It’s a perfect, if unexpected, pairing: The man behind The Thing, They Live and Halloween will be taking on DC’s Clown Prince of Crime in a new comic book project to be released this October.
Filmmaker John Carpenter will co-write The Joker: Year of the Villain No. 1, a 40-page one-off issue tying into the ongoing Year of the Villain storyline, DC has announced. Anthony Burch, writer of the video games League of Legends and Borderlands 2, will co-write, with Philip Tan and Marc Deering providing artwork.
The Year of the Villain concept, which crosses over with the majority of series set in the DC Universe of Batman, Superman and the Justice League, sees Lex Luthor — now a genetically engineered human/Martian hybrid — making offers to a number of supervillains to fully embrace evil in exchange for the ability to achieve their wildest dreams.
The Joker isn’t waiting for Luthor to show up, however; in the special issue, he’ll set out to ensure that he proves he’s the worst villain of all unassisted. Will he accomplish it? Perhaps so; after all, talking about the project, Carpenter revealed that, in his eyes, “The Joker is the greatest villain in comics.”
The special issue follows similar one-off issues for Lex Luthor, the Riddler, Green Lantern villain Sinestro and Black Mask, who will be seen on the big screen in next year’s Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn).
The Joker issue isn’t the first collaboration between Carpenter and Burch, nor even their first comic together; the two had previously worked on Boom! Studios’ Big Trouble in Little China: Old Man Jack series.
The Joker: Year of the Villain No. 1 will be released digitally and in comic book stores Oct. 9.
