6:00 PM, Gotham City. The Joker walks in the rain, musing how life is a joke. He gets in his hideout where a baby lies on a table, raises his knife and.... cuts open a bag of diapers?
Flashback to two days ago. The eternal conflict of Batman vs Joker brings them both back at Axis Chemical Plant, right above the chemical tank that began it all. After a brief verbal conflict as usual, Joker accidentally throws Bat into said pool, which has the curious property of de-aging Bruce into a baby.
But what is a Joker without a Batman? He sees a vision of Gotham without Batman, and that would be very, very boring. So The Joker has no choice - he has to raise this baby back into the great virtuous Batman, so they can continue their eternal conflict!
These Tropes Must Be a Joke:
- Adaptational Nice Guy: The Joker is still a criminal in this incarnation and is explicitly raising baby Bruce with the intention of fighting him again as a supervillain once he grows up but the very child-rearing requirements of the story force him to act nicer, restrain himself around others, treat Harley with more respect, and do all that he can to meet the needs of a young baby. And given the very premise of this story where Joker has to look after baby Bruce and play well with others, it's highly unlikely that he'll be doing the horrible things to Jonny Frost and his ex-wife that he did in Jonny's original story. And by the time of the series finale, Joker went back to being Batman's enemy once Bruce grew up again but left Johnny and his family untouched.
- Bunny-Ears Lawyer: Joker asks Harley to come in for parent-teacher interview, acting as baby Bruce's mother. She comes in dressed in her jester costume, which infuriates Joker. However, Harley did go to a good college, and gives a good answer that Joker couldn't help but be impressed.
- Composite Character: This Joker is primarily based on the one from The Dark Knight Trilogy, but also incorporates elements from other versions, such as his history of having fallen to a chemical pool, and wearing his classic attire of trenchcoat and fedora.
- Fountain of Youth: The chemical pool that made The Joker somehow de-ages Bruce into an infant.
- Mundane Made Awesome: Much of the humor comes from The Joker dealing with various mundane problems involving raising an infant.
- Personal Mook: Jonny Frost, who serves as Joker's right-hand man and helps him out with his experiences as a father of three.
- Raise Him Right This Time: A variant - The Joker has to raise Bruce well so he would grow up into the Batman. Because without Batman, how would The Joker have meaning?
- Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: Yes, Joker, you still need money to live. So burning that huge pile of money you get from the mob is really hurting yourself in the long run.
- Struggling Single Father: The Joker takes a crack at single fatherhood for baby Bruce. Hilarity Ensues.
- Unusually Uninteresting Sight: Joker walks around the city, baby Bruce in tow, in his full Joker attire (The Dark Knight version). No one raises an eyebrow or recognizes him as The Joker.
