The Joker/Harley Quinn: Uncovered #1 (2024)
cover by Brian Bolland
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Part 1
Finally !! Punchline origin time !!
I've been wanting to talk about her for a bit, but I wanted to make her intro a little fun, since she's an important little lady. I'm sick right now though so I couldn't do anything too crazy, unfortunately. ANYWAY !
So, if you remember in Joker's origin how I mentioned that she had a daughter that was eventually taken by CPS - Alexis Kaye is that daughter! So in my AU, Punchline isn't a weird Harley Quinn replacement, but actually the kid of the Joker who DESPERATELY wants her parent's attention and praise. Even if that parent is a supercriminal
Alex grew up in Gotham, being adopted by a family pretty quick since she was still really young. Her parents attempted to give her a stable life and their affection, but there was always that lingering fear that she might turn out like the Joker. They shared the same blood - and even looked incredibly similar - there was always the chance. It made them a little scared of her, and that wasn't helped by the fact that Alex could still remember her mother
In fact, Alex was determined to know more about the Joker. She absorbed any and all information she could get her hands on, trying to connect the dots between the person she knew and the person committing these crimes. Her obsession with the Joker would interfere with her life, her schoolwork, her jobs; anything and everything that could have led her down a better, normal path. Eventually, she wondered what would happen if she went and met the Joker. Alex was acutely aware that her parents could never full accept her - maybe her biological parent would be more accepting?
Obviously, he wasn't. After being jumped by the members of Joker's gang, teleported down into a basement, and finally face-to-face with her mother for the first time in nearly two decades, the only thing Alex wants is for the Joker to hear her out. Except, he seems to completely deny the idea that he could even have any children out there
Nevermind the fact that Alex did a DNA test, just in case, and they're 100%, without a doubt, related. The Joker wants nothing to do with her, unless she's willing to work for her
And so, out of desperation, Alex agrees. She'll be Punchline if it means she'll get a hint of the love she felt when she was a kid. She'll kill, and maim, and destroy, and she'll do it with a smile!
(Here's the first of Punchline's refs ;) )
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You know what would be a really cool direction for Punchline to take? I would love to see a comic where she is being paralleled with Tim Drake. Since while Tim hyperfixated on Batman and Robin- Punchline hyperfixated on The Joker. It could be a really cool deep dive into the importance of role models and also just a really cool way to juxtapose Batman and Joker.
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Part 3
Remember how I said Alexis eventually quits being Punchline? This is how it happens!
Her wanting to quit is a buildup of a lot of thoughts and feelings over a long amount of time. She's treated terribly by the Joker and Harley Quinn, has been thrown in Arkham countless times, and the only people who are nice to her are either still more loyal to her mother or is the person throwing her in Arkham
One night, when Joker, Harley, and Punch were all rigging a toy factory with explosives, J&H made the decision to set off the bombs early without informing Punchline. As such, they were far closer to the exit than she was when they went off. Alex was hit by a stray fragment of a wooden beam during the blast, and by the time she was able to force herself to her feet, the fire caused by the explosion was raging around her
The only thing she could see through the flames was the dark shape of the Batman
But, instead of whisking her off to Arkham like she'd expected, he offered to take her somewhere safe and secure where she could recover. Where she could think of her path forward. After being left to die, it wasn't fair for her to be left to rot in Arkham again
So Batman took her to the Batcave. He has a secure medical bay with no access to the rest of the cave (unless you know the way in), so she could be left there to hide out while she grappled with her Punchline identity (and with the hole in her stomach)
Because Alexis didn't want to be Punchline anymore. In fact, she hated her mother and Harley Quinn, and wanted nothing in the world more than to kill them like they'd tried to do to her. But she had no idea who she was if she wasn't in her mother's shadow, doing what the Joker wanted when she wanted it. She had no idea what to do with all of her anger
Bruce, luckily, is very well-versed into dealing with that. And since Alexis already had the experience of being a supervillain, he had little qualms with redirecting her anger and desire for justice into vigilantism. If it kept her from going out and killing people, and helped him out in the process, then no harm done, right?
...Except it didn't work out. Though they had no problem training and even getting closer with one another (enough so that Batman would eventually reveal his identity), Alexis had enough of living in someone else's shadow; being what they wanted her to be. And she didn't want to be a hero. She had her own idea of dealing with crime - or even people that just needed to die
Alexis would eventually settle into a life of doing jobs for money, cause a girl's still got to be paid. She tends to only take ones that directly harm established criminals or terrible people in general (abusers, CEOs, and the like), but on occasion, when it suits her, she'll help Bruce out or go and capture one of the Rogues herself
And she does it all smugly calling herself the Red Hood, her mother's old moniker, from the beginning of her criminal career
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