Punchline was almost interesting for a few dozen pages at the start of the book where she was portrayed as an acolyte of Joker who was trying to tease out the philosophy and hidden meanings behind Joker's jokes and crimes -- as opposed to just being a groupie looking for love -- but the plotting becomes all half-assed and comic book-y as it devolves into a courtroom drama with ludicrous legal moves and over-the-top witness tampering as well as a prison drama with even more ludicrous manipulations and fight scenes.

It doesn't help that Punchline gets pushed to the side so the book can become a vehicle for Bat-family C-lister Harper Row to run around being highly ineffectual in her Bluebird identity. She's a total snooze as a hero and takes Punchline down into the meh with her.

Contents:

• What Comes at the End of a Joke (from The Joker 80th Anniversary 100-Page Super Spectacular #1) / James Tynion IV, writer; Mikel Janin, artist
• Center Stage (from Punchline #1) / James Tynion IV and Sam Johns, writers; Mirka Andolfo, artist
• Punchline: The Trial of Alexis Kaye, Chapters 1-13 and Finale (from The Joker [2021] #1-13 and 15) / James Tynion IV and Sam Johns, writers; Mirka Andolfo, Sweeney Boo, Rosi Kämpe, and Belén Ortega, artists
• Knock Knock (from The Joker [2021] #14) / Alex Paknadel, writer; Vasco Georgiev, artist
• Cover Gallery / Yasmine Putri, Jorge Jimenez, Ejikure, Frank Cho, Warren Louw, Shannon Maer, InHyuk Lee, Creees Lee, Ari Lee, Brian Bolland, Greg Horn, Dawn McTeigue, Guillem March, Justine Frany, Alan Quah, Kael Ngu, Sam Kieth, Nathan Szerdy, and Natali Sanders, artists ( )