The Joker Thing

[alik44]

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

 

[Captain_Fantastic]

because the comic gods will not allow him to die

 

[Astoria]

Because Batman won't kill as that makes him no better than the villains ( I think that's why he doesn't I may be wrong). Besides, when you have a character as interesting and important as the Joker you can't kill him off! That's no fun.

 

[Traskelion]

You'd think by around major-cause-of-anguish number 200 or something, some law-man around at his capture would fail his Gullibility check and put a bullet in his head before someone can protest, but maybe Batman's lack of willingness to kill is just infectious enough to cause everyone else in a 10-mile radius to hesitate just long enough for Joker to escape again...?

 

[Jadak]

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.

 

[shrekfan246]

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.

 

[Berk]

I've always felt that Batman's villians are just different parts of his psyche illustrating humanities inner demons, and how we cope/interact with them. So, of course The Joker never dies - he is immortal.

Check out Grant Morrison's 'Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth'. Even if you're not a Batman fan, you could always just check out the artwork. Dave McKean is stunning, as usual.

 

[alik44]

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.

Don't get me wrong i know the reason why the writers/ creators wnt kill him off he's a very ionic character but in story they never gave a viable reason as to why they cant execute him. they give other villains reasons as to why they cnt execute like they're immortal, bullets turn to dust when there near them , etc. but for the joker they just don't do anything.

 

[KeyMaster45]

Because it's always Batman that takes him down instead of the police, in fact it's why all of batman's villains find themselves in Arkham.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8gU8W5fzJFs#t=01m12s

The quality on that is just absolutely awful but it's the audio in the sentencing that counts. So yeah, basically all the villains get shipped back to Arkham on some BS technicality which, for better or worse, exists in their universe. I have zero idea if that's how it works in the real world, but that's how Gotham rolls.

 

[theevilgenius60]

The reason he hasn't been sentenced to death us because he is legally insane, thus he is not responsible for himself. That's why he gets sent to Arkham Asylum while his goons get sent to Blackgate Prison. As to why he's still alive, other than the courts, Batman doesn't kill(At least mainstream Batman doesn't. Flashpoint Batman and several others, like the multiverse guys, do. Earth 1 Batman has a strict no kill poilcy)

 

[KeyMaster45]

The reason he hasn't been sentenced to death us because he is legally insane, thus he is not responsible for himself. That's why he gets sent to Arkham Asylum while his goons get sent to Blackgate Prison.

Jeffery Dahmer was definitely insane, The DC sniper a few years back was definitely insane, Charles Manson and his followers were definitely insane. Every serial killer the world has seen could be labeled insane, and thus not responsible for their actions. Dahmer was put to death and the Manson clan is currently rotting in prison with life sentences. In the real world we lock murderers up unless it can be proven they're so batshit bonkers they aren't even aware of what they're doing.

The difference between actual jail and Arkham in the Batman universe really just seems to be based on how "super villain" your crimes were. If you're a nameless goon you go to real prison while if you're the mastermind you find yourself tucked away at Arkham where you'll inevitably escape. Though let's be honest here, at the frequency Batman's villains break out of Arkham, prison to them may as well be where they go for a vacation.

Which brings up another point of what happens even if you did somehow manage to pin Joker or another villain with the death penalty or life in prison. Do you really think they'd just sit around quietly for years going through countless appeals to their case, or do you think they'd relax for a few weeks and then just break out again? (recovery time from the ass beating dealt to them by Batman not included)

 

[FilipJPhry]

Market-wise, he is arguably the most popular movie/comic book villain of all time. Killing him off would just make Batman comic-sales to make a nosedive. And there goes DC's credibility.

Story-wise, it's just those cosmic WTFs, like why doesn't anybody see any resemblance between Clark Kent and Superman?

 

[damocles23]

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

Then we would have another Punisher...

 

[crimsonshrouds]

I believe he had been sentenced to death once or something and carried it out and then he came back so they couldnt do it again. I dont read comics but i think i read that on wiki at one point. Another time he had diplomatic immunity because he was a representative of some ruler as well at one point. 0.o dang dc continuity is confusing.

Beside why would they kill off the most popular villain.

 

[Asuka Soryu]

If it's any conselation, Batman almost killed him once... but he was stopped, so he wouldn't have to bear the Joker's death.

 

[Kapol]

To be honest, I have to wonder that about every villain that isn't some sort of unkillable god. Seriously? They kill hundreds or thousands of people and nobody is willing to kill them? Really? I mean seriously, it makes no realistic sense. I know we're talking about Batman, who dresses like a bat and is apparently able to do anything, and other similarly powered super heroes, but no matter how you reason it, any killable super villain should have been wiped out after the second time they escape at least.

 

[CrashBang]

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 :/

Christ, I love Morrison for the most part but he basically flips a coin to decide whether his next story will be genius or tragic. RIP was amazing, Final Crisis was shockingly bad, Batman & Robin Reborn was sublime and Return Of Bruce Wayne was fucking awful.

Anyway, OT, I think it's because he's been deemed insane and so is never sent to Blackgate, always to Arkham, where they constantly attempt to treat him for his insanity or mental instability. If he was just a murderer then he'd have been executed but he keeps getting treatment instead because they docs at Arkham believe they can cure him.
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