Joker is death of Gotham; Obama is death of America, Part 2

By Stone Washington

"And there you are Bats... chasing us, forever chasing! And why? Because it's what you want to happen. It's what you need. Because you see, with us you're more! With us, you transcend! With us, you're always."

~ Joker

But Here's the Kicker

This is the concluding essay review of the Batman New 52 Joker Series. Soon Bruce Wayne awakes in the Batcave surrounded by his Bat-family, whom appears distressed. Joker is revealed to have escaped in the confusion. Nightwing demands that they talk, as everyone else questions Batman tactics. Batman reveals that he couldn't tell them anything because they would let their emotions (over Alfred) cloud their judgment. Just as Nightwing had earlier, Robin, Red Hood, Red Robin, and Batgirl all demand that Batman reveals what he's been hiding from them. Batman finally tells them of a story long ago when Joker had slipped away from his grasp after being knocked into the Gotham Bay off an airship. Furious at this, Batman drives his Batboat under water back to the Batcave. Later that night Batman revisits his detective case on Joker, only to find a mysterious Joker playing card by the boat. As Batman ends the story everyone is in a panic over the possibility that Joker has infiltrated the Batcave. Batman denies it as even possible, and tells them that they don't understand Joker's game he's playing: turning everyone against each other through disbelief. They still continue to argue, driving Batman to warn them not to confront Joker, as he leaves the cave with a lead on a clue.

"It's his need for help that'll bring him down tonight," Batman believes. Using his supercomputer, Batman tracks down the traffic light footage of one of Joker's snipers during the Gotham bridge incident. Gliding through the air Batman bursts through the man's window and demands to talk. He tells Batman that he and all the guards from Arkham Asylum were forced to be Joker's henchmen. Batman realizes the horrible truth that the entire Asylum has been hijacked by Joker during the past year. Joker has transformed the Asylum into a "castle for Batman to come home to." Batman begins to walk up the steps of Arkham Asylum and tells himself that Joker is just a man and that he has stared into the villain's eyes to reveal an emotion, but not the sensation expected, "Ignore the fact that what you saw those black eyes expand with... was love."

Castle of Cards

Batman enters the Asylum only to find a bizarre spectacle: guards dressed as Batman and Joker dancing in the cells. There is electrical current running through the water beneath their feet to threaten them from escaping. Batman sends an E.M.P to turn off the power, only for Joker to turn it back on to attempt to electrocute the prisoners. But Batman throws super sponges into each of the cells, sucking up the water. Over the intercom Joker commemorates the Dark Knight on him being the Batman that he's missed, "fast and lean." Batman cuts through the administrative offices only to find a frantic horse on fire running past him, alerting the room full of surrounding inmates of his presence (dressed in medieval armor approximating knights). Joker announces his "royal army" as Batman battles the dozens and dozens of inmates. He uses smoke and picks them off one by one as they strike him with flaming swords and clubs. Eventually Batman uses his gadgets and sheer brute strength to finish most of them off, leaving the rest to surrender after he defeats their captain and takes his horse. Impressed by this Joker warns the Dark Knight that he is nearing his inner circle.

As Batman ascends up a winding staircase leading to the warden's office, Mr. Freeze shoots his freeze gun at Batman, freezing the horse, and then moves to smash it to pieces. Mr. Freeze is Batman's royal groundskeeper, according to Joker, dressing the land in frozen white death. But Batman makes short work of Freeze, leaving him incapacitated and taking his freeze gun. Next Commissioner Gordon strangely appears and blocks Batman's path. But Batman snaps his arm revealing him to be none other than the shape shifting monster: Clayface. Clayface is announced as the royal player, capable of taking on the appearance of Batman's fears. Before he can attack, Batman then freezes him with the freeze gun. Further up he runs into Scarecrow who sprays Batman with fear toxin. Scarecrow is announced to be the royal Physician, who keeps Batman's subjects healthy in fear. Wearing a gasmask, Batman smashes his head into the wall, knocking out the villain and arrives at Joker's office. Joker announces that he isn't ready, but Batman pushes partially through the barricaded door, revealing something menacingly bizarre.

Inside the office lies a throne with Joker standing across from Two-Face, Riddler, and the Penguin while behind him stands four Arkham guards dressed as super hero allies of Batman. They all stand in front of an electrical chainsaw mounted into a rock (a twist of the Arthurian legend). Joker reveals Penguin to be Batman's bishop, who cultivates the city's true religion: Vanity and Vice. Riddler is the royal strategist who keeps Batman's mind sharp. Two-Face is the honorable judge who shapes the laws of chaos governing the "kingdom." And finally Joker reveals himself to be Batman's right-hand court jester, who could have served anyone such as "Superman," which indicated the man in costume to attempt to pull from the electrical chainsaw. The man is tragically electrocuted to death. Before another hostage meets the same fate Batman bursts through the door only to be stopped by a separating gate. As Joker gloats, Batman cuts the electrical line to the chainsaw and announces that the police will arrive shortly to arrest everyone. But on TV Joker reveals that all of Batman's allies have been horribly defeated and taken hostage. The only way he can find them is if by playing into Joker's delusional game. The fiend orders Batman to sit on an electric chair, sending Batman into a dark abyss once again.

