killing joke

Geoff Johns and Gary Frank just made a huge revelation to fans of ‘Batman: The Killing Joke‘ in ‘Doomsday Clock’ #2 by apparently making the story officially canon in the Rebirth storyline. It isn’t surprising that Johns would want to tie Alan Moore‘s iconic Batman tale into a new DC world on page that also includes the ‘Watchmen‘ and it was a welcome surprise to see even if it was very subtly touched upon.

The issue has both Ozymandias and the new Rorschach leaving their world in a search for Doctor Manhattan who they need to fix their Earth before it destroys itself in nuclear war.

When they reach Earth-0 where our heroes reside, the Owlship which they had retrofitted for the journey crashed into a very familiar amusement park. Specifically, this is the abandoned park which The Joker committed his atrocities during the events of ‘Batman: The Killing Joke’.

What this means for the origin of Joker, or at least one of them, with his potential death at the hands of Batman, the emotional impact which Jim Gordon went through, and the physical and emotional trauma which Barbara experienced could all now be canon. Though there hasn’t been much of an explanation of how she went back to being Batgirl from Oracle in the comics, there is plenty of time for them to explore all of these nuances.

Personally, I’m dying to know how this will play out in the issues to come.

Do you think that bringing back anything from ‘Batman: The Killing Joke’ will help the Rebirth story arc at this point or just muddy the waters as to what we know about Batman, The Joker, and the Gordons? Was inserting this story back into canon something that will make sense with everything else that has been told? Share your thoughts below!

Source: CBR