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thedcdunce · 6 years

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Killer Croc

“Killer Croc is what they called me! But some day, some day I knew they'd call me king!” - Killer Croc

Real Name: Waylon Jones

Gender: Male

Height: 7′ 5″

Weight: 686 lbs (311 kg)

Eyes: Red

Skin: Green

Powers:

Regressive Atavism

Abilities:

Wrestling

Swimming

Weaknesses:

Diminished Intellect

Base of Operations: Gotham City

Universe:

Earth-One

New Earth

Marital Status: Single

Citizenship: American

First Appearance: Detective Comics #523 (February, 1983)

Powers

Regressive Atavism: Killer Croc is afflicted with what seems to be some form of regressive atavism, meaning he has inherited some of the traits of ancestral species of the human race. Over time the primal reptilian part of his brain gains more control of his psyche.

Regenerative Healing Factor: He has superhuman regenerative powers, able to heal even lost limbs.

Armored Skin: His skin has hardened to the point where it is invulnerable to most forms of abrasion and even high caliber weapons fired from a distance.

Superhuman Strength: He has grown so physically powerful and quick over the years that Batman has had to resort to planting explosive devices on Croc's chest to knock him unconscious. He has also been able to rip a large bank vault door right off its hinges with ease.

Superhuman Speed

Enhanced Senses

Claws

Fangs

Abilities

Wrestling: Croc has some experience at street fighting and wrestling. Swimming: Croc is an expert swimmer and can hold his breath far longer than normal humans.

Weaknesses

Diminished Intellect: Killer Croc's mind, once possessing above average intelligence, has now lessened greatly due to his advanced mutation level and the specialized virus designed to advance it created by Hush. He is a high school dropout, but has proven to be moderately capable of organizing thugs in small-time racketeering operations. He is usually hired by other villains as muscle or as a hitman, as he is at least intelligent enough to follow instructions.

History

Killer Croc, also known as Waylon Jones, is a high profile criminal and one of Batman's most challenging adversaries. Croc is best known for his reptilian appearance due to his medical condition, which slowly transforms him into an anthropomorphic reptile.

Origin

Waylon Jones was born in a slum in Tampa, Florida. He was born with a medical condition that caused him to grow progressively more like a crocodile, hence his name. His mother died in childbirth, and his father abandoned him. Waylon was raised by his aunt, but her persistent drinking prevented him from growing up in an ideal household. As a teenager, Croc had no friends, and was the object of ridicule of those who knew him. By the time he reached adulthood, Waylon found work wrestling alligators as part of sideshow carnivals, where he earned the name "Killer Croc". Croc soon realized that there was more money to be made in crime, so he set out to become Gotham's most powerful underground figure. For this purpose, Croc first murdered Squid, an uprising crimelord and then he attempted to seize control of the Tobacconists' Club. His criminal activities made him a target of Gotham's vigilante Batman.

Croc's rise to the top of Gotham's underworld didn't go unnoticed and he made quick enemies of already established criminals. Croc was soon approached by Joker, who arranged a plan for Croc to eliminate Batman, but the madman's plan would also involve a double-cross, where Croc would be eliminated as well. Joker's plan failed and in the last confrontation with Batman, Croc was defeated and his reign of terror was over.

Some time later, notorious sociopath Ra's al Ghul engineered a massive breakout of Arkham Asylum, freeing all of the patients, including Killer Croc. In exchange for their freedom, the prisoners agreed to help Ra's with a scheme to confound the Batman. Croc's role in the plan was to break into Wayne Manor and abduct Bruce Wayne's butler Alfred Pennyworth. Croc had no idea what connection Pennyworth had to Batman, but he executed the deed without question, and brought Alfred back to Poison Ivy's Exotica Emporium where four other hostages were being held. Batman soon arrived to rescue the hostages and fought with Croc once again. As time was of the essence, Batman wasted little of it fighting Croc, and quickly subdued him with a gas pellet from his utility belt. Afterwards, Killer Croc was returned to Arkham Asylum.

