For months, DC has been teasing its new Joker through a flood of cover art that made it clear the Clown Prince of Crime’s next era in the DC Universe was going to be unlike anything that came before. Now, the Joker of the Absolute Universe has finally made his in-narrative debut, and it’s nothing short of disturbing.

Scott Snyder and Jock’s highly anticipated Absolute Batman #15 is finally here, and it was 100% worth the wait, as Joker’s demonic form makes its in-narrative debut alongside several other wild Joker-centric revelations.

While the various variant covers teasing this unprecedented redesign for the Gotham rogue have been nothing short of phenomenally horrendous, seeing the Joker transform from his handsome billionaire persona into a reptilian monstrosity brings the redesign to the next level and makes it clear we are about to embark on Joker’s greatest era yet.

Who Is Jack Grimm V? Alfred Pennyworth Reveals the Joker Is an Immortal Nightmare

Comic Page Comes from Scott Snyder’s ABSOLUTE BATMAN #15 (2025) – Art by Jock

Fans keeping up with Snyder’s Absolute Batman know the Joker technically made his debut in issue #1. However, that introduction, along with his other brief appearances throughout the series and in Absolute Evil, has consistently portrayed the villain as an unassuming and, at times, classically handsome man.

Absolute Batman #15, on the other hand, marks the debut of Joker’s demonically reptilian form, introduced to fans in a flashback narrated by hitman Alfred Pennyworth. In this scene, Pennyworth speaks to Bruce, explaining who and what he believes the Joker, also known as Jack Grimm V, truly is, setting the stage for the villain’s terrifying transformation that happens on page.

Alfred reveals that he believes Jack has been using the blood of babes, somehow harvesting their cells to create a “terrible elixir” that grants him a twisted version of immortality spanning five generations so far: “He’s something terrible, Bruce. A nightmare thing that stalks the earth, not a man who never laughs at anything, but a beast that’s always laughing at us. He’s the Joker.”

Jock’s Depiction of Joker’s Transformation Is as Nightmarish as It Is Epic

Comic Page Comes from Scott Snyder’s ABSOLUTE BATMAN #15 (2025) – Art by Jock

The art accompanying Alfred’s narration shows Jack Grimm V on one of his many deserted islands, rumored to be places where he hunts large game. These panels reveal that it isn’t only animals Jack is hunting but also humans. During one of these hunts, readers witnesses Jack’s horrifying transformation from man into his demonic Joker form.

Jock truly outdid himself with the artwork for this transformation, depicting Joker’s body stretching and breaking as his mouth expands and tears apart, exposing rows of jagged teeth. At the same time, his green eyes begin glowing with a demonic red. And for the first time since the Joker debuted in the Absolute Universe, he laughs, cementing the terror of this new incarnation.

This is without a doubt Joker’s most radical redesign in the character’s 85 years in comics, and with the new origin story revealed in this issue, the villain feels fresh, reclaiming the terror behind his character that fans had grown desensitized to. This is a brand-new Joker, unlike anything before, and it has revived the Clown Prince of Crime in a way he desperately needed.

ABSOLUTE BATMAN #15 is available now from DC Comics!