10 Most Inappropriate Joker Storylines
6. Using A Baby As Bait To Murder Sarah Essen - No Man's Land
For those who like to see the Joker at his truly most sinister and clinical, one particular act of the No Man's Land arc will be right up your street. For the rest of you, said act will have left you in flustered disbelief.
A year-long story that ran across all of the Batman-driven titles throughout the entirety of 1999, the basic crux of this tale is that Gotham City is left to fend for itself after being struck by a major earthquake. While best efforts were initially made to evacuate as many Gotham citizens as possible, the US government gets to a point where they decide to destroy any bridges or entry/exit points to the island and declare the area a veritable 'no man's land'.
In a dog eat dog world, the grim streets of Batman's hometown become far too much for even the Dark Knight and his associates to deal with. With plentiful villains stepping up to claim Gotham as their own, the Joker opts to take a different tact. By that, the Clown Prince of Crime kidnaps all the babies of Gotham City and takes residence in the old GCPD building.
It's poor Sarah Essen - the second wife of Jim Gordon - who eventually finds the Jester of Genocide on Christmas Day. With Essen's gun pointed on the Joker as he holds an infant, Mr. J throws the child in the air. As Sarah instinctively catches the youngster, Joker shoots her dead.