Like many do, Croc eventually escaped from Arkham and began running criminal operations again. After robbing a shopping store, Croc discovered a secret stairwell that led into an old unfinished subterranean highway. The tunnel had since become a shelter for many of Gotham's homeless. Croc became friends with the homeless people and attempted to make a new life for himself. Croc's newfound lifestyle was short-lived however. Batman investigated the store robbery, and the trail led him right to Killer Croc's shelter. The two began fighting one another, but at midnight, the city flushed the tunnels with water from the river, and Croc was washed away. His friends believed that he had died in the flood.

Knightfall

Croc survived however, and six months later had taken to living out of the Gotham City alleyways. He was tormented by visions of his past, calling to mind hurtful incidents where his peers would routinely comment about his physical features. In combination with his natural, instinctive rage, Croc's emotional state erupted into a wave of violence and he began going berserk throughout the city streets. News crews captured his latest rampage, as he began terrorizing the district known as Eden Park. An aspiring foreign crime lord known as Bane witnessed Croc's rampage, and determined that defeating him would be a stepping stone on his personal path towards destroying Batman. Before Bane could catch up with him though, Croc found himself facing neophyte vigilante Jean-Paul Valley, as well Batman's young sidekick Robin. Bane interrupted the fight and demonstrated his raw power by breaking both of Croc's arms.

Croc was sent back to Arkham Asylum, where he spent a very short period of time because a few weeks later, Bane attacked Arkham and unleashed all the inmates including Croc. Wandering through the sewers of Gotham, the only thought in Croc's mind was getting revenge against Bane. His opportunity came when he discovered Bane had captured Robin and taken him to the sewers. Croc fought Bane and destroyed the venom pumping machine, but Bane broke his arm again. They were dragged by the water to the river outside and Croc was left unconscious after the fight.

Prodigal

Croc soon healed and returned to Gotham in an effort to re-establish himself in the criminal underworld. He went on a brutal murder spree that claimed the lives of several members of the Paretti crime family operating out of Gotham's waterfront district. At this point in time, Bruce Wayne had relinquished the role of Batman to his first ward Dick Grayson. As the new Batman, Dick and Robin fought with Croc at a warehouse. Surviving members of the Paretti gang were present and opened fire on Croc severely wounding him. Croc survived once again however and evaded capture.

Years later, Killer Croc was summoned by some strange paranormal force to break out of Arkham Asylum and make his way to the Louisiana swamps. Batman followed him there only to find that the mysterious force was actually the Swamp Thing, who offered Croc a place in the swampland where he could finally give in to his animal side and live free from human persecution. There he stayed, and Batman returned to Gotham City.

Hush Virus and Mutation

On a grand scheme to take Batman down, Hush implanted a virus in Croc that caused his body to devolve into a more primal and reptilian state. In this state, Croc was told to kidnap a rich kid and to claim the ransom to treat his condition. However, Hush was using him for other purposes and Croc was captured by Batman.

Croc was then taken to Arkham Asylum, where Batman questioned him about the money, but Croc managed to escape and Batman allowed it in order to follow the monster. Croc went to see Catwoman, who took the money after he was captured. Batman stopped him from hurting her and when Croc was revealing that the money was to cure him, Amanda Waller and the F.B.I captured Croc and took him into custody.

Croc is then treated by the police and a doctor named Maria Belleza and shortly after, Croc is cured and returned to his "normal" appearance.

During the great gang war of Gotham, Croc was present at the massive criminal meeting at Robinson Park and he was one of the first criminals to attack Batman, biting his cowl and destroying the radio intercom. Croc was preventing Batman from reaching Black Mask until Robin arrived and defeated Croc using his staff. Afterwards, Croc joined Scarecrow and they followed Black Mask to the North End of Gotham.

However, Black Mask kidnapped Croc and with the help form Mad Hatter, they implanted a mind-controlling chip in Croc's brain allowing Black Mask to force Croc to do his biddings. A few days later and during one of Black Mask's bank heists, Croc removed the chip from his brain and slaughtered Black Mask's henchmen. After this, he went looking for Mad Hatter and was about to devour the man when he was stopped by Batman, who explained that Croc had a brain infection that could kill him and that the virus that caused him to mutate so severely has reactivated and his mutation would worsen with time. Batman dosed Croc with an antibiotic to save his life and Croc escaped from the place, with a desire for revenge against Black Mask.

