Warning: contains spoilers for Robin #15!
There's no doubt that Joker is one of Batman’s most notorious villains (rightfully so) and has been terrorizing Gotham City for years, but DC Comics is finally calling out perhaps his biggest contradiction. His status as the Clown Prince of Crime has been challenged by another group of clown-based criminals.
The Red Triangle Gang first appeared in Tim Burton’s 1992 film Batman Returns. At the time, they were a former circus troupe whose performances had been shut down after children consistently went missing during their shows. They turned to crime and began to work as enforcers for the Penguin, causing chaos in Gotham City in the process. The Red Triangle Gang was generally well-received, but they made no further appearances in DC media until recently.
Thirty years after their movie debut, the Red Triangle Gang makes their first comics appearance in Robin #15, written by Joshua Williamson with art by Roger Cruz, and they immediately call out Joker’s most glaring inadequacy. After Joker War, Joker disappeared from Gotham City, leaving a power vacuum behind in his absence. The Red Triangle Gang has decided to capitalize on this and move in to seize power almost immediately, taking control of one of Joker’s old hideouts. They shortly run into Robin, who has just returned to Gotham and expresses his exasperation that he’s already run into clowns. In response, a clown angrily exclaims, “We don’t work for the Joker, punk! He’s not even a real clown!”
This new viewpoint on the self-proclaimed Clown Prince of Crime is an interesting one because it makes so much sense. The aesthetics of the Red Triangle Gang are clearly inspired by real circus clowns, which (in their movie backstory) they were at one point. They employ tactics such as the red, black and white color scheme, red noses, and stereotypical frilly clown collars; they even make use of a real clown car that holds at least eight clowns. The costumes Joker uses, on the other hand, don’t appear to take much inspiration from circus clowns at all. His face is indeed white like clowns’ faces, but this is because he literally fell into a vat of acid, while real clowns (and the Red Triangle Gang) use face paint. He eschews the clown color scheme and doesn’t wear a frilly collar or red nose, instead opting for a sleek purple and green suit. Perhaps most damning of all, Joker was never a true circus clown to begin with. In what has become his most famous backstory due to the popularity of The Killing Joke, Joker was a failed standup comedian before his life fell apart.
While Joker refers to himself as a clown, real circus clowns such as the Red Triangle Gang view his persona as a crude mockery of what a clown really is. Although the Bat-Family makes short work of the Red Triangle Gang, it would be intriguing to see the group of real clowns match up against Joker if and when he makes a grand return to Gotham City. Until then, DC Comics has fired the ultimate shot at Joker, and fans will wait excitedly for his potential response.
Robin #15 is available now from DC Comics.