3. Batman #13: The New 52 Joker
After so many years, I never thought the Joker would really benefit much from the whole DC New 52 initiative. I was severely wrong. I clearly didn't put enough faith in the writing of such wonderful authors as Tony S. Daniel or Scott Snyder. I'm not sure why I didn't either because neither of them have ever really let me down before. In Daniel's Detective Comics #1, we are first introduced to a character named Dollmaker who in the end of the issue is asked by the Joker to remove his face for him. We see the horrible result in a huge full page image of the Joker's fully removed face hanging on the wall. Then for a year the Joker vanished... But now he's back! In the most recent issue of Batman (#13) The Clown Prince of Crime has returned to Gotham in a truly frightening way. Not since the first time I saw Heath Ledger in Joker makeup have I been so truly uncomfortable and scared by the classic character. Basically in Batman #13, the Joker kills the lights to police headquarters, and then proceeds to start killing cops in the pitch darkness. The villain is only seen in shadow or out of the corner of your eye which is always more frightening than seeing the monster right away. He isn't just there for cop killing either. He wants back his locked away evidence room prize: his removed face! Not only is the Joker back to his killing ways, but he is also back to his iconic style of announcing his murders will happen at a certain time. Not only that, but he's putting a new spin on his old favorites by calling back to his first murders that date back to the original 1st issue of Batman in 1940. We don't fully know what is in store with this new Joker, but 2 things are certain: The Joker is out for the blood of the entire Bat-Family for one thing. And now he has one Hell of a new skin mask stretched over his damaged face!