Croc looked for Maria Belleza again and on his way to her he slaughtered more members of the False Face Society. Doctor Maria Belleza was a scientist whose knowledge about Croc's disease allowed her to get closer to Croc than any human has ever before. However, Maria's antidote was short lived and the mutation started again. After long tests, Maria concluded that there was no cure and Croc, losing control over himself, devoured the doctor, following his animal instincts but regretting the action with his human conscience. With vengeance in mind, Croc went looking for who was responsible for his mutation.

Croc was later discovered feeding off the remains of the villain Orca. He was apprehended once again and taken back to Arkham Asylum.

One Year Later

While being transferred from one prison cell to another, Croc wrestled free from his handlers and attacked visiting reporter Jimmy Olsen. Olsen spontaneously generated super-powers and was able to escape unharmed. Killer Croc soon escaped confinement however, and was one of many super-powered villains led by Deathstroke who crashed the wedding of Green Arrow and Black Canary. Fortunately, the wedding party was made up of members of the Justice League, the Justice Society, the Outsiders and the Teen Titans. By the end of the fight, most of the villains, including Croc, were apprehended. The administrators of Checkmate later decided that Croc was too dangerous for them to safely contain him. He, along with many others, were exiled from the Earth via Boom Tubeand taken to the "Salvation" World.

Upon returning to Earth, Croc along with other supervillains like Mr. Freeze, fought to regain control of the city by taking out Intergang. However, Croc was eventually captured and taken to Arkham Asylum.

After the Black Glove's failed plan to destroy Batman, all the inmates from Arkham Asylum were transferred to Blackgate until Arkham was completely decontaminated. On their way back to Arkham, the vehicles that transported the inmates were assaulted by a new Black Mask, who freed the inmates, blew the asylum in front of all of them and forced them to join his army. Croc was among the inmates who joined Black Mask's group and under his instructions, he worked together with Poison Iyv, located the Batmobile and attacked Damian Wayne, who was rescued by the timely arrival of Nightwing. Afterwards, Croc, Ivy and Firefly attacked and destroyed several factions of Penguin's gang, following Black Mask's instructions.

He escaped Black Mask but was captured and imprisoned by the Outsiders.

#killer croc #waylon jones #secret society of super-villians #secret society of super villians #injustice league #justifiers #batman #robin #dc #dc comics #thedcdunce #poison ivy #joker #nightwing

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shesquiinnsane-ar · 4 years

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THE ANTHEM: Criminal Town ~ Kill the Ideal

Six months later, the Joker was slowly whittling away. Harley was locked up in Arkham alongside him as she faintly overheard his laughs through the Asylum’s walls. As long as she could hear him laugh, Harley knew he would be okay, but the guards flipped her world upside-down. They claimed he was done for, that he could go any day. Some were even contemplating ending him early. Curling up by her padded cell door, Harley began to cry at the lack of humanity they were showing him, like buzzards waiting on prey. She promised to herself and the outside world that they were not going to take him from her. Not that easily.

Previous Harley Captive, Quincy Sharp, now mayor of Gotham, arrived with an order from some higher power that had set plans into motion for the creation of a closed city within the city. This area would have social care and other amenities set for Gotham’s criminals. The plan was aptly labeled Arkham City. Sharp himself, however, had his attention turned to Gotham City and Batman, as Gotham’s criminals within the current walls of Arkham Asylum awaited their fate.

The Joker was supposed to be escorted to his seat on a transfer bus to Arkham City, but the guard taking him had another idea in mind. Instead, he was taken down the elevator to one of the darker, more elusive therapy rooms where guards were on standby. Everyone there had pledged that the Joker wouldn’t harm anyone else and that he wouldn’t make it to Arkham City. They wanted to make his death as slow and painful as possible. Just before the pain started, with Joker locked into the chair, one of the guards revealed themselves to be Harley Quinn in disguise. Asking whether she made a good punchline, she hit one of the guards straight in the face. Joker returned to his usual self, replying that she should have said something like a wisecrack joke or a quip of her own. The visual comedy was funny enough for the average person, and he liked it just as much as anyone else. Harley continued the fight, picking off each guard one by one as she recalled overhearing the guards planning this little plot from her cell. She had decided to join in to save him, planting a kick to the Joker’s restraints before racing out of the room, pushing his wheelchair along with her.

