Cover: Guillem March

Batman #97

Oct 2020 · DC · 3.99 USD

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“The Joker War Part Three”

About this Issue

Batman #97 serves as the pivotal middle chapter of James Tynion IV's 'Joker War' arc — the story that defined his run on the title — and delivers the moment that cemented Clownhunter as one of the most thematically charged new characters of the 2020s: a Narrows teenager who begins openly killing the Joker's men, directly challenging the no-kill moral framework Batman has spent decades upholding. The issue crystallizes the arc's central thesis: that the Joker's conquest of Gotham is corrupting the city's relationship with vigilantism itself, producing a new generation of masked figures who reject Batman's code entirely. It also provides Harley Quinn's crucial rescue of a toxin-addled Batman in Poison Ivy's underground Eden — a scene that repositions Harley as a complicated ally and sharpens her contrast with the coldly ideological Punchline.

writer James Tynion IV · artist, inker Jorge Jiménez · colorist Tomeu Morey · letterer Clayton Cowles · cover Guillem March

ComicBooks.com Value

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CGC 9.8 · 482 in census $6,676*

CGC 9.6 · 19 in census $3,840*

CGC 9.4 · 3 in census $3,451*

CGC 9.2 · 2 in census $3,451

CGC 9.0 · 2 in census $2,545*

CGC 8.5 none in existence

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CGC 8.0 none in existence

CGC 7.5 $1,350

CGC 7.0 $1,266

* estimate — limited direct-sales data at this grade

Our model’s value — refined as new sales data arrives · CGC census counts shown where available

More listings for this title

NM $1.99 NM · Variant $1.99 Variant $2 Variant $2.24 NM · Variant $2.45 VF/NM $2.49 VG $2.9 NM · Variant $3

Related listings we couldn't confirm as this exact issue · 75 total · seen 48 days ago

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History

Batman #97 was written by James Tynion IV with interior art by Jorge Jiménez and colors by Tomeu Morey, the same core creative team that drove the entirety of 'Joker War.' It was published on August 18, 2020 with a cover date of October 2020, edited by Ben Abernathy with Dave Wielgosz as associate editor and Marie Javins as executive editor. The issue shipped with three covers: a regular edition by Guillem March, a card-stock variant by Francesco Mattina, and a 1:25 retailer-incentive card-stock variant also by Jiménez — reflecting DC's aggressive variant strategy during the Joker War rollout.

Trivia · 8 facts

Part Three of six in the 'Joker War' story arc, published August 18, 2020 (cover-dated October 2020), written by James Tynion IV with art by Jorge Jiménez and colors by Tomeu Morey.
Clownhunter (Bao Pham) — a Narrows teenager whose parents were murdered by the Joker — is named and given his first substantial in-story showcase here; his technical debut was one issue earlier in Batman #96, also by Tynion and Jiménez.
This issue is where Clownhunter is first referred to by name within the story, with the character's real name (Bao Pham) not revealed until Batman #100.
Batman spends most of the issue under the hallucinogenic effects of Punchline's modified Joker Toxin, fighting illusions including reanimated victims of the Joker, and hearing Alfred Pennyworth's voice — Alfred appearing only as a toxin-induced vision.
Harley Quinn brings an incapacitated Batman to 'Eden,' a hidden underground refuge originally created by Poison Ivy, and administers a plant-based antidote to Punchline's toxin — establishing Harley as Batman's unlikely savior mid-arc.
Punchline (Alexis Kaye) coordinates with the Underbroker (Harlan Graves) at Tricorner Yards to secure chemical shipments bound for Ace Chemicals, intended to mass-produce an upgraded Joker Toxin.
The Joker explicitly celebrates Clownhunter's lethal methods as proof that his war on Gotham has eroded Batman's no-kill ethos even among new vigilantes — a thematic statement central to the arc's moral argument.
The issue was later collected in Batman Vol. 2: The Joker War (trade paperback and hardcover) and in the larger The Joker War Saga hardcover collection, both published by DC Comics.