10 Things DC Comics Want You To Forget About The Joker‏

3. The Joker Isn't Crazy, He's Super-Sane

Here's that Grant Morrison rearing his baldy head again. The usual hand waving excuse for why the Joker, who by all measures has directly murdered hundreds of people over his villainous career and has been responsible for the deaths of countless more, has never been slapped with the death penalty himself is because he's criminally insane. Which is why they have him do even more crazy stuff (like cutting his face off for larks) to prove that point.

Morrison's take in Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on a Serious Earth with artist David McKean tells a different story. In his take, the Joker is the furthest thing from insane. Instead, he is blighted with super-sanity, a heightened sort of self-awareness which meant he lacked a true personality and instead adapted to whatever circumstances he found himself in.

Since he found himself in the crime-ridden Gotham, presided over by a guy in a bat costume, can you really blame him for adopting the personality of a colourful criminal? Sadly, like a lot of Morrison's interesting ideas, this concept has been all but tossed out by DC editorial, having been left unexplored until the Scot returned to pen his recent epic run on the Batman title.