[Top 10] Best Batman Joker Comics You Should Read

Updated:

23 Apr 2022

Batman comics are the type of media that made the Dark knight so popular and loved among the masses. Sure, the movies and series are great, but the comics are a class apart. In this post we will take a look at the best Batman Joker comics that you, as a Batman fan, should definitely read!

10. The Man Who Killed Batman

The episode 'The Man Who Killed Batman' from Batman: The Animated Series follows Sid the Squid, a hopeless thug who seems to have murdered Batman. This reputation attracts a large number of criminals, whom Sid attempts to placate despite his lack of ability, until the Joker takes notice of him.

Joker is enraged that Sid has not only accomplished what he could never do, but also wrecked all his enjoyment by removing his favourite companion, and vows vengeance against Sid. Naturally, the definitely-not-dead Batman returns to rescue Sid and once again confound the Joker.

9. The Laughing Fish

There is no finer account of the Joker's bizarre sense of humour than Steve Englehart and Terry Austin's 'The Laughing Fish,' which is included in Tales of the Batman.

In it, Batman finds that the Joker has unleashed a neurotoxin into Gotham Harbor, resulting in fish with the Joker's twisted smile branded on them. Seizing an opportunity, the Joker patents his Laughing Fish.

After being denied a patent, the Joker vows vengeance, murdering a patent clerk directly in front of Batman and pledging to work his way up the line of command.

8. Joker's Favor

Another all-time classic Batman: The Animated Series episode, 'Joker's Favor,' is the best narrative ever presented about the Joker's sometimes random and chaotic nature. In possibly the world's most tragic instance of road rage, poor Charlie Collins curses another motorist, who turns out to be the Joker, who drives Charlie off the road.

Instead of killing Charlie when he pleads for his life, stating that he has a wife and kid to care for, the Joker asks a favour from Charlie in retaliation for his offence. Years later, Joker approaches Charlie to fulfil his promise in an entirely unexpected and amusing manner, only to be defeated not only by Batman, but also by Charlie himself.

Additionally, the episode introduced Harley Quinn, who has since grown to be a very famous figure in her own right.

7. The Man Who Laughs

Batman: The Man Who Laughs is a modern-day version of the Joker's initial debut, designed as a loose sequel to Batman: Year One by Ed Brubaker and Doug Mahnke. The Man Who Laughs delves into the Joker's roots in a roundabout way, connecting him to the Ace Chemical Plant, which distorted his physique and maybe his psyche, and demonstrating the theatrical, savage manner in which he established his notoriety.

The Man Who Laughs modernises the initial image of the Joker by incorporating features from succeeding tales to create a fully developed portrait of the clown prince of crime and redefining the character for the present day.

6. Batman: Endgame

In Batman: Endgame, Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo connected the threads of two of their most successful series as the Dark Knight faced off against the Clown Prince of Crime. If Batman: The Court of Owls served as an opening and 'Death of the Family' served as a frightening follow-up, 'Endgame' was all about escalation - how much harder can Batman fight when his first battle is against a Joker-ized Justice League?

However, Snyder's grandiose start rapidly gave way to a more subdued depiction of the Batman and Joker mythology, as both characters dug deeper and deeper into each other's pasts as both adversaries and opposites - all as Gotham succumbed to the current strain of the Joker virus.

When combined with Capullo's uncanny ability to create horrific imagery and brutal fight choreography, 'Endgame' not only elevated the Joker to a vicious, near-immortal threat, but also concluded a number of Snyder's established storylines, culminating in a bittersweet climax that left the Dark Knight missing in action.

5. Mad Love

Set in the continuity of Batman: The Animated Series and written by TAS creators Paul Dini and Bruce Timm, Batman: Mad Love follows Harley Quinn, who debuted on TAS as a one-off henchman before Arlene Sorkin's pitch-perfect portrayal catapulted her into the hearts of fans and into regular DC continuity.

Mad Love depicts the perplexing, irrational, and inescapable connection between Dr. Harleen Quinzel and her patient, the Joker; a relationship that ultimately results in lunacy and disaster for everyone involved.

In 1994, Mad Love earned the Will Eisner Comic Industry Award for Greatest Single Narrative, a well-deserved accolade for a story that stands as one of the best and most devastating in the Batman canon.

4. The Dark Knight

Purists may criticise Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight for including an unconventional Joker, yet no movie in any media has more eloquently highlighted the antithesis between Joker and Batman. Batman, the sombre avenger who is obsessed with order and regulations, and Joker, the colourful, outlandish anarchist who lives in a state of disorder.

The Dark Knight is more conventional than many believe, building on legends dating all the way back to the Joker's first appearance. Naturally, the film's popularity is due in large part to Heath Ledger's spiteful, bumbling depiction of the Joker as a guy without a name, a face, or a history; every bit the symbol as Batman, but without the driving power.

3. The Joker's Five-Way Revenge

Originally published in Batman #251, 'The Joker's Five Way Revenge' laid the groundwork for numerous subsequent investigations of the Joker's particular psychosis.

Considered the first Joker storey to avoid the campiness of the 1966 Batman television series, Denny O'Neil and Neal Adams' 'Joker's Five-Way Revenge' is a tale about the Joker attempting to eliminate a group of five henchmen who have displeased him, forcing Batman to defend the same criminals he normally fights.

The narrative introduced many key facets of the Joker's character, most notably his callous disdain for the life of his own henchmen and his distorted view of his relationship with Batman. At one point, Joker outwits Batman, ambushing an already bewildered and confused caped crusader.

Joker resolves to leave Batman alive, the beginning in a seemingly never-ending sequence of events depicting a circle of reliance between Batman and Joker.

2. A Death In The Family

It's difficult to think of any narrative that conveys the Joker's depravity and unbridled mayhem quite like Batman: A Death In The Family. In it, Joker seeks to sell a nuclear bomb to Middle Eastern terrorists, a mission that crosses paths with Jason Todd's, the second Robin's, search for his biological mother.

And, of course, we all know how this narrative ends: with Jason's murder at the hands of the Joker, not the first, but probably the most horrifying occasion the Joker subjected Batman to his torture.

What's more disturbing is that Jason's fate was determined by a reader poll in which people voted for his death (through a 1-900 number), demonstrating that, just maybe, we all have a little Joker in us.

1. The Killing Joke

It's unsurprising that many regard Batman: The Killing Joke to be the ultimate Joker narrative. Joker's savage assault on Barbara Gordon and subsequent torture of both her father and Batman with knowledge of the attack rates as one of the most nightmarish of the Joker's many heinous actions. The assault was so vicious that it brought Batman to the brink of violating his code of honour.

Conclusion

The love-hate relationship of the Batman and Joker will be something fans will always love! And nothing displays this enmity between the hero and the villain better than Batman Joker comics!

I hope you enjoyed going through this list and finding these comic books worth a read.