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In Batman #112, the young vigilante Clownhunter encounters a classic Gotham City villain who has much more experience than the new anti-hero.
WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Batman #112, on sale now from DC Comics.
Fear State has promised to transform Gotham City into something else entirely, and is already threatening to push the heroes and the city to their limit. While many figures across Gotham have already encountered the progenitor of Fear State, in the past, there’s one new figure in the city who is not prepared for a confrontation with the Scarecrow.
In the story “DIY Part One” (by Brandon Thomas, Jason Howard, and Clayton Cowles) that appears in Batman #112, Clownhunter faces a Gotham City villain for the first time who is not connected to the Joker, and things do not go well for the young vigilante.
Clownhunter has already made a name for himself in Gotham City. Rising up during the events of Joker War, Bao Pham, a young man who lost his family to the Joker years earlier, embarked on a murderous crusade across Gotham City, targeting former allies and henchmen of the Clown Prince of Crime. Although he has shown some mercy, such as when he spared Harley Quinn, he’s still proven to be a brutal brawler. He’s primarily gone up against allies of the Joker, most prominently Punchline, but as Fear State begins, Clownhunter has just encountered another member of Batman’s rogues gallery: the Scarecrow.
During a routine patrol, Clownhunter stumbles upon Scarecrow. Unfortunately, the inexperienced vigilante’s bravado leaves him open to a surprisingly brutal and fast beat-down. Throughout the fight, Clownhunter recalls how Batman, Red Hood, and Leslie Thompkins have all offered him help, only for Clownhunter to turn them all down. This means he’s alone when he faces off with one of Gotham’s most dangerous villains, and is promptly infected by the Scarecrow’s new variant of the Fear Toxin. Clownhunter is thrown off the side of a building and imagines being rescued and healed by Leslie, only for her to transform into the Joker and reveal that he’s still falling.
It’s a big moment for Clownhunter, but not in a particularly good way. This is the first time he’s really coming up against a corner of the DC Universe he isn’t familiar with, and it’s clear from the onset that he is not prepared for it. If he had taken the opportunity to train with the likes of Batman or Red Hood, maybe he would have at least stood a fighting chance against the threat of the Scarecrow. Unfortunately, he did not and he pays for it here as experience wins out over bravado.
If he’s able to survive his encounter with the Scarecrow, this might be the kick that Clownhunter needs to abandon his one-man-war on the henchman community and take up a genuine mentor and officially become part of the Bat-Family…provided he can survive the physical and psychological attack he just suffered at the hands of one of Gotham’s most notorious villains.
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