The pair kept going. The underground docks built beneath the Asylum seemed like a great escape option. Due to their pace, however, Joker and Harley nearly rolled down the several flights of stairs. Harley explained that before taking her role as a guard, she had escaped her cell to pack a supply boat ready to go to Arkham City so they could be the first residents. In her mind, that would allow Joker to have achieved his dreams. Joker couldn’t help but throw a few comical boat-related compliments at Harley as they left for the open waters.

Unbeknownst to them, Batman had added sensors to the vehicles in the Asylum, meaning that any unauthorized movements could be tracked and located. Firing up the BatBoat, Batman tried to stop them from leaving the beach and was met with gunfire. After the single warning shot, a missile was shot straight at their boat. With the remains of the boat sinking, Batman did not see any signs of survivors. Initially, they had believed that Harley and the Joker simply hadn’t made it, but they had escaped situations that looked worse on the outset. Going through the sewers to escape the Batman, the Joker asked where they were before realizing they had reached the condemned zone. With Arkham City’s first residents setting foot on the shores, Joker declared the two of them the Mayor and Mayoress of the city. After all, he had to reward her somehow for making sure the two of them made it alive. Not that he couldn’t have done it himself. Joker found an appropriate building for his mansion, and the old metal works became his headquarters after a few adjustments.

A male by the name of Lester Kurt checked out the Joker’s base and went through the literal rollercoaster ride to see the Joker. To save some of the men they already had, Harley held a gun straight to the male’s head as Joker congratulated him. With his attention on the Joker, Harley quickly looked into the GCPD’s database to get his list of prior offenses as well as his background claiming he’d had a brief stint at Arkham Asylum two years previously. The Joker couldn’t recall him seeing him at Glee Club rehearsals, though. Lester retorted by saying he wasn’t like the master criminal, having been there to aid his crazy infatuations for a girl. Harley cleared the air, reading his record to clarify his previous stalking behaviors. Giving him a quick run-down, she told Lester simply that he got paid for each heist with the wages shared equally amongst those who survived each job. With that, a clown mask flew in his direction to show allegiance to the Joker clan, and Harley showed him to his sleeping quarters.

What Harley and the Joker didn’t know was that Lester was seemingly playing them. He left the Joker clan nearly immediately, heading left to exit the sleeping quarters. Lester threw his mask away in the process to see what the Penguin had to offer. He was the only other crime boss currently residing in Arkham City. He wasn’t one for dealing well with traitors, however, as he caught one of his men accepting an offer from Harley.

A shipment of weapons was due to hit the shores of Arkham City that night, and both Penguin and Joker were determined to reach it first. With Lester on Penguin’s side, the goons clashed, and in the heat of the moment, an unconsidered calculation led to Lester blowing up the shipment instead of letting the Joker’s gang get a hold of it. He was punished accordingly by Penguin, before he escaped such confinement, revealing that Lester had been Batman all along. Joker’s condition had been deteriorating in a private session with a doctor without Harley’s presence, but she was later spotted trying not to cry as Joker cascaded in further madness. He was becoming more unwell, and the Jester unsure about how to help him.

Batman approached Harley Quinn’s hideout inside a church’s Medical Center. With Joker getting worse, she took over in his stead, being the forefront of his goons. Speaking his words, she acted upon them as necessary. The goons were no longer allowed to see their boss, given his condition, but he was known to be alive. Warning everyone she was coming through, Harley flipped into view to introduce herself to ‘B-man.’ He prepared for her attack, however, and quickly took her down after her approach. Joker’s thugs warned him that they should let her go, or else the hostages were going to get bullets in their heads. He listened and allowed Harley to stand up and brush herself down, starting a conversation as she went. She told Batman that he should do what the thug said as she didn’t want to get blood all over her new outfit, slyly asking whether he liked such a fashion statement. Before giving him a chance to respond, however, Harley shook her head. Of course, he liked it. She couldn’t think of anyone who wouldn’t like it after all.

More ruthless and calculating, as she tried to be the Joker’s hands for him, Harley offered Batman a deal. She told him Joker wasn’t up to a visit from him or anyone at that moment in time, commenting that he wasn’t feeling himself. The blonde played on the sexual connotations of her words, saying he had been earlier, but that was not her intention. She went on to reveal that the Joker wasn’t doing so well as the doctors she had found to help weren't very helpful as apparently, she had seen more smarts in the Joker’s goons who didn’t even need to think for themselves. Telling the goons she had to run, she permitted them to kill Batman if he tried anything funny – which in her own words meant to try to kill him anyway, but they were unsuccessful in this task.

