Joker's origin story and identity have always been a bit of a mystery, but it appears that mystery will be coming to an end in issue #50 of DC's Justice League comic.
During the DC Comics Rebirth event at WonderCon this weekend, Justice League creative team Geoff Johns and Jason Fabok announced they will be revealing the Joker's true identify in the upcoming issue.
"The answer probably won't be an answer people predict," Johns told IGN at the event, which makes the whole idea of the reveal even more tantalizing.
The reveal was teased way back in Justice League #42, when Batman sat on the Mobius Chair, granting him all the knowledge of the universe. When he asks the chair what the Joker's true name is, it's revealed to be somebody that causes Batman to utter the words "No. That's not possible." Given Batman's response to learning the Joker's real identity, it seems that it is a character that Batman is familiar with and not just some random street thug.
However, Batman has been quiet on who exactly the Joker was before he donned his clown outfit, as the chair only revealed the answer to him. His fellow Justice League members, and readers, are still in the dark.
It's long been assumed that the Joker was a nobody, just another criminal who one day went insane. Numerous origin stories have floated around for the character over the years. Sometimes he's just a normal guy who happened to fall into a vat of chemicals. Other times he's a criminal turned supervillain. Perhaps the Joker himself doesn't even remember who he was before, famously saying "If I'm going to have a past, I prefer it to be multiple choice!"
This being the comic industry, there is likely more to the reveal of Joker's identity than meets the eye. Considering the character's mysterious, and for the most part unimportant, past is part of what makes the Joker so enduring, it would be strange for DC to definitively state the character's origins.
We'll see what Johns has in store for readers when Justice League #50 releases on May 25.
