WARNING: Spoilers for The Joker #10
The Clown Prince of Crime is one of DC Comics’ most iconic characters, but it’s time for the Joker to pass his mantle down to his one worthy successor – James Gordon Jr., the son of Batman’s greatest ally, Commissioner Gordon. While many fans may not know about Barbara Gordon’s younger brother, the troubled character has quite a bit of history with his crusading cop of father and superhero sister. Unfortunately for Commissioner Gordon, hardly any of that history is good.
From tortured teen to full-blown serial killer, James Gordon Jr. has always been a handful. And The Joker #10 by Matthew Rosenberg, James Tynion IV, and Francesco Francavilla reinforces that notion by confirming the worst news the Gordons could possibly hear. James Gordon Jr. is the Joker’s biggest fan.
Taking place shortly after the traumatic events of Batman: The Killing Joke by Alan Moore and Brian Bolland, The Joker #10 presents readers with a chilling look at James’ childhood and more than cements him as the Joker’s logical successor. With his father and sister both scarred physically and emotionally from the clown’s latest exploits, James Jr. grows more and more obsessed with the criminal as a new Joker goes on a rampage. Stealing his father’s gun, the boy runs away from home only to be found by his father and Batman in the company of this Joker copycat with self-applied Joker makeup to match. The Dark Knight quickly takes this Joker copycat into custody, but not without confirming that it was James Jr. who’d fired his gun in public, not this wannabe villain, and warning Gordon to get some help for his son.
While some may find James’ potential as the next Joker dubious, there are plenty of reasons why this could be a compelling narrative to explore – especially with the cannibalistic new Joker that fans have grown familiar with in the pages of Future State: Gotham. Even before this issue, James Gordon Jr. has been a known fan of the Joker for years. In Batman: The Black Mirror by Scott Snyder, Jock, and Francavilla, James shared his reverence for the Jester of Genocide with his sister Barbara. He even mirrored the Joker’s debut crime and tried to poison Gotham’s water supply to create a new generation of killers
More than anything else, the Joker loves to torture Batman on a deeply personal level. And with James’ close personal ties with Commissioner Gordon and Bat-Family members like Oracle and Nightwing, few reveals would hit as hard as Jr. adopting the identity of the monster who crippled his sister and traumatized his father. Plus, there’s a good chance that James Jr.’s destructive behaviors are the result of a head injury he received when Batman saved his life as a baby. If this really is the case and James becomes the Joker, this reveal would add to the guilt that Bruce already feels over every life the Joker takes seeing as how he would have essentially created two Jokers in a row.
As with almost every other comic book character, it’s only a matter of time before the Joker identity is passed down to a younger, newer successor. Whether DC Comics will officially make Commissioner Gordon‘s son that successor remains to be seen. But regardless of their real name, one thing remains the same: the Joker will always exist to hurt Batman.
