Unpacking The Joker’s Darkest Moment

Jack Napier, AKA The Joker, is one of DC Comics’ most horrifying characters to date. His appearance, his clothing, and even his signature laugh have become ingrained into the parts of comic readers’ brains that store fear. At least he has for mine.

Before I begin, let me briefly explain what I'm referring to. In September 2011, DC decided to reboot all their comics and heroes under one new universe title. “The New 52,” as it would be known, was short-lived and not received well by long-time readers. Despite this harsh public reaction, The New 52 was not all bad. It gave us classic storylines like Batman: The Court of Owls

Another classic story introduced was Batman: Death of the Family, a 23-issue story arc published from October 2012 to February 2013. Instead of breaking down the entire 23 issues of this fantastic tale, I want to look at the first pages. Our story begins with Joker and another villain, The Dollmaker, talking in a prison cell.

The Dollmaker is an excellent surgeon capable of performing even the most intricate operations without risking the patient’s quality of life. Joker informs him that he wants Dollmaker to cut off his face. This leads to a gruesome page spread of Joker’s now severed face nailed to a prison cell wall and the text, “That felt amazing,” looming off to the side. Joker then escapes from his cell, leaving comic readers with many unanswered questions. The next time we see the Joker, it is bone-chilling.

Flash forward a year. Batman and the GCPD have worked tirelessly to take down the Court of Owls, and omens arise. To quote Police Commissioner Jim Gordon at the beginning of the comic.

 “In hindsight, there were signs… omens of terrible things to come. The first one came with the rains. With the early snows blocking its mouth, the rains flooded the Gotham River, actually reversing its course for three full days. The second sign came soon after. A lion at the Gotham Zoo gave birth to a deformed cub, a cub with two heads. Rivers running backwards. Beasts born wrong. We should have seen it coming…We should have read the bones.”

We cut to see a workman’s van speeding through the empty and wet Gotham streets. The van comes to a screeching halt in front of the GCPD headquarters. A lone figure emerges from the vehicle and ascends the stairs to the building.

Back on the roof of the GCPD, where we find Commissioner Gordon and Detective Bullock sneaking a smoke. The mundane tone of their conversation adds tension to the reader, as they know what horrors await our heroes once they descend that roof.

Now, inside the building, we see Gordon help his fellow officers with monotonous paperwork and tricks he’s picked up in his career, like being able to spot a fake $20. Suddenly, the lights go out. “Everyone be calm. Stay where you are. The generator should—” ZZT. The backup generator hums to life, and the room is lit again, but not as well as before. “—And there we go. Is everyone… All right… No, not you…”

There in the door, we see him for the first time in a year. A tall, lanky figure dressed in a janitor’s jumpsuit with a hideous array of barbaric tools hanging in his toolbelt. Standing on the threshold, we see him—the Joker.

A gunshot rings out, and the lights are killed again. Now, the comic is in complete darkness.

“Hello, Gotham’s finest! Now stop me if you’ve heard this one… a man walks into a bar…”

“Everyone, watch out! It’s Joker! He’s in the room!” Gordon screams out

“Aw, what’s the matter? You’ve heard it already? Okay then, let’s try some new material.”

Gordon produces a flashlight and draws his sidearm, which will be the only light source for him and the reader. We continue to hear the Joker taunt the officers by telling classic joke setups, “A clown walks into a police station…” Followed by the screams of officers and detectives, Joker quickly kills them while he does it. The reader is left alone with the Joker, which

has never happened before. We get to experience one of his killing sprees firsthand through the eyes of a horrified Jim Gordon.

All he hears is the maniacal laughing of this madman, followed by the distinct cracks of the GCPD officer’s necks. Jim swivels his flashlight around to the sound’s origins. Offering us a brief glimpse of Joker’s shoe as he walks away from his crimes. “Dammit, stop this Joker. I’m the one you want, and I’m right here. Show yourself, you coward!” Jim pleads with the clown, but Joker responds with…

“So many variations! ‘A clown in a Hawaiian shirt knocks on a door.’ Hee Hee… or maybe, ‘A bat flies into a room…’ or even, ‘A clown walks into a police station looking for his face!’ HAHAHA”

When the lights cut back on, we see a panicked Jim crouched by an office desk; his eyes hold a distinct look of fear, and his gun is drawn, with Batman looming over him.

“Jim, it’s me. Where is the Joker?”

“He’s gone.”

“What did he say, Jim?”

“He told… He told a joke. Oh God, Batman. He told a joke.”

We see piles of police officers surrounding the commissioner.