10 Sickest "Jokes" The Joker Ever Pulled

7. Brutalized The Gordon Family - The Killing Joke

Batman Joker War
DC Comics / Brian Bolland

Like every good comedian, the Joker isn't afraid to go meta sometimes. In Alan Moore's The Killing Joke, the Joker decided to prove that madness - specifically his madness - could be infectious. To do this, his routine needed a straight-man. Enter poor Jim and Barbara Gordon, the only other people to suffer the Joker's wrath worse than the Batman himself.

We all know the rest: shooting and paralysing Barbara, the Joker then kidnapped the Commissioner and set about trying to drive the old man insane. This he did by stripping Gordon naked and parading him around a nightmarish amusement park, taunting him with photographs of Barbara - naked, shot and writhing in agony.

This prolonged physical and mental torture should have been enough to drive anyone mad - but not Commissioner Gordon. Jim held out long enough to be rescued by the Batman, spoiling the Joker's punchline.

Contributor
Contributor

A film critic and professional writer of over ten years, Joel Harley has a deep and abiding love of all things horror, Batman and Nicolas Cage. He can be found writing online and in print, all over the Internet and in especially good bookstores.