Batman Admits His One Similarity to the Joker

Warning: spoilers for Punchline: The Gotham Game #2!They may be mortal enemies, but even Batman admits there’s one way he’s similar to the Joker. The two have clashed countless times over their decades of shared history, and Batman doesn’t hate anyone like he hates the Joker. But he knows that as much as he wishes otherwise, they take the same approach to one part of their lives.

The Joker is generally regarded as Batman’s most chaotic – and therefore most terrifying – adversary. When the Joker strikes, death is sure to follow. Famously, the Joker is responsible for easily the darkest and most shocking moment in Batman’s history. In the iconic “Death in the Family” storyline, the Joker severely beats the second Robin, Jason Todd, with a crowbar, and then kills the Boy Wonder in an explosion. The Joker has threatened Robin and Batman’s other young allies countless times since Jason Todd’s death (and resurrection), all while occasionally training protégés of his own. Harley Quinn may have escaped the Joker’s influence, but his latest ally Punchline is a true believer all the way to her core.

Related: DC Exposes Two-Face’s Shocking Link to Batman’s Origin

Punchline is making moves on Gotham’s gangs in her new series, Punchline: The Gotham Game. In issue #2 – by Tini Howard, Blake Howard, Will Robson, Gleb Melnikov, Luis Guerrero, and Becca Carey – Batman spends time contemplating just why Punchline is so dangerous, and it has to do with his one similarity to the Joker. “The Joker and I are similar in one regard,” Batman says to Nightwing. “We’ve both trained our protégés to be a refinement. Not an imitation, or a copycat.”

Batman & Joker Both Have Terrifying Sidekicks

As Batman points out, both he and the Joker have taken on protégés over the years, training them to be first sidekicks and then independent agents of their own. Batman even claims they attempt to train more “refined” versions of themselves. This, of course, is a compliment to all the young heroes Batman has trained over the years – Nightwing being the first, and Dick certainly takes it as a compliment here. But Batman’s admission to his connection to the Joker also means Punchline, as Joker’s latest protégé, is even more dangerous than the original.

Punchline is, according to Batman, a “refined” version of his most chaotic villain, and so all the more terrifying. It’s surprising that a character like Joker is prepared to make the next generation even more effective, but the truth is that Joker cares for almost nothing but bringing more chaos into Batman’s life, and making his followers worthy adversaries is a means to that end. As Batman explains, Punchline was trained by Joker, but she also grew up in a world shaped by him. Everything Joker learned over the years, Punchline already knows, just as Nightwing, Red Hood, and the rest of the Bat-Family didn’t have to spend years traveling the world to match Batman’s skill, since they were trained by the Dark Knight himself.

But Batman’s similarity to the Joker is truly the case, that makes Nightwing, Robin, Batgirl, and Batman’s other trainees the perfect match for Punchline. Batman’s sidekicks are, by his own admission, better trained versions of himself. In the battle for Gotham, Batman and Joker may be the ‘leaders’ of the fight, but it’s the next generation who will win or lose the soul of the city.

Next: Batman Unveils the Weirdest ‘Gadget’ in His Utility Belt (& It’s Genius)

Punchline: The Gotham Game #2 is available now from DC Comics!