He’s really just trying to get the kid to go to sleep. That kid just happens to be Bruce Wayne. Batman has fallen into a vat of chemicals that have turned him into a baby. The one guy who takes responsibility for the kid is going to have a very restless night with the little Batbaby in One Operation Joker #2. Writer Satoshi Miyagawa continues a bizarrely provocative premise that is rendered for the page by artist Keisuke Gotou. With the premise firmly established, Miyagawa and Gotou dive into it with a simple evening between the Joker and his little baby Bruce.

There was a time when the Joker loved the sound of a child screaming. That was when he didn’t have to look after one. Now, he’s dealing with being the lone father of a baby boy, and he’s going to have to deal with it overnight. Bruce may be rich, but he’s just like any other baby. He’s going to have a hell of a time falling asleep. Every time that it seems like he might be about to drift off, something happens, and he’s awake again. There’s always something to break the silence. The Joker may yet make it through the night without getting any MORE crazy. 

With the set-up finished, Miyagawa explores the premise in a way that feels a lot more sophisticated than it is on the surface. On one level, it’s just a simple extended joke about a father trying to put his baby boy to sleep so that he can get some rest. There’s an entirely different level to it, though. It’s fascinating to see it play out...Batman’s origin is defined entirely by one traumatic childhood event. What happens when he’s taken to a primal state before that event? 

Gotou delivers a very complex emotional rendering of the Joker. There isn’t a great deal of nuance in the overall presentation of the story, but there is A LOT of appeal in the way that it makes it to the page, and Gotou presents the Joker in a way that feels deeply conflicted and also...kind of oblivious at the same time. His overall idea is, of course, totally ridiculous. And there’s simply no way to be criminally insane in the depths of total madness while being a responsible parent. All of the implications of that are vividly present in Gotou’s artwork without a great deal of amplification. It’s just the Joker and a baby wearing a Batman outfit. That’s all that Gotou really needs, though. 

Batman’s greatest enemy wants to raise him to be the hero he always had been...in order to prove something to himself and the world...and in the process, it’s possible that the Joker might just be...reforming. It’s fascinating stuff. Miyagawa could be trying to add various elements around the corners of the story to add some depth to it, but the author has total dedication to the core of the story that it comes across with shockingly pure simplicity.

Grade: B