The concept is one I'm not sold on yet. Artist Jason Fabok apparently wasn't either until Geoff Johns explained what it's about. Johns can come up with some great hooks for characters and stories. His Booster Gold run came up with a solid direction and purpose for the lead. It was his idea to form the "Dark Trinity" (Jason Todd, Artemis and Bizarro) to mirror the Trinity. The results were great in both cases as well as some titles he worked on and expanded the lore of. But there were others that weren't so great. He's struggled to understand Wonder Woman and introducing a twin brother wasn't a popular idea. Diana already had her classic origin changed which many fans don't like and bringing in a lost sibling of a big name character was bound to stir that pot further.
We don't know why there are three Jokers yet and that seems to be a big part of the mini series, the mystery of how it's possible. Are they from different points in the timeline? They are from different eras of Batman lore. The multiverse? Did he get separated into three people? I'm not a fan of the Joker (although I did enjoy Mark Hamill's version) which makes it harder to get me interested. In fact I previously had zero interest until Johns revealed he was going to use this mini to show how the Joker effected Jason, Bruce and Barbara. It sounds like an ambitious storyline which also has it's pros and cons. Their taking their time to work on it which means no rushed writing/art or missed deadlines.
But sometimes writers try so hard to make a classic, epic and meaningful story that they don't have the same POV as the reader. Sometimes if you're close to a project you can't see the flaws. Recently Johns has been criticized for riding the coat tails of other work like Watchmen in his Doomsday Clock series. It's a fine line to walk to tell a story based on what came before without leaning too heavily on the source material and being able to tell something original that stands on it's own merits.
It will be in the Black Label and part of main canon. Which has me worried for the content if it doesn't feel in character. For example the stereotype that Jason curses a lot because he's a kid from the street. Johns wants this to be used to redefine Jason Todd (he didn't say if it will do the same for Bruce and Barbara) and be a staple for Joker stories. How will the Black Label be used? While I'm not expecting to have more Batman frontal nudity after Batman The Damned Barbara was stripped in the Killing Joke. From what I remember hearing we originally we were going to see that before it was changed. Flashbacks to past trauma in a mini series exploring the effects seem very possible.
I expect we'll likely see brutal murders but what about what Joker did in DITF? Are we going to get more graphic detail when Jason was hit with the crowbar? Hear just how bad the injuries and returning back to life were? But my prime concern is how the main characters themselves will be written.
Johns has used all of the leads before in other non-bat related work which gives us a little insight on how their be written.
Batgirl/Barbara Gordon
Sadly I haven't liked Barbara for awhile since most of the things I have read her in after Flashpoint made her so unlikeable. Maybe it's been better in her solo title? Johns hasn't really used her much in his work, at least that I know of. There was her cameo in Forever Evil, another brief one in Blackest Night and the infamous issue of Booster Gold where he attempted to stop her from being crippled. There really wasn't much to gauge based on the times he's written her.
As a writer he doesn't shy away from being controversial and the Booster Gold issue did get attention. But besides seeing her as Batgirl before being shot all we have is Barbara in the role of the victim. (Granted he co-wrote the run with Katz.) But Three Jokers (is that title going to stick?) is the perfect time to rectify that.
We're going to see how the leads treat their own trauma. Who has handled it well and who hasn't. While the outcome--rather who is on what side of that scale--seems obvious I'm curious if Johns will surprise us. Maybe some acknowledgement that Barbara risking further injury and taking the Batgirl mantle again might not be the best idea.
I do worry about how Johns will write Barbara and Jason's view of each other and their relationship. I didn't like what was in Batman Eternal and don't want to see it again. I have a LOT of reasons for disliking it but listing them would derail the topic. According to a supposed source online two people want it to happen while everyone else wants a different direction. If that's true I have my suspicions on who it is but I don't know for sure. Her cameo in Forever Evil gave me the impression of Johns stance, which still could have changed but I don't want this to even be acknowledged.
I don't know if it will happen but I don't want to focus on flashbacks of her being naked while Joker pictures of her. If there's lingering shots it will feel tasteless.
Batman/Bruce Wayne
Out of the three I worry about Bruce the least. Though there are still certain tropes I'm hoping not to see. I haven't read his Justice League run where this plot originated but Johns did use Bruce well in the Booster Gold series. (Doomsday Clock and Forever Evil too.) He had depth, his mistakes were acknowledged (in one timeline) and he showed real compassion. It was pretty perfect, far better than the infallable "Bat-God" or the abusive jackass who frequently hurts his loved ones. Both of which have been done far too much.
In interviews it's been said that we're going to see how the leads see each other. Unless Johns is going to pull an animated Killing Joke twist with Barbara I feel pretty confident that their relationship will be written fine. With Jason...well over the years writers have used a full range of clichés I can't stand. Calling Jason a failure, having extremely abusive tones, making him the unfavorite and the awful victim blaming. I don't want to see any of these overused bad tropes or any new ones. If we see more of their father son dynamic then it's already better than most of their panel time in recent titles.
I don't think Bruce told anyone about there being Three Jokers in the bat family so it feels like there should be some acknowledgement of that.
Red Hood/Jason Todd
Johns wrote an issue of Teen Titans where Jason fought Tim Drake. It was a mixed bag as far as portrayals go. I liked that Jason took the Titans out without seriously hurting them. The bit at the end where Jason acknowledged that Tim was good and the bit about things being different for him if he had friends. I didn't like how the rest was written. Disregarding the fight with Tim (because I don't want to get into skill level) there was bit of victim blaming. Jason came off a little too whiny when Tim was too level headed (no mention of his previous hero worship.)
On another level we were supposed to be on the Titans side but they never explained why Jason wasn't honored. He was justified in being upset and correct in the fact he was overlooked. Why wasn't that addressed? Johns also got facts wrong about Jason's time as a Titan. Raven didn't try to help Jason with his anger he snapped her out of her trance to remind her that her mom was going to die without help. Jason got along fine with everyone and when he joined he was the most together member as the others were all dealing with personal stuff.
As a writer Johns understood that there was more to Jason but either didn't research or get the whole picture. I'm not going to expect Johns to tackle recent events in the solo titles or have the Outlaws show up. I suspect this will be self contained for the bats which I'm fine with as long as he writes Jason like Lobdell does not like the Eternal writers have. Because many writers have gotten the character wrong. Making him a comic relief, etc. Fabok claims it's the first time he's liked Jason Todd and thinks fans will too. Has he read RHATO?
The jacket Jason has is apparently from a henchman from Killing Joke. Which seems worrying, why would he have that? Is he just stealing jackets or traumatic reminders now? Why does his costume (without the jacket) look like a Robin suit sans a cape? I don't want Jason to be a stereotype, I don't want his characterzation to be ignored, there's just a lot of concerns I have for how he's handled. If Johns hits the right notes it could be an amazing series that helps elevate Jason. Johns did say it was his idea to have Jason in Titans so he is trying to promote him. But what is he trying to promote Jason as? What direction is he taking this?
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