>Joker won't be waging war on Gotham all by himself. In addition to rallying many of the city's worst gangs to his cause, Joker has a new partner in the form of Punchline. As we've already learned in the buildup to Joker War, Punchline isn't just a Harley Quinn replacement, but someone who sees herself as an equal partner in Joker's plans.
>"I find Punchline a deeply fascinating character," Tynion said. "I laid it out the most clearly in the Joker 80th Anniversary Special, where we see who Alexis Kaye was before she became Punchline. And she is a very dangerous person, and dangerous in I think a very modern way. Because what I was interested to play with, with the character, is the idea of a young person who's been radicalized by a dangerous ideology. Someone who has found, through the internet, the ideas of the Joker. And now she's looking to embody those ideas. So her following of the Joker and her relationship with the Joker comes from this place of almost fanatical devotion."
>"And the thing that makes her really interesting, especially as a kind of dark mirror to Harley, is that Harley always believed that there was something at a core human and sensitive and vulnerable inside of Joker. Punchline has never believed that. She thinks there is this beautiful ideology inside of the Joker that the Joker embodies, and that he's looking to present to the world. The truth is, neither of those things are true. Joker is... He's the Joker card. He can assume any value against anyone to make him see what he wants them to see. And that's what makes him so dangerous. And seeing these two characters who come at the Joker with the different beliefs that made them essentially fall in love with the Joker, the idea of the Joker, come from such different angles. So that's the root, and that's what makes me so excited about her as a character, and that's what I think is going to make her a very dangerous and vibrant addition to the Batman Rogues Gallery moving forward."
>"I find Punchline a deeply fascinating character," Tynion said. "I laid it out the most clearly in the Joker 80th Anniversary Special, where we see who Alexis Kaye was before she became Punchline. And she is a very dangerous person, and dangerous in I think a very modern way. Because what I was interested to play with, with the character, is the idea of a young person who's been radicalized by a dangerous ideology. Someone who has found, through the internet, the ideas of the Joker. And now she's looking to embody those ideas. So her following of the Joker and her relationship with the Joker comes from this place of almost fanatical devotion."
>"And the thing that makes her really interesting, especially as a kind of dark mirror to Harley, is that Harley always believed that there was something at a core human and sensitive and vulnerable inside of Joker. Punchline has never believed that. She thinks there is this beautiful ideology inside of the Joker that the Joker embodies, and that he's looking to present to the world. The truth is, neither of those things are true. Joker is... He's the Joker card. He can assume any value against anyone to make him see what he wants them to see. And that's what makes him so dangerous. And seeing these two characters who come at the Joker with the different beliefs that made them essentially fall in love with the Joker, the idea of the Joker, come from such different angles. So that's the root, and that's what makes me so excited about her as a character, and that's what I think is going to make her a very dangerous and vibrant addition to the Batman Rogues Gallery moving forward."
