The Absolute Universe version of the Joker is widely regarded by readers as the most terrifying incarnation of Batman’s archnemesis in DC Comics history—and rightly so. Not only does this version of the Joker transform into a monster that looks like it crawled out of Hell, but he’s also one of the wealthiest men on the planet and uses his money and power to control the masses and run human experimentations out of his private prisons called “Arks.” Absolute Batman #15 explores the Joker’s origins as a centuries-old psychopath who causes mass panic and death for financial gain and for pure sadism. Absolute Batman Ark M Special #1 delves even further into the Joker’s twisted backstory as well as how Arkham Asylum evolved into the dreaded Ark M.
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Most of Absolute Batman Ark M Special #1 takes place during the late 1800s. Amadeus Arkham is the founder of Arkham Asylum. He dedicated his life to helping the mentally ill after his mother killed his siblings and then herself in a murder-suicide, Amadeus created Arkham Asylum in the hopes of treating the criminally insane. However, Amadeus would eventually learn that everything he had worked for would be taken away and tainted by the Joker.
The Joker was Always a Monster
Part of what makes Absolute Batman Ark M Special #1 such a good read is how it masterfully subverts the readers’ expectations as to the origin of the Joker. In his journals, Amadeus recounts that his most dangerous patient in Arkham Asylum was a notorious and ever-grinning serial killer known only as Jack Doe, who gleefully murdered men, women, and children. After Amadeus adopted a young boy whom he found covered in blood on his doorstep, Jack began targeting the doctor’s son. After failing to slit the boy’s throat, Jack led a full-stage breakout with the other inmates, killing everyone in their path. When Amadeus arrived home, he found his son missing from his room with nothing but a splatter of blood remaining.
Decades later, an elderly Amadeus suspects that Jack went on to become the infamous Jack the Ripper, and the reader is led to believe that the escaped mental patient is the Joker. However, while working on a deal to sell the asylum to a wealthy businessman, Amadeus unearths a horrifying secret hidden beneath his mental institution. Tearing down a wall in the furnace room, Amadeus finds Jack Doe’s corpse. Amadeus’ adopted son and the wealthy businessman are one and the same, and he is the real Joker. It’s here that the longest and most intricate plot involving the origin of any incarnation of the Joker s finally revealed.
From the night he arrived on Amadeus’ doorstep, the little boy who would grow up to be the Joker had been playing the man who became his adoptive father. Jack Doe was just another pawn whom he had played like a fiddle. Jack holding him hostage, the breakout, and faking his death were all part of the boy’s scheme to break Amadeus. When the grown-up Joker reveals his identity to Amadeus and buys Arkham Asylum, the villains’ plan comes to fruition. In a fit of madness, Amadeus burns the asylum, himself, and all the other inmates alive. However, the Joker rebuilds the asylum and renames it Ark M. It’s here where he commits countless crimes against humanity. His last big joke at Amadeus’s expense.
The Joker’s Greatest Strength is His Manipulative Mind
While many readers may believe that the Joker’s nightmarish design or destructive crimes are his scariest features, what truly makes the Clown Prince of Crime the most disturbing villain in comic books is his unparalleled skill at reading and using people for his own ends without pity or remorse. The Joker’s deep understanding of people allows him to manipulate and torture them in ways that target their psychological weaknesses. Harley Quinn is the best example of how the Joker can take a good-natured psychiatrist and warp her into an insane murderer and loyal henchwoman. In a sense, the Absolute Universe takes this defining trait of the Joker and dials it up to eleven.
Just like the main universe Joker, the Absolute Universe version of Batman’s archnemesis controls everyone, from doctors to serial killers, like a puppet master. However, two aspects make the Absolute Joker’s manipulative nature much more dangerous. First, even when he was just a child, his long-term planning in how to control and torture his victims for his sheer sadistic pleasure is practically inhuman. Second, and more importantly, is that as a multi-billionaire with endless resources and connections, the Joker can extend his manipulative and sadistic nature to a global scale. He can influence politics, economies, wars, and media to spread misery and death around the world. And if someone even considers resisting his authority, the Joker either pays them off or murders them.
The Absolute Universe is the Joker’s playground, and humanity is a toy for him to play with and break as he sees fit. During World War II, he funded both the Allies and the Axis Powers for profit and to further tighten his control over the world. With just one conversation, the Joker convinced Bane to kill his own father in exchange for bringing prosperity to his homeland. And when his enforcer failed to destroy Batman, the Joker forced Bane to watch as he nuked the very country Bane sacrificed his humanity for. The Absolute Joker has the main universe Joker’s ability to psychologically corrupt and torture people backed up with all the resources he needs to puppeteer the entire planet for his own sadistic pleasure.
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