The Joker Thing

[Rednog]

That's the thing that has really bothered me with the batman universe and was a real unsettling thing for me in the game Arkham Asylum. It's like oh look batman takes out all the prisoners...and then they get out and murder all the guards....and batman doesn't blink an eye. Seriously the turn over rate of prison guards in Arkham Asylum must be insanely high. Why would anyone even work there, your odds of living are worse than an ice cube's chance in hell.
There is also the nagging thing about batman that he is not cool with killing people but leaving them crippled, mangled for life, or brain damaged is completely fine.
Insane or not you'd think that the politicians in Arkham would be like yea...these super villians and their thugs are getting out every other week and causing mass murder in the streets...screw trying to rehabilitate them or even bothering to try to lock them up for life...the lives of every innocent they kill is worth way more than their fucked up selves.

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

But am i missing something here

You could say the same about Bats, or Killer Croc, or Two Face, or Poison Ivy.

The thing you're missing is the crossover. As it's fiction (and superhero fiction at that), all deaths must be meaningful.

And all karma must be avenged. If you were to kill the Joker with lethal injection, then it'd be switched out by his henchmen (or Harley for her puddin'). Electrocute him? You've just turned him into Zzazz. Gas him? The locker keeps him safe while the gas sprays outwards.

Most of the populace of Gotham know they're under the same laws though. As long as the artist doesn't draw them in detail, they're safe.

If they draw them going to kill the Joker though,

Know the rules. Stay away from the super-villains.

 

[Viral_Lola]

For marketing reasons I'm sure but probably for a technicality. The Joker is crazy and so he gets the insanity defense.

 

[Housebroken Lunatic]

As i been reading through Batman comics there has been something that's been bothering me About the joker. Why hasn't this man been executed. no seriously the joker is one of the most murderous, completely psychotic, and Severely detached from reality human being in comic book history.he's killed almost a good thousands of people and either crippled or drove insane many others. but they never execute him they just keep sending him back to arkham where he escapes almost every time.

And even by comic book logic it does not really make sense. they always attempt to execute him and he finds a way out of it but when they catch him again they just lock him up in arkham.

But am i missing something here

Because he's obviously clinically insane. I.e "sick". That's why they insist on sending him back to arkham ASULYM (you know a "madhouse" where you treat clinically insane people, or at the very least separate them from the rest of society because they could be harmful to others).

Didn't you know that a lot of people escape death sentences and prison time by being declared clinically insane? Sure, there have been instances where it's pretty much a cop-out, but in The Joker's case, it's kind of obvious that he's completely bonkers.

 

[gothicboris]

Because he is the most famous batman villain. If for some reason they decided to kill him i guarantee that sooner or later they would bring him back in some strange way.

He has been killed before by Batman. However it was in an Elseworld Novel called Bloodstorm where Batman is a vampire.

 

[Jezzy54]

He's insane, so the justice system don't hold him entirely responsible for his crimes, even though he shows no signs of being cured as long as Batman presents a worthy challenge to him. It's not supposed to be a rational decision to put him back in Arkham, more a mistake the courts could plausibly make.

 

[Uncle_Brainhorn]

I remember in the Batman/Punisher crossover, The Punisher WAS going to kill the Joker.



Batman stopped him.

 

[Queen Michael]

Well, the thing is heroes and villains in comic books never stay dead even when they're killed off, probably because the writers are afraid of some miniscule but extremely vocal group of people who start whinging about it. EDIT: Oh yeah, and if they killed them off, they'd need to create new enemies. Heaven forbid! :END EDIT. If they killed the Joker, arguably one of the most iconic Batman villains ever created, he'd probably return to life a year later in some form of ret-con.

Hell, wasn't Batman himself killed back in 2009 or something? Take that with a pretty massive grain of salt, though, because I don't actually read comics.

nope he got shot with a time gun (well thats the gist of it at least, which resulted in this travesty happening)

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/75/Return_of_Bruce_Wayne_1_art.jpg

Long version is that he "died" (explosion unresolved till later issues) in batman R.I.P. (which is a damn good story and a great finale which should of been the way to kill him off. BUT DC needed batman for their big final crisis event (terrible) where he gets zapped by darkseid's (lame villains) omega beams (whatever they are) which somehow both leave a corpse.
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_wpPLG-yJpJw/ShN0gWBsMWI/AAAAAAAAC58/hCZKivEY7IQ/s200/batman_dead_final_crisis_6.jpg
AND send him back in time (for some reason). Its just a load of gibberish really. Which is how he "survived" via travelling forward in time to now. Although i think the new "reboot" nullifies 90% percent of this :/

If that's a travesty, then it's the most awesome travesty in the world.

as a alternate universe thing thats fine, thats apparently trhe real batman who also becomes a pirate and a witch-hunter and some other stuff its silly and makes little sense.

I read the trade. It was fine to me. Also, you do not complain about pirate Batman. You just don't.

 

[TimeLord]

You're definitely missing something, it's called whatever the term is for writers not wanting to remove a character for the sake of future usage.

