction of the Multiverse

By 1985 DC decided that a change was needed. After decades of stories they were worried that new fans would be turned off by the mountains of stories, and the Multiverse did not help. Even normal fans were confused about which stories were in which universe never mind new ones. Plot holes started to appear and with general confusion DC decided a clean slate was needed leading to 1985's Crisis on Infinite Earths. Writer Marv Wolfman and artist George Perez were tasked with this story and to this day this story marked the key dating point when discussing DC's history. An ancient being called the Anti-Monitor attacks the Multiverse causing all the heroes to unite and fight it. One key thing to note: Barry Allen died in this story. The character who introduced the Multiverse died with it. Despite the heroes defeating the Anti-Monitor the Multiverse is destroyed forming one new reality: New Earth.

Post-Crisis

Gotham by Gaslight, the first Elseworlds comic

DC treated Crisis as a new start. A few characters, like Wonder Woman, received entirely new origins and some aspects of characters were rewritten to make more sense. For example, Bruce Wayne hired Alfred after becoming Batman and he discovers that Wayne is Batman when Alfred finds him injured. Post-Crisis rewrote this so that Alfred had always been with the Waynes and had always knew that Bruce was Batman. The Justice Society was active during World War Two but disbanded due to McCarthyism. DC planned that there were to be no Multiverse at all - alternate realities were allowed but it had to be clear that there would be no interaction with New Earth. Many of these were published under their darker imprint called Vertigo which featured Watchmen, V for Vendetta, Swamp Thing and Hellblazer. In 1989 DC launched Elseworlds to cover alternate reality stories so fans would not get confused where the first to be published was Gotham by Gaslight featuring Batman living in the Victorian era tracking Jack the Ripper who had come to Gotham. Meanwhile, characters intimately tied with the Multiverse had to have rewrites. Some were simple: instead of existing outside the Multiverse the New Gods exist in a galaxy which cannot be reached via normal means. Attempts to reboot Power Girl were not well received. She was changed to be descended from an Atlantean sorcerer and fans hated it. Some parts of the pre-Crisis continuity remained. Barry Allen's death was one and he remained dead for decades with Wally West acting as the Flash since then. John Constantine could also remember the pre-Crisis timeline.

Since 1985 DC had published several alternate reality stories and some are the best from comics. The Dark Knight Returns featured an elderly Bruce Wayne becoming the Batman once again; Superman: Red Son featured Superman landing in a collective farm in Ukraine in the 1930s and years later he becomes a key figure in the USSR; and Kingdom Come tells the story of a retired Superman returning to show the new violent heroes how to be a hero. The stories from Vertigo were considered semi-canon: if something contrasted with the main reality then that story didn't officially happen. There was no Multiverse, discounting the sequel crossovers to Kingdom Come called Hypertime, until 2005 with Infinite Crisis by Geoff Johns. We find out that following Crisis certain heroes, such as Earth-2 Superman and Lois Lane, following the destruction of the Multiverse were trapped in a pocket universe. However, many of them were unhappy. Compared to pre-Crisis heroes the post-Crisis heroes failed, they were flawed, and they argued so the surviving pre-Crisis heroes viewed them as false heroes. One was Superboy-Prime, a version of Superman where all DC heroes are comic characters, manages to punch his way out of the universe! This caused ripple effects causing heroes to come back alive or change their backstories. We even find out that Power Girl was actually from Earth-2 but she became trapped in New Earth instead of Earth-2. Barry Allen also came back in Infinite Crisis. Following Infinite Crisis the Multiverse came back. Now Hypertime, Vertigo and another imprint called WildStorm could actively crossover.

Flashpoint and After

Flashpoint

In 2011's Flashpoint Barry Allen wakes up in a world completely different to his own and we find out that he accidentally caused this: he had ran so fast that he traveled through time to stop his mother's death but the Butterfly Effect reshaped the world. One good example of this is Bruce Wayne being shot instead of his parents and his mother becomes the Joker while his dad becomes an ultraviolent Batman. When the Flash reversed this it destroyed the Multiverse once again and New Earth, the Vertigo universe, and the WildStorm universe merge together forming Earth Prime. The Multiverse was recreated to form 52 new realities - one even got its own comic series, Earth-2. The New 52 had a mix reception mainly as DC said this was an entirely a new start, they wanted readers to act as if DC had never published a story before. Except DC kept referring back to older stories and now no one knew what was canon or not. After that tangent we get to Multiversity by Grant Morrison and I would highly recommend people read it. Morrison mapped out the Multiverse (at the top) and explored some of them. My personal favorite is shown in The Just. Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman are dead but before they died they made sure injustice, crime and alien invasions died with them. Now their children, and some retired heroes, act as celebrities doing battle reenactments. The later Convergence event, which Multiversity helped set up. The heroes of Earth-2, and a few others, go on a journey to stop Brainiac who has been collecting people from destroyed realities with the intention of putting them together to study what happens.

Finally I'm going to mention DC Rebirth, Dark Knights: Metal, and Doomsday Clock. As they are still currently happening and I haven't fully caught up with each one this shall be a broad overview. In DC Rebirth, a half-reboot to rectify somethings disliked in the New 52, we find the Comedian's button from Watchmen in the Batcave and we find out that Dr Manhattan has been intervening in the DCU leading up to Doomsday Clock. Here Ozymandias, the new Rorschach and a criminal duo travel to the DCU hoping to find Manhattan. Meanwhile, with Dark Knights: Metal we find out that there is a 'Dark 52'. These were universes destined to be destroyed and are invading the 52. This invasion is being led by the Dark Knights - basically evil versions of Batman. 

The Dark Knights

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