Harley is then overheard over Joker’s radio signal, talking to their goons from within Sionis Industries. She called them dumbasses, but she still needed them to listen carefully. Harley echoed her earlier words that the Joker wasn’t feeling himself, telling them that the last thing he needed was a so-called superhero coming in and stopping his recuperation. As Batman found a way into a building, she was seen on a platform above all the goons, explaining that she had promised them some entertainment. Dr. Stacy Barker, a doctor who had failed to cure the Joker, was pushed into the goon pit as Harley told her that Stacy should have tried harder. Calling her a useless quack, Harley allowed everyone to know that she had failed her beloved Mister J, which meant Dr. Barker had to die. The plan, however, was set to fail as Batman was crawling through the shaft under the flooring. She didn’t know, but he had been watching the spectacle, trying to find an entrance into the pit as Harley instructed Mister Hammer to start an attack on the Doctor. After declaring the attack, the Joker called her away from the scene. She quickly returned to settle a change of plan. Harley told the goons to escort the Doctor to the smelting room, wanting her to suffer a little longer. Harley then instructed the rest of the goons to get out or to get The Snowman and bring him back like yesterday so he could pay for screwing over the Joker.

Batman came out of hiding and presumably rescued the Doctor before coming into the clearing to face Harley again. In anger, she asked him what the hell he was doing there, telling him that he was supposed to be dead. There was no way Batman was getting to the Joker, as they were safe and sound, up in their room, while he was going to stay down there and burn. Leading Batman on a false path, Harley and Joker spoke loud enough to be overheard. Harley was talking about a miracle, telling the Joker he looked perfect before questioning who it was, as it wasn’t him. Joker shushed Harley as he implied it was a mannequin made to look impeccably like the Joker before he fell ill.

Harley came into contact with Batman again, face to face, once he was out of the smelting chamber. The blonde demanded to know what he built to help get out, but she was Joker shouted out to her to come back, claiming he was dying. Blaming Batman, she screamed at him to scram before racing back to the Joker’s side. With Batman on the upper level, following after Harley, he overheard her crying. Harley was kneeling next to what appeared to be The Joker in a wheelchair with an IV drip. As the constant beep on a heart rate monitor declared him dead, Harley questioned why over and over to herself in tears. As Harley saw Batman, a menacing ❛ you ❜ left her lips as Batman tried to order her out of the way. The blonde asked him to leave the two of them alone, which he denied. Reminding her to move, Batman grabbed her arm and tossed her aside. Blaming Batman more than ever, Harley accused him of the Joker’s death, claiming that it was because he had hounded the Joker for years and beat him to a pulp with nothing really to show for it. Asking him why he was so mean, Batman didn’t answer as the real Joker sprung onto him from behind. With a ‘Surprise’ as Batman had a gas mask thrust upon him. Joker couldn’t help but laugh, telling Batman he’d fallen for the old fake Joker gag. Batman’s vision was hazy as Harley batters up and hit him a couple of times before finally knocking him out.

As Batman started stirring, Harley appeared to be looming over him before being shouted at by Joker to get back. She told Joker she wanted to know who the man was behind the mask was, but he retorted. No one was who you thought they were, and there wasn’t any point in spoiling that fun. Batman concluded that there wasn’t anything wrong with the Joker but soon realized there was something badly wrong as his figures appeared from the shadows. His face disfigured, Joker looked more menacing than ever as he declared there was plenty wrong with him. He explained that his blood seemed to be killing him. Talia Al Ghul had stolen the only viable cure for him. Joker was now injecting this blood into Batman on purpose, alongside a few bags he’d sent to Gotham General and emergency rooms all over the city for one last laugh. Batman admitted that he would be fine if both of them died because of it before realizing that some people in Gotham would also be taking their last breath. In frustration that Batman expected more from him, he was kicked through and out of the window still tied to the wheelchair he had awoken in.

