10 Most Important Comic Book Moments Of The Decade

The Joker’s always been one of DC’s sickest and most twisted characters, notorious for the sadistic crimes he inflicts on others. But what about the heinous horrors he subjects himself to?

Meeting up with The Dollmaker in Arkham, Joker arranges to have his own face cut off and nailed to a wall. Apparently immune to the millions of infections and deadly consequences of such a horrific wound, Joker calmly escapes Arkham and isn’t seen again for a year.

When Mr J finally made his Gotham City comeback, he took to wearing his decomposing face as a mask and began to look like a malnourished Leatherface in the process. Cutting it off as a symbolic thing for his latest showdown with Batman, Faceless Joker was a major promotional tactic for DC during the bestselling Death of the Family story arc in 2012. It also remained a pivotal aspect of the character for years to come, even after he regained his face in Endgame (no, not that one).

A controversial new twist on the Clown Prince of Crime, reader response varied from praising it as scary to dismissing it at a failed attempt at edginess. Either way, the notion The Joker may be super powered was never more plausible than when he lived faceless for a year without issue and spoke despite having no lips.