Batman #570

Issue Details

Synopsis

NO MAN'S LAND PART 56: THE CODE PART 1 - BREAKIN' THE LAW A new gang was taking control over the Xhosa's territory and both gangs were fighting over it. The Xhosa ran away in fear when they saw who was the leader of the rival gang: it was Joker and he was accompanied by Harley Quinn. Joker told Harley to go and check the main building they had just gained and tell him if she found anything valuable. Meanwhile, Joker stayed in the ground and found a new member to his gang, it was a man named Josh who was an artist. Joker let him in the gang without having second thoughts.  Harley checked the building but everything had been taken from the bottom floor up to the 26th floor. However in the floor 27 she found a nice apartment that haven't been touched and it contained stuff that could be used by Joker. Harley also found a book titled The Code: Laws of L'amour that will make your man marry you. She began reading it and she found out that she has been doing the wrong things to get Joker's attention. She decided to follow the book's rules to see if it worked with Joker.   On their hideout, Joker was questioning a member of Penguin's henchmen about the source of the man's products and goods, when Harley arrived. Joker asked where she had been all this time and she told him about the place she found at the building, and following the book's rules, she told him that she was going to move and start living in the floor 27 of that building. Joker was surprised of Harley's desire for independence and told Josh to help Harley with anything she might need. Harley left and Joker kept torturing Penguin's henchman.   In the meantime, Oracle told Batman all she have learned about Joker's activities in his recently acquired territory. Oracle told him that Joker was giving food and shelter to the people in the vicinity and that Harley was spending time apart from Joker. Batman was left intrigued but he decided to wait and see what was Joker's next move.   Some time later, Joker decided to pay Harley a visit on her new apartment. She received him with a bit of disdain and left him feeling unwanted. She also told him that Josh was helping her a lot with her apartment. Suddenly, Harley noticed that Joker's people were being attacked by the Xhosa down in the streets and then she decided to go down and help them out. She told Joker to use the bungee cords to reach the streets faster while she descended the building using her acrobatic skills. She arrived at the street and saved Josh's life when a Xhosa thug was about to attack him. Josh and Harley went inside the building when Joker descended using the ropes. He was hanging upside down and he sprayed his Joker Gas among all the men who were fighting in the streets. Everybody was killed after a while, including some of Joker's own people and all he did was laugh while hanging upside down.   A few hours later at his hideout, Joker was thinking what could he do to make the people want him instead of running away from him. Harley suggested that he have an election and Joker loved the idea. Joker then realized that Harley had changed and that he liked her more that way. Harley told him that she was leaving but Joker asked her to stay and help him decide who his opponent will be in the elections. She muttered something about a pig and Joker agreed. Josh remembered something about the 60's U.S. elections and Harley commented something and it seemed that the two of them were connected. Harley then said goodbye to Joker and Josh and after she left, Joker couldn't hide his rage anymore. He grabbed Josh and told him that he noticed how he and Harley were getting closer and Joker then warned him to stay away from Harley. Then Joker changed his mood and asked Josh to draw the election posters to put them on display in the city.   A few days later, Huntress spotted the posters and she realized that Joker was "running" for president of No Man's Land and that his opponent was none other than Billy "The Pig" Pettit.