8. The Joker Kills Robin #2
Speaking of Jason Todd, howd he die in the first place? Firstly, its your fault (maybe, depending on whether or not you were alive in the 80s and dialed a 1-900 number determining Todds fate), but it is also the fault of the Joker. Jason Todd was not a popular character and people never really took to him as Robin. Clearly, something had to be done so DC decided to hold the aforementioned phone poll and let the readers determine the fate of Jason Todd. We now know how that turned out, causing one of the most defining events in Batmans history: Jason Todd died. And at the hands of The Joker no less. The Joker kidnapped Jason Todd, beat him (nearly) to death with a crowbar and then locked him inside a warehouse with a bomb. By the time Batman was able to reach Jason, it was too late: The bomb had already gone off. The iconic image of Batman holding a bloody Jason Todd has become one of the most recognizable covers of all time. This storyline took place shortly after The Killing Joke, so The Joker was amassing quite the body count during the late 80s. This event is a triumph because The Joker actually killed someone close to Batman and would leave him mentally scarred for the next decade and a half. Because of Jasons death, Batman would become reluctant to take on any new partners for fear of getting them killed. Immediately following Jasons death, The Joker almost got the ultimate triumph over Batman: he enraged Batman so much that Batman seriously considered breaking his own rules and ending The Joker once and for all.