The Joker's 10 Most Sickeningly Twisted Moments
7. Exit Batgirl, Enter Oracle
Widely regarded as one of the greatest Joker stories ever told, Alan Moore's 'The Killing Joke' reminded us all just how dangerous and unpredictable the clown can be when he sets his mind to it. All it takes to drive a man insane, he posits, is one bad day.
Breaking free via the revolving doors of Arkham Asylum once again, Joker sets his sights on James Gordon and family, planning to drive the cop as mad as he is. The first step of his plan sees him turn up on Gordon's doorstep, bedecked in a particularly garish Hawaiian shirt.
Poor Barbara takes the clown's bullet, which shatters her spine and puts an end to her career as Batgirl. Well, in this Universe, anyway.
Babs Gordon's Batgirl has since re-emerged in the New 52, having recovered from her spine-shattering injury (well, if it was good enough for Bruce in 'Knightfall') with a funky new look (bright yellow Doc Martens and detatchable cape!) but remains understandably haunted by her experience at the killer clown's hands.
The Gordons' torture didn't stop there, though. No, Moore's 'Killing Joke' continued on its decidedly not-so-merry way, with The Joker using his attack on Barbara as mere set dressing in his mental assault on James Gordon.
Determined to drive his point home, Joker sets about giving the Commissioner what must be the worst day of his life. And, living in Gotham City, the Commissioner has had a lot of them.
Trapped in Joker's funfair hideout, Jim is stripped, beaten and abused; forced to behold a sickening sideshow of his own daughter, in a similar state of undress, bleeding on the floor from Joker's fateful home invasion. While Jim and Barbara did a remarkable job of retaining their sanity in the face of such evil, both remain understandably haunted by Joker's Killing Joke.
Once again, Joker wound up having the last laugh. This time, at least, Batman joined in on the yuks. Not pictured: a half-naked, terrorised Jim Gordon and his hospitalised, maybe raped (this is Alan Moore we're talking about), wheelchair-bound daughter. Hilarious.
