>incel boy who idolizes Batman and goes after Joker and Punchline and kills clowns Clownhunter is basically Arthur Fleck.
>CLOWNHUNTER is a quiet, weird kid who lives in the Narrows. He mumbles jokes to himself under his breath, but doesn’t speak up in class or while he’s gaming late at night. When he was a kid, he saw his parents killed by the Joker, and his life was saved by Batman. He idolized Batman for years. But when Joker War starts, and Batman can’t stop it out the gate, he picks up a baseball bat, hammers in the Batarang Batman gave him as a kid, and goes out to start killing the Clown gang members terrorizing his neighborhood.
>He’s a different sort of vigilante. Vigilantes in Gotham normally come with high tech costumes and gadgets. He’s more lo-fi, and more willing to cross the lines that the usual vigilantes don’t. There’s a dark, young city brewing underneath Batman’s feet in Gotham… On one hand we have Punchline, who represents a new kind of villain, a kind of young person radicalized into believing something deeply dangerous… On the other hand, we have Clownhunter, who sees himself as a hero, but has tossed out the entire moral playbook of Batman, and doesn’t respect his old ways of looking at the world.
>Now, when I first thought up the name Clownhunter, I was thinking about a story that was going to follow Joker War (I don’t even think Joker War was called Joker War at that point). There was a story that was going to come out of the event, and I wanted to create this mysterious clown hunting character… And then Punchline happened, and the particular story I was introducing Clownhunter for evaporated, and I was looking at my plans for Joker War and noticed that I was missing something pretty big in the story.
>There wasn’t a POV character on the ground in Gotham City, seeing the city go to hell around them. Joker War is meant to represent a shift in how Gotham sees itself, and be a catalyst for a bold new Gotham City that’s building in its wake… I needed a character who represented that change. A character who takes things into his own hands because he sees the city needs it, but not by Batman or Joker’s terms. A supporting cast member that wasn’t part of the Arkham Rogues, or part of the Bat-Family. Something new and different.
>And I went into C2E2 with that problem in my head, and then I actually saw the response to Punchline in person, and it confirmed something that I’ve been suspecting for a while, but has become clear ever since I started both Something Is Killing The Children and my Batman run… I think the current generation of comic book reader is HUNGRY for its own generation of comic book characters. Characters they get to participate in the introduction of, and they get to learn the origin of, and see how other characters react to them… Characters that haven’t appeared in multiple video games, and tv-shows, to the point where there are five competing canons that exist for them.
Caleb Lopez
>As Joker and Batman go head to head as Gotham turns into a War Zone, we’ll see that Clowns are terrified to go to the narrows, all because of this kid who isn’t afraid to kill them. There’s a Clownhunter story in a one-shot coming out in September with an artist that I am flipping out I get to work with, and he’ll continue to play a key role in the book after Joker War. That’s the big thing I want to hammer in with both Punchline and Clownhunter, I have real plans for these characters, and we want to see if you’ll fall for them, too. These are not meant to be flash in the pan sales points, these are new characters that open up stories to tell that we couldn’t tell with other characters in the Batman Mythos. And I’ve got plans to tell those stories.
>I keep saying he’s one part Kaneda’s Gang from Akira, one part Casey Jones from TMNT, and one part Deadpool (in terms of a kind of amused detachment from reality). His first appearance is in Batman #96 (and that is his ACTUAL, 100% first appearance, no minor appearances in the background of a previous issue - He shows up for the first time from whole cloth in #96).
>He and Punchline are the first children of a new Gotham City Jorge and I are building in the pages of Batman. So far it seems like you’re along for the ride, but I hope you stick with us. I have lots of even bigger, even crazier plans to come, and I can’t wait for them to come to light.
Parker Fisher
hope he gets to splatter jokers and punchlines brains all over the pavement while batfag watches and cries in moral pain.
Adam Johnson
>incel boy who idolizes Batman and goes after Joker and Punchline and kills clowns >The audience is supposed to feel bad for Joker and Punchline No, try again
Leo Watson
>warpick made of a Louisville Slugger and a Batarang that got dropped somewhere Pretty neat
Josiah Rogers
>Batfag will beat the shit out of a kid to save his Joker-san WEW!
