Batman might be one of the most iconic characters in comics, but he’s followed closely by his most notorious villain: the Joker. For more than 80 years, the Joker has been a thorn in Batman’s side, wreaking havoc across Gotham City, and captivating audiences at the same time. He’s a terrifying and fascinating character, one that many comics fans have found themselves both loving and hating in equal measure over the years across many forms of media.
Videos by ComicBook.com
The big reason for the character’s staying power and fans’ complicated relationship with the villain are his stories. There are a lot of truly great stories featuring the Clown Prince of Crime, often highlighting different aspects of the villain. Sometimes, he’s an almost funny bad guy while others, he’s a chilling, deeply disturbed individual and almost always, he’s some sort of commentary on society or how we perceive it. Here are the seven best Joker stories in comics to date — and no, none of them are “The Killing Joke”.
7) Batman #1
The list wouldn’t be even remotely complete if it didn’t include Batman #1 from 1940. The issue is a landmark issue in DC Comics history as it is not only responsible for the implementation of Batman’s “no killing” rule following backlash to some of Batman’s actions in the issue, but it also introduced two of the most important characters in the hero’s story: Catwoman and Joker. While the issue is very different from what contemporary audiences might expect from a Batman comic, what’s particularly interesting is that the fundamentals of the Dark Knight’s greatest foe are all here. In fact, many fans might recognize elements in the villain that have been key to his representation in Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight.
In Batman #1, the Joker goes on the radio and makes announcements about specific crimes he is going to commit and exactly when he is going to do it, taunting the authorities and threatening the populace in the process. We see him leave joker cards at crime scenes and using poison gas that twists the faces of his victims into disturbing rictus grins, making it clear that he is not simply a novelty villain. He even captures Robin. Ultimately, Batman is able to save Robin and stop the Joker and the story ends with the villain being sent to the State Penitentiary, vowing to escape the whole way. We all know how well that goes.
6) Batman: White Knight
While one could argue that whatever prompts the Joker to be the villain that he is goes well beyond mental health, it’s always interesting to play the game of “what if the Joker was cured of his madness and was actually good?” That’s what we get with Batman: White Knight, an eight-issue limited series written and illustrated by Sean Murphy. The series sees Joker cured of his madness after he’s beaten and force-medicated by Batman. Now sane, the Joker starts using his real name of Jack Napier and becomes a politician on a mission to not only change his public image but also save Gotham from the “real” threat, Batman.
It’s a fascinating premise but is you think this is merely a good and evil flipped situation, you’re wrong. There’s a reason Batman is more aggressive and violent than one might expect and the “reformed” Joker isn’t suddenly a purely good guy, either. There’s a lot more nuance to things, but what might make this a truly great Joker story is less the reform of the villain and more the commentary the book offers about social issues like economic inequality as well as police reform — not to mention the age-old discussion of how Batman and Joker are entirely codependent on one another.
5) Detective Comics #475 (“The Laughing Fish”)
While the Joker has become one of the darkest and most disturbing villains in DC Comics, this list wouldn’t be complete without including one of his wackiest stories and that gives us “The Laughing Fish” from Detective Comics #475 from 1978. The story is a true original and is both completely depraved and weirdly hilarious, giving readers a perfect balance of goofy and series which is exactly what one would expect from the Bronze Age of comics.
The story sees the citizens of Gotham City in a very weird situation when one day, they discover that every single fish in the sea suddenly now has the Joker’s face. If that wasn’t unsettling enough, it’s what the Joker does with this weird situation that makes things completely bonkers. He’s poisoned all of the fish so that they look like him so that he can, in turn, copyright their likeness and then claim copyright infringement when people use the fish. Oh, and this is all part of a larger scheme to carry out some homicides, too. It’s both one of the weirdest Joker stories and, honestly one of the best.
4) Detective Comics #180 (“Joker’s Millions”)
If you’ve ever had a “villains are just like us” moment then this one’s for you. Another vintage classic, “Joker’s Millions” sees the Joker dealing with his own greatest nemesis, one that is all too relatable — the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). In the story, Joker inherits the fortune of a mafia boss named King Barlow and goes on a spending spree, letting his life of crime go by the wayside because he’s rich now, you see (never mind of course that most of the inherited cash is actually counterfeit.) The problem? The IRS comes calling to collect inheritance tax which prompts the Joker to reduce himself to some petty crimes to deal with things.
In the end, the Joker is totally humiliated, Not only did he have to commit totally normal crimes which the Joker felt were beneath him, but when Batman and Robin find out that the money was counterfeit, they use that to get him arrested. It’s a surprisingly complex story for one that is kind of silly on its face and it plays on some of the core elements of the Joker as a character, namely his outsized ego that makes him a formidable foe, and one that we love to hate.
3) Batman: Endgame
Written by Scott Snyder with art by Greg Capullo, Batman: Endgame explores the only natural conclusion of the Batman/Joker dynamic. After a fear-chemical attack by the Scarecrow, Batman soon finds himself dealing with attacks by his own allies — the Justice League. It soon becomes clear that they’ve been infected with a powerful strain of Joker toxin. When Batman goes to Arkham to investigate, he ends up face to face with an orderly named Eric Border who reveals he’s the Joker and he is now bored with Batman and plans to bring things to a permanent end.
The story that ensues is one of escalation. Joker releases an incurable pathogen throughout Gotham, attacks Gordon, and creates so much chaos that Batman even turns to the Court of Owls for help. The Joker is even shown to have been using a healing fluid to continue his mayhem. In the end, the two fight to the death with the Batcave collapsing upon them. It’s wild, twisted story and it’s not for everyone (it is especially violent) but it is a very interesting exercise in examining the only way some feel the Batman/Joker relationship can end.
2) Detective Comics #168
Published in 1951, Detective Comics #168 might be one of the most important issues when it comes to the Joker as it’s the issue that gives the villain his very first origin story. In the story, Batman and Robin are guest instructors at the state university and gives the class an unsolved crime, that of the Red Hood, a master criminal who escaped the Dynamic Duo by jumping into a vat of chemicals from the Ace Playing Card Company and was never caught.
As the story unfolds, it’s later revealed that the Joker was the Red Hood. He had been a lab worker who planned to steal a million dollars to retire, prompting him to become the Red Hood. When he dove into the chemicals, the hood helped him survive, but the chemicals changed his appearance. That new, terrifying appearance inspired his new villain identity: Joker. While Joker’s actual origin has changed a great deal (and a great number of times) over the years, this story is the foundation for many of them.
1) Gotham Central #12-15 (“Soft Targets”)
When most people think about Joker stories, they think about Batman stories but quite possibly the best Joker story belongs to a comic that is less about the Dark Knight and more about the Gotham City Police Department — Gotham Central. Written by Ed Brubaker and Greg Rucka, the series follows the lives and challenges of the officers of the GCPD and gives us the gem of a story arc called “Soft Targets”.
The story sees the Gotham police under fire from the Joker, quite literally. The villain assassinates the mayor and continues escalating from there, shooting at the police and civilians alike and tormenting the Major Crimes Unit by broadcasting video feeds of his next location making it a race against time to try to stop him and, when they don’t, more and more bloodshed ensues and with it, panic. It’s an intense story that feels the least comic book-esque of perhaps any Joker story ever. That’s why it works so well. And don’t worry: the Joker doesn’t get away in this one.
What do you think? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!
Most Viewed
-
Image Courtesy of Prime Video -
Image Courtesy of Lucasfilm -
Image Courtesy of Marvel Comics