Away from Arkham, Harley had instructions to kill a couple of officers at the GCPD for the Joker. Despite this, she was tied up and gagged to one of the posts outside. Batman decided to remove the gag. She twisted and struggled but could not get out of her restraints as she spoke to Batman, unamused by his presence. Asking him what he wanted, Harley pried further, asking if he was there to stick the knife in some more but was not going to tell him anything. However, immediately she went back on that word and accidentally told Batman about some materials Joker took from Freeze that were locked away in the boiler room. Harley was re-gagged and left alone but presumably, escaped. It was not enough, however, as she was not with the Joker when he ultimately passed away. She watched Batman walk outside the building, holding the Joker in his arms, and the shocked look on her face said it all. In that one moment, her whole world fell apart. The man she had been fighting for, and given her life meaning, was gone. Harley could not see a way up from there.

#V; ARKHAMVERSE.{the asylum bloomed; beyond the madhouse walls}#V; CITY.{a city of villains; a brilliant idea}#many worlds to explore

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oosteven-universe · 4 years

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Legion of Super-Heroes #1

Legion of Super-Heroes #1 DC Comics 2019 Written by Brian Michael Bendis Pencilled by Ryan Sook Inked by Ryan Sook & Wade Van Grawbadger Coloured by Jordie Bellaire Lettered by Dave Sharpe Welcome to the 31st century! Inspired by the acts of and lessons learned from the greatest heroes of all time, the Legion of Super-Heroes have gathered together to stop a galaxy from repeating its past mistakes. The greatest lineup of heroes in comic book history returns with new, fresh, and new reader-friendly stories! Why have the Legion of Super-Heroes broken the cardinal rule of the United Planets and inducted Jon Kent, a.k.a. Superboy, into the Legion? What are they hiding? And what does it have to do with Aquaman’s long-lost trident? Well this isn't the Legion I know and love heck it's not even one I am familiar with, though none of us are yet. What does that mean? It means Bendis took the meaning of the LSH and is bringing a version where he can tell the stories he wants to see happen and share those with the rest of the world and if the Legion has taught us anything it's that you accept people for who they are and the ideals that they cling to. So while this isn't the Legion that got me into comics IT IS a Legion that shows promise, hope and those ideals that the original had. Well the opening here kind of sheds a light on how things are going to be as a team is currently on Planet Gotham, in the Blüdhaven sewer system. Bendis is really tying the past into the Legion's present which I am not really sure I like all that much, sure they take inspiration from the heroes of the past but I think this all might be a little too much tie-in for me. Regardless I like the spotlight on who we see and what happens in this encounter and whom they meet. Demon Gangster is a phrase that should never be uttered here and if that's truly this characters new persona I am out. While that will remain true, these four coming together and how we see their interactions is nicely done and personality wise we get a glimpse but not nearly enough. Still it does make me want to see more of them. I don't care what anyone says, these re-imagining of the characters is utter bollocks. 98% of them look stupid, just out of place stupid. I do not understand why it was asked for or that this was acceptable. So races changes are always tricky but the fact that all the diverse ethnic characters already in the Legion are nowhere to be seen makes me question the reasoning all the more. I mean Luornu looks like she came out of an 80's poster and the floating name boxes aren't consistent on the pages themselves so that's annoying. If I were a new reader I would probably love about 75% of the new looks so there's that. The best moment we see is of New Earth as they look down upon it. Jordie is a saving grace here as the colour work is phenomenal in how we see light sources, the various hues and tones that create the shading and shadows are brilliantly rendered. The New Earth has been done before and I think it has potential and we'll see where Bendis takes this. I think this was a bit ambitious and overwhelming way to start a new series. The whole Legion together overcrowds the book. A gradual introduction to the members would have been a much easier way to ease us into this extra large cast of characters. The best moments in this issue revolve around Ultra Boy, Karate Kid, Star Boy and Wildfire and then coming back to headquarters. I would have much preferred seeing a full story there with a background to show how Jo came about the information and knew where to go. Bendis is a damn good writer and that's the only reason I am going to give this a full arc. There is potential here for something great, change the costumes and some skin tones first, story wise and I would like to see where it goes. I re-wrote this four times and I didn't want to sound like a jaded fanboy but the only part that really irked me was the art, or the redesigns of the characters. Chameleon Boy looks amazing but for the most part I feel like I am back in the 80's and I don't want to be. So with the good comes the bad and it'll take time and I am hoping that by issue 6 these folks will have changed some of my opinions. I want to see more of the Trident matter, and of course Madamhonor President as well and I look forward to seeing what's next.

