Gotham City apparently isn’t big enough to hold the Clown Prince of Crime, as DC has announced that this September it will be releasing Joker: The World, a graphic novel anthology featuring Joker stories set in thirteen different countries, written and drawn by notable creators from those countries.
This follows in the footsteps of a similar graphic novel anthology starring the Dark Knight that came out in 2021. Batman :The World, which had stories and art by major creators like Brian Azzarello, Lee Bermejo, Mathieu Gabella, Thierry Martin, Paco Roca, Thomas von Kummant, Piotr Kowalski, Okadaya Yuichi, and many, many more.
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Which countries and creators are involved in Joker: The World?
The book will be released in the following countries on the same day of its release in the United States, so presumably these are the countires that will be represented in the volume, which is scheduled to come out just a few weeks before the release of Joker: Folie à Deux, the highly-anticipated film sequel to the 2019 blockbuster film, Joker, starring Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga: Spain, Germany, Italy, Brazil, Mexico, Czech Republic, Turkey, Japan, Korea, Cameroon, Poland, and Argentina.
Some of the revealed creators involved in this project already include: Geoff Johns, Satoshi Miyagawa, David Rubin, German Peralta, Alvaro Fong Varela, and Jason Fabok, but obviously, with thirteen different countries involved in the collection, there will be a great number of other creators involved that will be announced at a later date.
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How does DC describe Joker: The World?
In the press release announcing the new anthology, DC described the project this way:
What does The Joker do when on holiday in Spain? How has he inspired others to follow in his footsteps, creating Joker duplicates in Germany and Turkey? How does a Joker in Cameroon find inspiration? Only the top writers and artists from each country can provide the answers, in unique stories celebrating one of the most compelling characters in pop culture.
Batman and the Joker have had an international appeal to them going all the way back to World War II, where Batman appeared regularly in France (despite the occupying Nazi forces nominally banning all American pop culture imports into the country). Few characters have transcended their nation quite like some of the great superheroes and supervillains, as characters like Batman and Joker are embraced not really as “American” ideas, so much as universal ideas that appeal to everyone in the world.
Joker: The World is scheduled to be released on September 17. It will be available for preorder at participating comic book stores starting on April 19th.
Source: DC
