The series featured the villains Onomatopoeia, The Joker and Victor Zsasz. The first issue was shipped on November 12 with three different covers: two by Adam Kubert (standard cover and 1:50 sketch cover) and one by Bill Sienkiewicz (1:25 variant cover). Smith confirmed that the mini-series will not be a part of the Elseworlds imprint.
Smith released two covers and five pages of the first issue on his MySpace blog on November 5, 2008. The pages revealed that Deadshot also appears in the series. The plot involves a turf war between the Joker and Maxie Zeus over a drug Zeus creates using Joker venom, prompting the Joker to retaliate.
Synopsis
The series opens with Deadshot breaking into Arkham Asylum with the intent to kill The Joker but is stopped by Onomatopoeia who shoots him in the head. Onomatopoeia then releases the Joker, leaving him a briefcase of money with the intention of creating mayhem in Gotham to draw out Batman; his actual target. The Joker uses this money to attack Maxie Zeus, who turned Joker's joker gas into a designer drug, a use of his creation the Joker sees as degrading. After foiling the insane serial killer Mr. Zsasz, Batman meets with Commissioner Gordon at Arkham to investigate the Joker's latest escape. Deadshot is revealed to be alive, using a bloodpack and a bulletproof helmet to fake his death. Batman is then made aware that he is the latest target of the vigilante killing villain Onomatopoeia.
Reviews
Jesse Schedeen of IGN felt conflicted with the first issue of Cacophony, citing a good script and comparing Smith to Grant Morrison, saying:
[Smith] manages to find a fresh voice for one of the industry's most heavily exposed characters.
Schedeen also wrote that the villains were the focus, with The Joker the most prominent; with other notes being Smith's normal humor and Batman being "too wordy". Schedeen also states that Flanagan's art varied in trying to portray the Joker's emotions. The overall score Schedeen gave the first issue was an 8.3.
