15 Greatest Joker Comics Of All Time

15. The Return Of The Joker

To be frank, “A Death in the Family" is over-rated and undeserving of the highest praise. There’s a certain torture porn vibe around The Joker beating Robin to death (especially just months after he paralyzed and assaulted Barbara Gordon) that just doesn’t do it for me.

It always felt like less of an organic character development and more of an editorial intervention to boost sales. Probably because that's precisely what it was.

In contract, this little two-parter from Marv Wolfman and Jim Aparo represents a story that’s very much a response to Joker’s dark turn at the end of the ‘80s. These comics are about him trying to “find the joke again” after his brutal attacks on sidekicks. 

It’s as if The Joker himself, suffering from gunshot wounds and doubt, rejects the empty and violent direction he’d been taken. And it's a brilliant arc.