Batman: Secrets

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Batman: Secrets
Batman Secrets #1 (May 2006)
Publication information
Publisher	DC Comics
Format	Limited series
Genre	Superhero
Publication date	January 2007
Number of issues	5
Creative team
Writer(s)	Sam Kieth
Artist(s)	Sam Kieth
Letterer(s)	Rob Leigh Phil Balsman Travis Lanham
Colorist(s)	Alex Sinclair
Creator(s)	Sam Kieth Alex Sinclair
Collected editions
Batman: Secrets	ISBN 1-4012-1212-3

Batman: Secrets was a five-issue superhero comic book limited series published by DC Comics in 2006. It was re-released as a compilation in early 2007.

Plot

The Joker gets paroled, publishes a tell-all book (Laugh, Monkey Boy, Laugh), and hits the TV-talk-show circuit in an attempt to rehabilitate his public image. He has struck up a relationship with a female member of the parole board which granted his release. But his "reformation" proves short lived when he requests a meeting with the Batman—and brings along the head of the parole board (his girlfriend's boss) as his hostage. For reasons not yet apparent, the Joker shoots and kills the woman right before Batman's eyes. As the Joker attempts to make his escape, naturally a struggle ensues, during which the Joker attempts to shoot the Batman. A young woman across the street is filming the struggle from her high-rise apartment, and later it is noticed that in just one particular frame of the film, it appears that it is the Batman who holds the gun, grinning, with the Joker recoiling in fear. With no regard for ethics, the young photographer sells this misleading frame of film to the news networks, and thus a controversy ensues, tarnishing the Batman's reputation and generating sympathy for the Joker. Because it was the head of the parole board who was murdered, some assume the Batman killed her for setting his archnemesis free. The quick-witted Joker takes advantage of this turn of events.

Continuity

The Joker makes several references to acts that happened in Batman: The Killing Joke particularly the joke that was told at the end ("You remember that joke I told you -- about the flashlight?") It is clear, then, that Secrets takes place after the events of The Killing Joke.

Near the end of the story, reference is made to a sanitarium for the criminally insane, called "Arkum Asylum", whereas the usual spelling is "Arkham". This could suggest the story does not take place in the primary DC Universe.

The book was awarded "Best Selling Comic Novel of the Year" in 2006

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