Batman has been a mech for a while now. Jim Gordon becomes a metal, police-sanctioned version of the Dark Knight after the events of Scott Snyder's "Endgame" arc leaves Bruce missing in action.
This is nothing new. What is new is that now there is a giant Joker mech to fight him, despite the Joker supposedly being dead. Shocking!
It all goes down in issue #44 of Detective Comics. The two robotic warriors quickly start to trade blows, but Batman is at a bit of a size disadvantage. The Joker mech is massive — capable of bringing down an overpass with the swing of its arm.
What is a Batman to do? For a while, all Jim can do is attempt to save those caught in the Joker mech's destructive wake, but then he has an idea. Turns out the Joker mech isn't the most well-constructed giant robot out there. The power core in the machine isn't properly insulated and is overheating. Gordon is quick to take advantage of the situation, breaching the core and using the armor of the mech to absorb the resulting explosion. Just as the mech is about to explode, the pilot leaps from the cockpit.
So who is piloting this metal monstrosity? Surely it's not the Joker, right? You would be correct. The pilot is acutally the woman who claims to be Joker's daughter. She says she is the keeper of Joker's legacy and ruler of the underground. Batman isn't buying it, and when she claims Jim Gordon won't be around for long as the Caped Crusader, he responds with a robotic backhand to her face before telling her like it is.
"You're not the Joker," Gordon says. "You're not his legacy. You're just a crazed kid who bought herself a ticket to Arkham. Hate to break it to you... but you're not cut out for Gotham."
Hard truths. In case you are wondering how exactly this girl got a hold of a massive Joker robot, she kidnapped a scientist to build the machine and then hired some "circus assassins" to steal the required power core. Who knew making a giant mech was so simple?
All in all, the fight between the two titans made for an entertaining issue — even if Joker wasn't the one behind it all. Don't expect the Clown Prince of Crime to be making a return anytime soon: as a robot or otherwise.
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