10 Dumbest Supervillain Schemes You Won't Believe

This particular comic begins with the Joker telling his goons how confusing words could be if every phrase was taken literally. He demonstrates this by sending a letter to Commissioner Gordon, stating that he is going to paint the town red. Believing that Joker is preparing a killing spree, Gordon preps his forces and patrols Gotham vigilantly. Instead of committing the usual Joker atrocities, Batman's nemesis drops red paint from a plane all over Gotham's buildings.

When Batman realises that Joker is using wordplay to telegraph his crimes, he can figure out what he's going to do next. When the Joker announces he will "set the world on fire", Batman deduces that the crazed clown is going to launch an attack on a fireproof skyscraper.

Six years later, the idea of using cryptic clues to forecast upcoming crimes was repurposed for brand-new supervillain - The Riddler.