Year of the Villain: Hell Arisen #3 is an issue of the series Year of the Villain: Hell Arisen (Volume 1) with a cover date of April, 2020. It was published on February 26, 2020.
Synopsis for "Year of the Villain: Hell Arisen, Part Three"
The Hall of Justice, Washington D.C.
Lex is overwhelmed by the infected heroes, commanded by the Batman who Laughs. The Commissioner, James Gordon, tells Lex once again how everyone knows he will never win against Batman, no matter the powers he has. But then, a familiar ally of Lex comes to the rescue: the Joker, who Lex contacted to deal with the horrible, twisted Batman of the Dark Multiverse. They are able to flee and teleport away, thanks to Warp, a teleporter under complete control of the Joker.
They get miles away from the Hall, inside one of Joker's bases: there, Punchline holds Mercy Graves hostage, and now Joker has Lex at gunpoint. He tells him he told to be aware of the Batman who Laughs: he is a wrong thing, Lex should have put a bullet in his head the moment he captured him. Luthor admits his mistake, but tells Joker he contacted him to find a way to defeat him: after all, who could better know how to kill a Batman? And so, with his Martian powers, Lex explores the twisted mind of the clown prince of crime, finding there the secrets of the formula which made Bruce Wayne the terrible Batman who Laughs.
The secret are microtraces of Dark Metals, originally of the Dark Multiverse. Those same metals are the substances that are making the heroes become puppets for Batman to control. Now he knows he has the cure. But before he leaves, Joker wants to tell him a thing: he should stop playing with things so big. They are not made for this kind of things, they are different. Joker, he is a clown ready to have some fun, gassing some people, making Batman's life a living hell. That's what he does, not less, and for sure not more. Lex is being used, and he knows it. What happened to all the other guys in the Legion of Doom? Are they all right? Of course not, and Joker knows.
If he wants to survive, Lex must return to his old self. And if he really has to die, he better kill that freak Batman first. Joker leaves, and Lex admits he was wrong in being so much out of character. He must return to his roots: he tells Mercy to go and give some messages to certain guys. The message is: Hall of Justice, at noon.
Back inside the Hall of Justice
The Batman who Laughs is surveilling Nix Uotan, a Superjudge, former incarnation of the Monitor. With the return of the brothers three and of Perpetua, he is useless now. Useless, but he has information Bruce wants. He will be patient: until Uotan spills out what he knows, he will keep torturing him. Because with what he knows, Batman will be able to access a force so powerful, he will show everyone what a real Multiversal Crisis is. But now, it's time to deal with Lex: it seems he is just outside the Hall.
So, Batman, surrounded by his infected heroes, is now facing Lex, alone. But Luthor has an ace up his sleeve: a team of villains, ready to step in and battle for him. The clash is on: who will be the winner?
Appearing in "Year of the Villain: Hell Arisen, Part Three"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
Other Characters:
- Alfred Pennyworth (Memory)
- Batman (Memory)
- Brain
- Monsieur Mallah
- Nix Uotan
- The Joker (Earth -22) (Mentioned only)
- Mad Hatter (Mentioned only)
- Monitors (Mentioned only)
- Project Cadmus (Mentioned only)
- Dubbilex (Mentioned only)
Locations:
- Earth -22 (Mentioned only)
- Earth 0
- Gotham City
- Amusement Mile
- Batcave (Memory)
- Hall of Doom (Mentioned only)
- Washington, D.C.
- Gotham City
Items:
Notes
- The issue was reprinted on March 11, 2020.
See Also
- Cover gallery for the Year of the Villain: Hell Arisen series
- Images from Year of the Villain: Hell Arisen Vol 1 3
Links and References
