- "Well. If you two are the jokes, and trust me, I've been watching you. You are the jokes, then I'm the Punchline. I'm where you end. "
- ―Punchline introduces herself to Catwoman and Harley Quinn
Punchline is a supervillain introduced in DC Rebirth. Created as the henchwoman to the Joker following his falling out with Harley Quinn, she serves as his underboss and partner in crime to the Clown Prince of Crime. Unlike Harley Quinn, Punchline is a very cold and sadistic character.
History
Origins
Alexis Kaye was a student at Gotham's Snyder College where she was infatuated with the Joker. Eventually, she came to meet Joker through the internet with him even teaching her how to create Joker Venom.
With her new toxins, Alexis went about murdering homeless peoples in Gotham for fun. At the college's superhero appreciation day she decided to dress in Joker-inspired paraphernalia. Due to this, the dean tried to talk to her in-private only for her to murder him and complete her transformation into "Punchline". Joker seemed to regard her as "the funniest person [he'd] met in [his] life".
Joker War
Joker hired Punchline due to his coming war with Batman, following Superman revealing his alter-ego to the public. On his orders, she arranged with the Underbroker to steal Bruce Wayne's fortune from his offshore shell companies. During the process, Punchline first met both Harley and Catwoman during their and Batman's confrontation with "the Designer". Whilst the latter attempted to transfer the fortune, Alexis and Quinn engaged in a brutal fight, which she won. With Catwoman tricked into transferring the fortune to Joker's accounts, Punchline stabbed her and left her for dead. Following this, she called the Clown Prince of Crime to inform him that their job was done.
Powers and Abilities
- Chemistry Engineering
- Bladed Combat
Trivia
- Punchline is similar to the Elseworld character of Marian Drews, who pre-dates Punchline by two years. Both characters became Joker's henchwoman after Harley Quinn left him, and more violent and disturbed than her, thus used as dark foils to Harley. In addition to this, Marian's Neo-Joker costume is black and purple with heavy black makeup and dark clown designs; resembling the costume Punchline would later wear.
- However, Marian serves as a satire of the recent Harley Quinn, as she personifies the character's dark history, problematic elements, sadism, and codependence with Joker. Punchline, however, serves as an inverse to Quinn.