SPOILERS from hell to follow, though that goes without saying.
I’m just curious as to how many ways (and where) the famed supervillain the Joker has died, in the comics—including Elseworlds, alternate timelines, universes that no longer exist, etc.—and related comic properties. (Animated series, movies, etc.)
So far, I’ve got.
Again, SPOILERS FROM HELL.
•Batman (Motion picture.) Cause of death: Grappling line wrapped around his leg pulls him off a helicopter ladder, sending him plumetting a few dozen stories to his death. Last words (not counting scream, or the “bag of laughs” found on his corpse): “Well, it’s time to retire. Feel free to drop dead!”
•Return of the Joker (Animated movie) Cause of Death (seen in a flashback): Either A) (original version) Joker is shot in the chest by Tim Drake with a “bang” flag dart dug. Or B) (edited version) Joker accidentally electrocutes himself while tangled in power lines. Last words (version A): “That’s not funny. That’s not…”
•Kingdom Come (Comic/Elseworld) Cause of death: Shot in the chest by Magog with some kind of energy blast, sometime in the future. Last words: Unknown.
•JLA: The Nail (Comic/Elseworlds) Cause of death: Beaten to death/neck broken by Batman. Last words: (Unknown)
BTW, can you get the original cut of Return of the Joker now? I remember the fan controversy over the edited version back when, and decided to pass on it until/unless the original came out. And then I forgot all about it until I read the OP.
I have no cite and no issue number, but I’m pretty sure I remember reading a comic wherein the Joker was electrocuted (lightning?) while fighting Batman on the beams of an unfinished skyscraper.
You can—the DVD is the uncut version. (I think all the DVDs are—the ones with “Original, Uncut Version” on the box are, at the very least.)
In addition to restoring a couple of deaths, they also changed the coloring on one minor character’s clothing, near the end of the movie, for no apparent reason.
Holy long lists! You are asking quite a lot. Off the top of my head I’m sure there is probably at least a dozen examples.
Let’s see how many I can come up with:
After his initial appearance he is arrested but escapes in the same comic (The Early Batman comics had more than one story) and subsequently stabs himself trying to kill the caped crusader (Batman#1)
In Batman #2 he is left to parish in flames after teaming with Catwoman.
In “The case of the Joker’s Crime Circus” (Detective 45) Batman accidently tosses him down a trap door into a pit.
In “The Joker walks the last mile” (Batman#5) He is executed for his crimes but is revived by a serum in the morgue.
Later stories include “The Laughing fish” and “The sign of the Joker” (Detective 475/476) which he perishes by lightening during a fight with the Dark Knight on top of a steel girder suspended over the Gotham River.
In “dreadful Birthday Dear Joker” (Batman 321) He is killed in an explosion.
Joker dies in prison of old age in Earth 2 during the late 70s.
Then of course there are those others cited already.
Dark Knight Returns
Batman (the Movie)
Kingdom Come
My reading has slipped since the mid 80s so my list sis far from complete and there are likely other earlier examples I’ve missed.
That was the end of the Joker Fish storyline. I don’t think the OP is asking about the many times that the Joker has seemingly died, only to return. Ranchoth wants instances of the Joker being truly deceased.
Dunno if he seemingly died, died outright, or was revived by special electrocution serum while lying on a pile of grinning fish… just trying to help answer the OP’s question. Thanks, though.
I seem to remember an elseworlds teamup, where Captain America and Batman have to stop the Red Skull and the Joker from stealing the nuclear bomb for the Germans. In the end, the Joker realizes the Red Skull is a Nazi, and, while he’s a psychopathic criminal, he’s no traitor, so he attacks the Red Skull in the airplane taking the bomb to Germany, and they both fall out to their deaths.
I have no idea whether the incident I have in mind would legitimately count toward the OP, although it is an “Elseworld” of a sort… In a relatively recent subplot within the current run of JLA, Batman and Wonder Woman realized that they were both nursing a romantic interest toward the other, but were uncertain whether pursuing a relationship would be a good idea. Finally Wonder Woman decides to use one of J’onn J’onnz’s Martian telepathic devices to explore her own feelings for Batman. The gadget extrapolates a number of possible futures and projects them into Diana’s mind.
One of the futures depicts a scenario in an abandoned subway tunnel, where the Joker has somehow gotten the drop on Batman and tortured him to death. Diana’s rage and grief is so overwhelming that she completely loses her self-control, grabs the Joker by the head, and drives his skull completely through the stone wall with such force that the concussion shatters the ceramic tiling of the subway tunnel for yards around.
For some reason, I found that one little vignette to be strangely powerful in its savage intensity. The Joker has always felt free to taunt Batman with relative impunity, simply because he’s so keenly aware that Batman’s code of honor will only ever allow him to go so far. This sequence presented an interesting counterpoint to the Joker’s traditional shtick: here he manages to successfully antagonize an opponent who is far more powerful and an Amazon warrior to boot, with the result that he barely manages to get a single quip out before she turns his cranium into so much beef gravy.
A Death In The Family: Helicoptor explosion, Joker is MIA
Superman/Batman cartoon team up (late 90’s): Joker is blown up by his own bombs in a plane as it goes down. Supes and Batman escape with Harley Quinn and Luthor in tow. Memorable line to end that scene…
