Gotham City has a new hero, Clownhunter – and he proves Batman has failed his city. The Dark Knight introduced many viewers to the idea Gotham City is trapped in an endless cycle of escalation. Batman’s appearance on the skylines of Gotham led to a response from the city’s criminals and madmen. Worse still, every time Batman steps up, his enemies take it as a challenge to get even worse.
The idea may have been new to moviegoers, but it’s been a central tenet of Batman lore for decades in the comics. And, frankly, it’s getting exhausting for the citizens of Gotham; by now Batman and his foes are waging war for the soul of the city itself. The current “Joker War” arc has been the worst yet, with the Clown Prince of Crime successfully stealing Bruce Wayne’s fortune. He’s used this money to wreak havoc, while giving his goons access to all Batman’s custom equipment. The chaos has been indescribable, not helped by Batman’s being incapacitated with a new toxin by the Joker’s latest squeeze, Punchline.
Now a new vigilante has stepped out of the shadows, calling himself Clownhunter because he’s determined to rid Gotham of the Joker and all his clowns. He’s a simple teenager from the Narrows, whose parents were killed by the Joker and who’s simply had enough of feeling powerless, of being caught in the crossfire between bats and madmen. Unlike Batman, Clownhunter has absolutely no qualms about committing murder, and frankly, he operates under a simple philosophy – the only good Joker is a dead Joker. In Batman: The Joker Warzone #1, Clownhunter proves himself the people’s champion, receiving rapturous applause for his deeds.
Clownhunter’s popularity proves one disturbing fact; Batman has lost. The citizens of Gotham have suffered too much. They’ve gotten tired of the endless cycle of violence, of sleepless nights where their only sign of hope is the bat-signal shining in the cloudy skies. They’ve had enough of picking up the morning paper to learn there’s been another breakout from Asylum, they’re wary of seeing their schools blown up and their children corrupted. “Joker War” has been the worst of all, and it has broken the city’s spirit. When the people of Gotham cheered for Clownhunter, they were celebrating a new kind of vigilante, one who has ditched Batman’s “No Kill” rule.
Is there any coming back from “Joker War?” Clownhunter’s popularity proves something has changed in Gotham, something fundamental, and it will be very hard for Batman to repair the damage. Although Batman is sure to defeat the Joker at last, the sad truth is that he may well have already won – because Batman has lost his city.