The Punchline

As Batman awakes he finds himself in a cave tied to a chair alongside all of his allies at a dinner table held by a purple suited Joker. Robin, Red Hood, Red Robin, and Batgirl all have bandages covering their faces. As Batman attempts to free himself Joker tells him that everyone is soaked in gasoline and that he will burn them in shame if the "Bat King" tires of his family. Suddenly Alfred enters and is revealed to be brainwashed by Joker's toxin. Alfred then opens up the dinner platters in front of everyone revealing their severed faces on ice. Horrified Batman demands why Joker did such a thing. Joker reveals that he did all this to show that there is nothing special beneath the skins of his allies, but Joker and Batman are made of sterner stuff. He questions Batman on why he never killed him before, to which Batman replies that Joker would win if he did, because nothing would stop Batman from killing all other villains. Joker calls Batman's argument false, and reveals to everyone the real reason he doesn't kill the Joker. Joker says that he and the super-villains are Batman's real family because he allows them to live every time he allows one of his allies to fall –

"And there you are Bats... chasing us, forever chasing! And why? Because it's what you want to happen. It's what you need. Because you see, with us you're more! With us, you transcend! With us, you're always."

Joker offers Batman to burn away his old family and accept his "true" family with the villains. When Batman declines, Joker throws a match on the table, covering everyone in flames. But Batman acts fast and throws a grenade at the ceiling causing a rush of water to gush out from above the cave putting out the fire. Joker's laugh dies as he escapes into the cave. Batman unwraps the bandages from his son Robin's face, revealing his face to be unharmed (it was all a twisted joke). Once free they tell a protective Batman to take the Joker down once and for all. As Batman searches for Joker, the entire Bat-family is poisoned by a toxin bomb Joker left on the table, causing them all to fight each other. Elsewhere in the cave Joker surprise attacks Batman with an axe and the two battle, with Batman ending all of Joker's tricks. Batman tells Joker that he loves and trusts in his family and none of Joker's taunts or propositions convinces him otherwise. When Joker is backed into a corner he sprays acid on Batman's mask and runs, falling short of a drop down a waterfall. As Batman catches the clown, he tells him that is going to drop Joker down the waterfall and finally kill him once and for all. He deduced that Joker never ventured into the Batcave not because he couldn't, but because he didn't want to know Batman's secrets. But Batman tells him that he is different and established who Joker was in the past. As Joker tells him that his allies aren't his real family and that the only ones left in the end would be the two of them, Batman begins to whisper what his real name is. But Before Batman could speak, Joker shoves an electrical hand buzzer into Batman's mouth disarming the Dark Knight causing him to drop Joker all the way down the dark ravine. Elsewhere, through will-power the Bat-family resist Joker's toxin and end their fighting.

In the end Bruce Wayne talks to Alfred, as he heals, about how he had visited Arkham Asylum one day as Bruce Wayne (not Batman) and walked to Joker's cell where he showed the villain his card that had been found in the Batcave. Joker stared at Bruce but didn't truly see him for who he was, because Joker couldn't comprehend the subject of Batman beneath the mask, it would ruin his fun. After the entire Bat-family denied seeing Bruce, as they had their own agendas, the story ends with Bruce examining one additive in the compound in the Joker toxin, Hanium, represented by the symbol, Ha.

Epilogue: significance for modern times

This dramatic finale to the Joker epic in the Batman New 52 series reveals the profound nature of the story. As Obama "loves" America with his agenda of "change," and "progression," Joker "loves" Batman in a similar distorted manner where he attempts to save Batman from those who are causing him to suffer: his allies. Just as Obama disregards and insults our allies and traditions such as the Constitution, the rule of law, and lately along with many other Democrats blatantly separating from Benjamin Netanyahu's speech, calling to for us to aid our God blessed ally of Israel from the nuclear weapon terrorists Iran, who hold vendettas toward both Israel and the U.S. Obama and the Progressive Democrats seek to "save" us by destroying us, and as voters we have utterly brought upon ourselves this demise of two treacherous terms under this imperial tyrant.

Joker's purpose as a villain is beyond the norm of all the other super-villains. In his delusion Joker sees the "bigger picture" where Batman is hailed as a king among the criminal underworld. Joker reveals to Batman his real family and allies: the Penguin, the Bishop of Crime, represents the harassment of the Christian church's refusal to accept a Socialist government and Leftist, ungodly regulations. Riddler, the royal strategist, represents the so called brilliant Liberal Ph.D. gatekeepers who rule over America's education system like a monopoly, discriminating against all citizens who fail to mentally submit to Marxist ideology. Two-Face, the judge of chaos, represents the Justice Department of America and its Attorney General (Eric Holder) – a 'justice' devoid of justice, where the boundaries of good and evil are nonexistent. And Joker as Batman's court jester reveals that he and all the villains are Batman's real family, because Batman exists only through his mission to fight crime. But Batman proved the clown wrong by killing his joke before it reached its "punchline," just as Americans must impeach our clown of a President and end the reign of all of the Socialists politicians within the nation, before they achieve their sinister "punchline": the ruination of our blessed country.

In conclusion, will America battle the evil that threatens us, not just outside our boundaries, but within by those who seek to remove our boundaries (i.e., amnesty for tens of millions of illegal aliens) to make us vulnerable? Will America waste time fighting each other over clash of interests (i.e., rich vs. middle class and the poor classes)? Remember that Joker's divide-and-conquer strategy caused Batman's allies to fight with each other. Or will America finally break the Progressive-Socialist tyranny and end Joker/Obama's joke-Revolution as Batman/America had when they declared their independence from the tyranny of King George III and England in 1776?

Please let this not be the death of America, but the death of Communism, Marxism, Liberalism, and Progressivism, so that we may end the laugh of triumph from the Democrat Socialist Party and create a new laughter of joy and freedom for our country.

© Stone Washington