Plot armour.

OT: I see your point but this is also comic book universes. If a real life Batman tried to exist in modern day New York, he'd have been shot and knifed and killed a hundred times over by now!

 

[MelasZepheos_v1legacy]

You're definitely missing something, it's called whatever the term is for writers not wanting to remove a character for the sake of future usage.

No joke, it's called 'Joker Immunity' by almost everyone, including people at DC.

Yeah, the Doylian reason is that he's a massively popular character who the fandom wouldn't like to have killed off.

The Watsonian reason has several parts:

Batman won't kill him, because Batman doesn't kill. There have been several stories where he considers it, but knows that if he crosses that line he'd never go back. Also, Jim Gordon once told him that if he crossed the line, even for the Joker, it would be a step too far and the police would be on him as well.

As for the GCPD, they're incompetant and corrupt, so especially early on they would just let him go away because it meant they could line their pockets. Also, the Joker has been shown to be incredibly resilient on several occasions. He's been pumped full of more bullets, poison, knives, and blown up more than any other character in any rogues gallery ever. He's just very tough. In later stories, the myth of the Joker is enough that most of the police are terrified to even go near him. And also, when you're just a copper, facing off against the Joker, you never know if he might have an assault rifle, or a death trap, or even a nuclear bomb to hand if you get too close. Would you go anywhere near him?

And the reason mid-way between Doylian and Watsonian is that:

The Joker has medium awareness. He knows he's the main rival in a comic book universe (I am deadly serious about this) so he knows that he can't ever die. This is why he can do what he does.

 

[Scarim Coral]

There's an article about it if you're interested-
http://www.comicvine.com/news/off-my-mind-should-batman-kill-the-joker/140977/
http://www.comicvine.com/news/off-their-minds-should-batman-kill-the-joker/142852/

In my opinion, comicbook logic is not the same as realistic logic. Yes it's true what you say that Joker should be executed (death penalty) not by Batman but by the Court of Law and Justice.
However since Joker is a comicbook character he is well liked by the fans and you know what happen to fans when their favourite villain is killed off. Ok while his death could be acceptable but without Joker there is no Batman (in a way) since he is his arch nemesis. Ok yes there are many other villains for Batman to fight against but it won't be good without the Joker (that person isn't a superhero until he/ she has a supervillain).
To put you at ease here's a Robot Chicken clip of what Joker death would be like-

 

[Fwee]

Think of Gotham: City filled with the most crime, the most criminals. There's the Mob, there's supervillains and their gangs, monsters and assassins. Wouldn't these men have enough money to buy off at least half of the legal system? They could basically have enough lawyers, judges, doctors and police to buy themselves a room in an insane asylum instead of the actual judgement they deserve. And that's just the corrupt people on criminal payroll. There's others receiving constant threats to themselves and their family if they don't play ball.

And it isn't just in comics. In America if you get caught stealing a car or get busted with some drugs (non violent, often victimless) you go to Dangerous Prison, where drug wars will force you to become an animal with the killers, junkies, rapists, freaks and race gangs.

Meanwhile, a white collar criminal who defrauds thousands of people, steals millions of dollars, lies on their taxes, abandons their family, and supports third world slavery for their own profit? They get Special Prison, where they get basically a four star hotel room including television, access to the internet, visiting privileges, and get delivered gourmet food.

It's because things like Law and Justice and Reason are steadfast, unbreakable things in the sense that they're just concepts. People, however, are weak and greedy, stupid, lazy, easily fooled and frightened.

And the biggest criminals of them all just sit back and laugh at us.

 

[JesterRaiin]

There's also a little different way to explain everything...

Joker is so mad and destabilized that he isn't human anymore, rather an abomination, twisting fabric of reality freak. He can not be killed, he can not be permanently locked because with his death everything, all madness enclosed in his mind would explode and poison everything and everyone around like first reality A-bomb.

So, for sake of preservation universe just tries to cope with Joker. Whenever his existence is in danger, "world" comes in and adjusts all negative factors just to be sure that Joker, guardian of madness will live.

It's lesser evil.

 

[alrekr]

Did a thread like this awhile back. Yes, the Batman needs to kill.

Well no as then he would be just as bad as the joker. Heck thats the preety much the plot of The killing joke; the joker trying to make batman kill him. The raison d'etre of the joker is to prove that Batman is as crazy as everyone else.(I think there may have been a series in which then entire Batman mythos is allinside Bruce's head and that he is another patient at Arkham.)

Which he is; come on he's a rich guy who spends most of his time beating up the poor and alot of the villians exist simply because he does (e.g. riddler only does what he does it prove he better than bats) Wayne has enough money solve all the poverty in Gotham (and thus alot of the crime); I wonder why Batman never takes on corrupt companies and that he has lots of liberals as villians (Ivy,Catwoman etc...). So bascily Batman is nearly as much the poster boy of capitalism as Iron-Man (he spent most of his time beating up communists).