The Joker and His Blood-Spattered Platter

VILLAINOUS MOMENTS

Batman's Nemesis Has Cooked Up Something Vile

~Excerpt from Nightwing #16 (2013)

It's The Joker. Again! And he's not without his disgusting and morbid props.

This week's submission comes from Nightwing #16, part of the Death of The Family event, which has been ruling the comic book kingdom for the last few weeks.

Red Robin, Red Hood, Robin, and Batgirl have been captured and Joker has been showing off this gruesome platter for the last few weeks. What's in it? The answer will be revealed in Batman #17, concluding the event.

Villainous Moments is a column from of The Superheroes List, updated weekly. What are the bad guys doing this week? Macabre and unthinkable, grotesque and unbearable; here's your answer! Look for #VillainousMoments on Twitter.

The Joker Joins Obamacare!

SUPERFUNNIES

He Covers Death and Dismemberment

~Excerpt from Batgirl #16 (2013), part of the Death of The Family event.

Are heroes and villains smart? Naw. #SuperFunnies updates every week (usually Thursday) on The Superheroes List. Here are the bloopers, flip-flops, and all-together moments of levity during exchanges of humor and snapshots of utterly ridiculous decisions in comic books.

The Joker Doesn't Just Kill You, Nightwing

VILLAINOUS MOMENTS

He Kills Everyone Else, Too.

~Excerpt from Nightwing #15, part of the Death of The Family event.

He's been terrorizing DC Comics for the last month, and just murdered a member of Haley's Circus.

The Joker is no joke; that's what Nightwing has learned over the years. But now he appears to know Dick Grayson's identity. In a cruel, senseless act of violence and madness, the super-villain kills "Jimmy", one of the Haley's Circus clowns, just for looking similar.

This is only the first death. For the second, you'll have to read Nightwing #15 and follow Death of The Family.

Villainous Moments is a column from of The Superheroes List, updated weekly (now Monday). What are the bad guys doing this week? Macabre and unthinkable, grotesque and unbearable; here's your answer! Look for #VillainousMoments on Twitter.

Commissioner Gordon, Target of The Joker!

VILLAINOUS MOMENTS

Batman Watches His Friend Fall

~Commissioner Gordon falls, excerpt from Batman #14 (2013).

Having escaped from Ace Chemicals, Batman learns that Bruce Wayne's Butler, Alfred Pennyworth, has been taken hostage. He immediately rendezvouses with Jim Gordon, who turns out to be the next target.

The Joker is now on the rampage in The Death of The Family event, involving Nightwing, Red Robin, and the entire cast of Bat-supporting heroes. The event started in October 2012 and features Batman's greatest nemesis.

And now he seems to know all their secret identities. With a purely psychotic intentions beyond repair, The Joker is now taking out key figures close to Caped Crusader as his insane plot unfolds.

Villainous Moments is a column from of The Superheroes List, updated weekly (usually Tuesday). What are the bad guys doing this week? Macabre and unthinkable, grotesque and unbearable; here's your answer! Look for #VillainousMoments on Twitter.

The Joker Gets His Face Back!

VILLAINOUS MOMENTS

Death of The Family Begins

~Batman #13 (2012)

The Joker is back. But he's not the same. Evil and twisted thoughts are now pale before this malevolent creature, killing his way through Gotham City and now at the doorstep of Alfred Pennyworth!

In the amazing Batman event Death of The Family, The Joker has returned after a year of uncertainty and grotesque mutilation. He was last seen in Detective Comics #1 (2012) when he was captured while on a rampage. After being dropped at Arkham Asylum, our last picture of the super-villain was a wall displaying his surgically-removed face!

Death of The Family is expected to run from October 2012 to February 2013 and will affect the entire Batman Crime-Fighting Family. You can follow the Reading Order and clues by clicking on the link.

Villainous Moments is a column from of The Superheroes List, updated weekly (usually Tuesday). What are the bad guys doing this week? Macabre and unthinkable, grotesque and unbearable; here's your answer! Look for #VillainousMoments on Twitter.

Batman Tragedy #5: The Death of Robin

~Excerpt from Batman #428 (1989)

When the Joker shot Barbara Gordon in the stomach, we thought he had reached the pinnacle of villainy: ending the career of a superhero. But we were wrong. Way wrong. Less than a year after that ill-fated crime, Joker returned to raise the bar, add one more notch to his insane list of accomplishments. And it was all thanks to you, the readers, because that's when he killed Robin. (Not my fault, really.)

Depicted in the story arc A Death in the Family, from 1988 to 1989 with Batman #426-429, this event takes place far away from Gotham; Bruce Wayne is now training a new sidekick, Jason Todd, with great skill, but easily angered. Sensing the potential for problems, Batman takes him out of action. At the same time, Jason has none of it and abandons the Batcave. The story then takes a turn where he searches for his real mother; the dynamic duo work out their differences, but end up in the Middle East where Joker is dealing out his latest scheme.

If you want to talk about a tragic ending, look no further: Todd finally finds his mother, but she's a twisted, tormented soul and leads him into Joker's trap. She literally takes advantage of his last shred of innocence and trust and turns him over to the madman. Pages later, Batman's greatest villain beats Robin to death with a crowbar.

How did it happen? Why, it was all thanks to a poll. DC held a hotline where readers could vote at a cost of 50 cents per call. (Multiple calls? No problem!) The result was 5,343 to 5,271: Robin would die. Humanity exposed its cruel fangs and took Jason Todd out. And certainly, this time, Joker had the last laugh.

The 10 Most Deadly Moments of Batman is a countdown provided by The Superheroes List preparing fans for the upcoming movie The Dark Knight Rises, with Christian Bale. If you want to get hyped up on Caped Crusader information, come on over and Check out the List!

Batman Tragedy #6: The Killing Joke

~Excerpt from The Killing Joke (1988)

There can be no tragic list of events without paying homage to Batman's greatest nemesis: The Joker. Almost everyone knows of this villain, but few - except for the Dark Knight scholars among us - understand the depth of the relationship between this pale, ghostly-skinned, laughing psychopath and the Bat. Batman strives to prove justice must prevail; he will not kill. The Joker is spurred by the need to show humanity's insane cruelty; for him to succeed, good men like Batman must be driven to madness before they can die. The irony - and dare we say punchline - is the numerous fatalities and shattered lives resulting as a consequence of their philosophies.

This, in turn, represents two very terrible moments. The first, in this submission, comes from The Killing Joke. Written in 1988 by Alan Moore, this highly-acclaimed Batman-Joker story is where Joker came to Barbara Gordon's place and brutally shot her in the stomach. Almost killing her, it took a sharp turn in the Dark Knight franchise and history for decades.

From The Killing Joke, Batman and Joker have never been the same. Neither has Batgirl (Barbara's original identity). In all liklihood there would have never been an Oracle (Barbara's next crime-fighting incarnation) or a Birds of Prey (The female supergroup led by Oracle). And the real joke? The worst was yet to come...

The 10 Most Deadly Moments of Batman is a countdown provided by The Superheroes List preparing fans for the upcoming movie The Dark Knight Rises, with Christian Bale. If you want to get hyped up on Caped Crusader information, come on over and Check out the List!