Warning! Contains potential spoilers for Batman #141!Batman and the Joker have had one of the most brutal rivalries in comics for the past 80 years, but now this rivalry might finally be coming to an end. It appears that Batman’s Zur-En-Arrh personality might finally do what the Dark Knight has avoided doing: kill the Joker.
It has been several years since Batman and Joker have actually interacted in comics, with the last time the two saw one another way back in 2020’s Joker War. Since then Batman has been dealing with tragedy and crisis after crisis, while the Joker has lately been facing off against a doppelgänger of himself. But it appears that Joker and Batman are going to reunite in an explosive way in Batman #141 by Chip Zdarsky and Jorge Jimenez. The synopsis for the upcoming issue seems to imply that not only will Batman and Joker finally reunite, but Joker might not just survive the encounter. Check out the issue’s main cover and full solicitation below:
Batman and Zur En Arrh
![DC Lore Will Change Forever as [SPOILER] Kills Joker – Theory Explained](https://static1.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/zur-en-arrh-and-joker.jpg)
- BATMAN #141
- Written by CHIP ZDARSKY
- Art and cover by JORGE JIMENEZ
- Variant cover by DAVID FINCH
- Variant cover by FELIPE MASSAFERA
- 1:25 variant cover by ALAN QUAH
- 1:50 variant cover by DUSTIN NGUYEN
- $4.99 US | 40 pages | Variant $5.99 US (card stock)
- ON SALE 1/2/24
- Zur-En-Arrh has done the unthinkable. And now, cut off from everything and everyone, Batman has to face off against his most devastating enemy in a brutal fight for the future as the specter of The Joker hangs over everything. The stunning conclusion to “Mindbomb” is here!
Batman famously has his no-kill rule when it comes to dealing with criminals, and while Joker has certainly pushed him towards breaking it more than most, Batman still hasn’t broken it. But this might all change due to one deadly loophole. While Batman himself maintains a strict no-kill rule, the alternate personality inside of him, known as Zur-En-Arrh, doesn’t care for such restrictions. Zur-En-Arrh is a backup personality that Batman created to protect his mind in case it ever came under attack, but this personality is also significantly more brutal than Batman’s normal one. Zur has shown on several occasions that it’s more than okay with killing; in fact, it even tried to kill Joker once already.
Batman and Joker’s Fight May Come to An End
The story “I Am a Gun” by writer Chip Zdarsky and artist Leonardo Romero, which was printed earlier this year in Batman #128-130, depicts the first time that the Zur-En-Arrh personality was let loose. During an attack on Wayne Enterprises by the Joker, Zur very nearly kills the Clown Prince once and for all by tossing him out of a window. While Batman is able to reassert control and save the Joker, it’s possible this won’t work twice. The plot synopsis specifically calls our Zur “doing the unthinkable” and “the specter of The Joker.” Both of these phrases seem to strongly imply that Zur will finally put the Clown Prince down for good.
The Batman and Joker have been fighting for decades and neither can seemingly get the advantage over the other, but it seems that Zur-En-Arrh will finally be the tipping point. With Batman under more pressure than ever before and an insidious lethal alternate personality infecting his brain, it’s possible that this “Mindbomb” storyline will be the last laugh for the Joker.
Batman #141 will be on sale from DC Comics on January 2!