Samuel Adams
Notice how Clownhunter and Punchline have similar costumes? The X’s, the torn clothing. Weird.
Anyway while I like Punchline, this guy sounds like a fag
Justin Sanchez
>>incel boy who idolizes Batman and goes after Joker and Punchline and kills clowns >Simp with ambition Pretty unrealistic
Jackson Miller
Wouldn’t he want to idolize Red Hood instead? I know Jason doesn’t really kill anymore but still. Also what the hell kind is long term story potential does this guy have? Bashing the brains of Joker goons is limited.
Evan Perry
he wouldnt be an incel if he went for the gordon method
Noah Kelly
Tynion said that the Joker should have more henchmen, so he's probably gonna give them more. Then this guy's gonna go after Joker and Punchline, who are the top dogs.
Jaxon Mitchell
But the thing is though we only care about Joker henchmen if they actually stick around. There's a lot wrong with this character concept. >Edgy teen with a boring post apocalyptic design >Another vigilante criminal killer character when they're kind of played out at this point. >Extremely narrow gimmick. He kills Joker goons.....okay? >Is he really a hero or a villain? Because he's in for a rude awakening when meeting Batman again. Unless this is a stepping stone to another persona, I don't really see what the hell Tynion is talking about in terms of long term storytelling.
Benjamin Rodriguez
>Unless this is a stepping stone to another persona I was actually thinking about that. Maybe he gets reformed by Batgod.
Michael Cruz
>story will end with Batman knocking him out to save Joker Defend this. You just know it'll happen.
Austin Parker
>Maybe he gets reformed by Batgod. Oh for the love of fuck please no. I am so goddamn sick of writers adding their OC creations to the Bat-Family. Scott Snyder tried this shit twice in recent memory, and surprise, no one gives a shit about Harper Row or Duke Thomas.
If anything "Clownhunter" might end up working FOR Joker
Jayden Green
Pretty much. If he's lucky he'll stick around as a C-list edgy vigilante they use when they want to remind us that BATMAN DOESN'T KILL, NEVER EVER, NOT EVEN HITLER.
Zachary Davis
>And I went into C2E2 with that problem in my head, and then I actually saw the response to Punchline in person, and it confirmed something that I’ve been suspecting for a while, but has become clear ever since I started both Something Is Killing The Children and my Batman run… I think the current generation of comic book reader is HUNGRY for its own generation of comic book characters. Kinda feel sorry for him thinking people care about these new characters beyond thinking they can make a buck selling first appearances.
Eli Morris
Hopefully he kills Joker.
Parker Powell
I don't like his design, but I feel like that's intentional. So I am intrigued
John Adams
Hey I'm actually interested in Punchline currently. At least he's trying to create something with some staying power instead of a disposable D-lister someone will kill off later. The question though is will they catch on? Clownhunter is kind of iffy, but we're working off limited info here
I'm interested in Punchline too. This guy though, not so much.
Alexander Brown
>Hi, it's "Joe" from the party store. . . >A few 'funny customers' need their order delivered at the corner of Rye and Mooney. . . >Try to get there before sunset.
This is just pure speculation coming out of my ass, but I'm starting to think he's going to be joining the Joker gang. Sure he's killing Joker's goons, but he's just a troubled quiet kid with a baseball bat, someone Joker can manipulate. Think about it; he goes after Joker's thugs, but not Joker himself. He has an admiration for Batman, which could be tested the minute he reunites with him. Imagine he meets Joker, intent to kill him, but then Joker gives him a new perspective. Clownhunter is doing this because he doesn't think the rules work, whereas Joker doesn't believe in rules at all. This may be a case where Clownhunter starts seeing things Joker's way >Dude you only like her because TITS Put the strawman away, user
Thomas Wood
Then he should change his name.
Matthew Evans
>I'm starting to think he's going to be joining the Joker gang
Yeah no shit Einstein
>clownkiller >killer of clowns, or killer who is a clown
But if his name is Clownhunter, how does that make sense if he ends up working for The Joker? I guess your logic of "Clown Who Hunts" could be interpreted that way.
Alexander Thompson
He suspiciously reminds me of Arthur Fleck, somehow.
William Flores
I like this guy a lot. I hope they don't fuck him up.
