Reviews for the upcoming DC movie, Joker (opens on October 3), have been so stellar it even garnered an 8-minute standing ovation at the Venice Film Festival! There’s just something about the Clown Prince of Crime that triggers filmmakers’ darker impulses from Tim Burton’s oddball take in Batman to the devilish anarchist in The Dark Knight. We can also see it in the Joker’s many appearances in comic books, mostly in Batman titles. Let’s take a morbid look at the Joker at his most notorious. Expect MAJOR SPOILERS and fair warning: this is definitely not for the faint of heart.
1. Shooting Batgirl – The Killing Joke by Alan Moore and Brian Bolland – This is considered one of the Joker’s most despicable acts. He and his thugs go to Commissioner Gordon’s house. Gordon’s daughter, Barbara (aka Batgirl) opens the door and is shot by the Joker. She falls backward into a glass table. As the thugs beat up Gordon, Joker strips Barbara of her clothes. It’s later revealed that the bullet shattered Barbara’s spine and she’s paralyzed from the waist down, ending her career as Batgirl.
2. Flaying A Man Alive – Joker by Brian Azzarello and Lee Bermejo – After being released from Arkham Asylum following a long stay, the Joker sets out to reclaim his territory in Gotham. He heads to the strip club owned by Monty, one of his former business partners. Joker strikes up a seemingly friendly conversation with his old partner but moments later, Monty comes out on stage, skinned alive with only his face and hands spared. A shocking message to remind everyone that you don’t steal from the Joker.
3. The Joker’s Tapestry – Batman: Death of the Family by Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo – Batman willingly enters a trap set up by the Joker when he kidnaps Robin, Nightwing, Red Robin, Red Hood, and Batgirl. He goes inside Arkham Asylum and battles through waves of crazed inmates, easily overcoming them. But the true horror comes when Joker reveals his hanging quilt commemorating their encounters. A tapestry made of living people all sown together through the skin and all linked by tubes connecting their intestines together. Even a “gift” from the Joker has literal strings attached.
4. Beating up Robin – Batman: Death in the Family by Jim Starlin and Jim Aparo – This one is another cruel act that falls under the same category as Batgirl’s shooting. When Jason Todd, the current Robin at that time is reunited with his long-lost mother, what should be a touching moment becomes a crime of unbearable barbarism. It turns out Jason’s mother is a criminal working with the Joker. Joker’s men roughen Jason up and then Joker proceeds to beat him to a pulp with a crowbar. Afterwards, Joker ties Jason and his mother up and blows up the tent they’re in, killing them both!
5. Driving Commissioner Gordon mad – The Killing Joke by Alan Moore and Brian Bolland – You would think shooting Barbara Gordon and kidnapping Commissioner Gordon would’ve been enough for the Joker. He forces a naked and caged Gordon to watch photos of Joker stripping off the clothes of Barbara. All in an effort to demonstrate to Batman that all it takes to drive a man insane is one really bad day.
6. Serving The Bat Family Dinner – Batman: Death of the Family by Greg Capullo – Joker finally has Batman and all his allies where he wants them, all gagged and bound at a banquet table with their faces wrapped in gauze. Joker is horrifically mutilated –his face has been surgically removed and the rotting skin has been stapled to his bloody visage. He then moves in with the punch line – serving them all their own faces! A joke to haunt them for the rest of their lives…
7. Sniper – Gotham Central: Soft Targets by Ed Brubaker and Michael Lark – Joker decides to go for some old fashion terror that is just as effective. He becomes a sniper and starts shooting random people as well as Gotham city officials trying to make the city better. As the police and Batman try to figure Joker’s insane pattern, he taunts them by setting up a website that show his next sniping destinations. Even without theatrics, Joker can terrify Gothamites.
8. Joker Dies – The Dark Knight Returns by Frank Miller – In this Batman classic that chronicles the Caped Crusader’s final years, the Joker returns to Gotham and goes on a massive killing spree like never before. He starts off by murdering David Letterman and his talk show audience. He then heads off to an amusement park where he kills children with poisoned cotton candy and starts gunning down innocent bystanders. Batman pursues Joker. Their fight is nasty and bloody until Batman breaks Joker’s neck, paralyzing him. It looks like the end to his reign of murder… But Joker gets the last laugh over Batman – he finds the strength to twist his neck completely, killing himself and setting it up so Batman looks like the murderer.
About the author:
JV Tanjuatco, comic book writer/editor/publisher, founded Comic Book Lab that publishes the comic book titles Mythopolis and War of Whispers (co-created and co-written by him). Comic Book Lab’s most recent project was the graphic novel anthology Stay: 21 Comic Stories authored by Palanca Award winner Angelo R. Lacuesta and illustrated by a stellar line-up of artists including Trese’s Kajo Baldisimo. He has also written articles/reviews for Spot.ph and Ain’t It Cool.
