10 Terrifying Joker Stories You Never Read

Another book, another version of the Joker’s history.

Batman 23.1 deals with Joker’s childhood as a malnourished, abused, frightened child raised by his deplorable Aunt Eunice.

With only his stuffed toy Jackanapes for company, this poor, tormented soul is beaten, bullied, insulted and tormented by his guardian.

Seeing his unkempt appearance and filthy countenance, Aunt Eunice scrubs the child clean with a wire brush and a bottle of bleach “right down to your clogged pores”, turning his skin a pallid white.

Recreating these childhood traumas using live animals from a Gotham City Zoo, the adult Joker once again sets out to terrorise the fair city and sow destruction and carnage in his wake.

It is not the Joker’s modern day criminal exploits which send chills down the readers’ spines, though, but the virtually colourless flashback scenes.

His Aunt, who openly brags about the brutal way in which she killed her Husband - Joker’s Uncle - is a rare breed of villain.

Starving, beating, humiliating and belittling a child to the point at which he himself becomes a monster like the Joker, the pain and trauma of his childhood is visible in the adult Joker’s eyes, is truly a harrowing thread to pull at.

Of course, there's a very good chance he just made the whole thing up.