15 Most Inappropriate Batman Storylines Of All Time

5. The Joker Becomes Iranian Ambassador

A Death In The Family ended up being one of the most serious business and important storylines in the history of Batman comics. It culminated in the death of Jason Todd, the second Robin, who mostly everyone hated because he was an annoying little brat. Still, he was a sidekick, and the Dark Knight's perceived failure to protect on of his wards from being forcibly shuffled off his mortal coil haunted him forevermore. Or at least until Jason was resurrected twenty years later and became a goofy, angsty anti-hero called the Red Hood who made lots of jokey references to dynamite and crowbars. Which is how he died, they're not just non-sequiturs. And those weapons were wielded by none other than arch nemesis The Joker, who prior to the murder thang had an...interesting role in the comic.

Everyone remembers the story for the landmark death that occurred at the end of it, and tend to forget that the rest of the story is about Arab terrorists trying to destroy Tel Aviv and shady goings on with an aid organisation in Ethiopia. Yeah, the story about The Joker beating Robin to death with a crowbar is stuffed full of contemporary political commentary. Seems a little inappropriate to end a serious business story with something so comic book-y. Even worse is the section where The Joker is enlisted as the Iranian ambassador to the UN, granting him diplomatic immunity from being hauled in by Batman, and we're really not sure what Iran get from the whole deal. Given the still volatile state of certain parts of the Middle East - which were particularly daunting at the time - we're not sure who signed off on this.