When 'The Joker' returns to the DC Universe this October, he's going to be missing something. His face. At the end of Detective Comics #1, it was revealed that the villain had literally been skinned, while artwork on some of the "Death of the Family" crossover titles recently showed the Clown Prince of Crime with his face seemingly held on by a belt. Pretty gruesome stuff. Well, Scott Snyder recently posted the following message on the Bleeding Cool Forums to assure fans that they don't need to worry about his and Greg Capullo's upcoming arc being too over-the-top or violent.
It’s Scott Snyder – I rarely post on forums, as I like you guys to get to say what you want away from all of us on the other side of the fence, but I figured why not...I’m in a labcorps waiting room, about to have blood drawn for my annual physical, and I figured, what the Hell, right?
Anyway, I have to say, it’s really exciting to see you all so passionate about Joker as a character. He means a lot to me, too – more than almost any character in comics. And as the guy doing this big story on him I wanted to make this clear for you, to try to put your minds at ease…This Joker story in NO way will be some "Saw" shock-slash violence/torture porn or anything of that ilk, story. This is a story that for me, is deeply deeply about who Joker is to Batman. It’s an exploration of his history and his purpose and it’s a very particular take on his psychology and essence as a character – all of which matters tremendously to me. I have no interest in transforming him in to an 80′s horror villain – or any villain, in fact, other than this very personal version of himself, which I believe in and am excited about. I would never ever do anything to cheapen him. This story is an effort to do the opposite – we’re really looking to restore him to his status as the greatest of all time, and we’re doing everything we can to carefully and lovingly enrich his particular mythology.
Now, as for the face – Joker’s face was removed in Detective #1, a year ago, as part of Tony’s storyline. Right now, it’s simply Joker’s status quo. If Joker appears, he would have to be missing his face. So picking up with Joker in our story in Batman, it’s where we’re starting. It’s not some sudden attempt to change his look or anything, we’re building on what was there in a way we’re excited about. And as for how we plan on using that aspect, I’d ask you wait and see what story we bring to it – I’m very proud of how that element has been developed in our story.
Anyway, the bottom line, and what I’m getting at is simply: I love that you guys love Joker as much as I do. And I promise that neither his look, nor his story in our book, are indicative of any effort on the part of team batman to change him into some cheap horror villain. Whether or not you’ll like the story we have planned for you, I can’t say, but I can tell you, wholeheartedly, that I am (we are) extremely proud of it, as an exploration of our very favorite villain of all time.
And...now I’m next for the needle. S.