One of DC’s greatest unanswered questions has to be the mystery of The Joker’s secret identity. Even Batman, renowned as the world’s greatest detective, has never been able to figure out who the Clown Prince of Crime really is - that is, until he died.
Batman #686, titled “Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader?,” opens with Selena Kyle, otherwise known as Catwoman, arriving at a bar to attend a wake. The bartender is none other than Joe Chill, the man who killed Thomas and Martha Wayne and set Bruce on the path to become The Dark Knight. “I was here at the start of it all, Miss Kyle,” he says. “I’m not going to miss the end.” And the end it is, for on the next page, it’s revealed that the wake is for Batman himself, still clad in his batsuit as he lay in the open casket.
More of Batman’s friends and foes alike arrive for the service, and when Dick Grayson asks the room if anyone would like to speak about the dearly departed detective, many step forward. The problem is, everyone has an account of how he died - and none of them match up. Bruce himself watches it all unfold as a kind of specter and has his doubts about each tale. For example, Selena’s is clearly an adaptation of the death of Robin Hood. However, the most interesting account by far is that of Alfred Pennyworth - or should I say, The Joker?
When Alfred addresses the room, he talks about his past as an actor before moving to Gotham to become the Wayne family’s butler. After Bruce’s parents died, depression overtook him for a long time, until he found new motivation for living in fighting crime as Batman. However, there was often no crime for Batman to stop, leading to Bruce becoming depressed again. In an effort to keep Bruce happy, Alfred contacted some of his old theater buddies and enlisted them to dress up as super-villains for Batman to save people from. But Alfred saved the best role for himself - the role of Batman’s ultimate nemesis. The Joker. As Alfred’s story goes, Bruce eventually found the green wig and clown makeup and deduced the truth. However, Alfred’s friend Eddie Nash had become obsessed with his role as The Riddler and actually became a super-villain. Talk about method acting. Thinking it was all still a ruse, Batman went to confront Eddie, and wound up being shot and killed.
Of course, the story's real twist is that none of this is actually true. Bruce himself, still as a specter, points out that the real Joker is sitting in the room as Alfred tells his story. In fact, none of the stories are true, and Bruce isn’t actually watching his funeral, although he is dying. “Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader?" is the equivalent of Bruce’s life flashing before his eyes. However, the stories all contain kernels of truth that speak to Batman’s heroic perseverance. Even if Alfred was The Joker, it wouldn’t stop Bruce from being Batman.