#comic books #comics reviews #DC comics #Brian Michael Bendis #ryan sook #wade von grawbadger #jordie bellaire

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aion-rsa · 7 years

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The 16 Worst Things The Joker Has Ever Done

First introduced in Bob Kane’s “Batman” #1 in 1940, the Joker is a psychopathic clown with a twisted sense of humor and a talent for murder. His purple suit, white skin and ghoulish red smile have become a staple in Batman’s pages, and readers can’t get enough of his crazy rampages.

RELATED: The Worst Things Lex Luthor Has Ever Done

The Joker is one of the greatest villains in all of comic book history, partly because he’s so insane, but also because he’s so ruthless. He’ll often come up with a crazy idea and will stop at nothing to pull it off, shrugging off logic or motive in favor of anarchy. He’ll kill anyone for any reason, and even for no reason at all. This has led him to commit a lot of heinous acts, but some stand out above all others. Here are the 16 worst things the Joker has ever done.

JOKER KILLED ROBIN

The first crime we’ll cover in this list is one of the few things the Joker has done at the instructions of the readers. In 1988, DC published “Batman: A Death in the Family,” a four-issue miniseries written by Jim Starlin and pencilled by Jim Aparo. In the story, Robin (Jason Todd) went on a search for his real mother, unaware that the Joker had blackmailed her into betraying Todd. When the Joker got hold of Robin, he beat the Boy Wonder ruthlessly with a crowbar and left him to be blown up by a time bomb.

The impact of Robin’s death was huge, scarring Batman for years afterwards because he felt responsible, and left him unwilling to take on new sidekicks. It also caused Batman’s feud with the Joker to become much more personal. Among fans, the death was controversial because it was triggered by a 900-number set up by DC for fans to vote on whether Robin lived or died. Jason Todd eventually returned in 2005’s “Batman” #638 as the Red Hood, but the scars on Batman have remained.

JOKER KILLED HIMSELF

The 1986 graphic novel, “The Dark Knight Returns,” by Frank Miller, was about an aging Bruce Wayne in the near future forced out of retirement to confront new and old enemies alike, including a Joker who had been declared sane, but was actually crazier than ever. In a final fight in the sewers under Gotham City, Batman broke the Joker’s spine, but refused to kill him. The Joker, knowing the police were on their way, pushed his own neck to breaking point until he killed himself.

It’s hard to imagine someone having the willpower and physical fortitude to break their own neck, but the Joker is just crazy enough to do it. Batman would have been happy to be rid of the Joker without getting his own hands dirty, except the police found the Joker’s body and launched a manhunt to arrest him for murder. This, of course, was the point of Joker’s machinations and gave him his final revenge on The Bat. Even with his death, the Joker got the last laugh.

JOKER TURNED GOTHAM INTO ZOMBIES

Written by Scott Snyder and pencilled by Greg Capullo, “Batman: Endgame” was a six-issue miniseries published in 2014 that followed up on the Joker’s attack on the Batman Family in “Death of the Family.” In “Endgame,” the Joker released an airborne disease in Gotham City that made everyone it infected into a violent Joker-faced maniac. If that wasn’t bad enough, he kicked off his “Endgame” by using a custom toxin to warp members of the Justice League into making them try to kill Batman. It took all of Batman’s skills, technology and indeed patience to escape and subdue his friends.

“Endgame” was nothing less than the Joker trying to turn everyone against Batman; something, in many ways, he succeeded in doing. Having to fight the entire Justice League and the people of Gotham was one of the hardest challenges Batman ever had to face, and the Joker made it even harder by using his knowledge of his secret identity against him. In the end, the Joker and Batman had their memories wiped, but the Clown Prince of Crime wasn’t done yet. Neither are we. In fact, we’re just getting started…

JOKER ELECTROCUTED HARLEY QUINN

“Oh, I’m not gonna kill you. I’m just gonna hurt you really, really bad.”

With those words, moviegoers were introduced to the new Joker, played by Jared Leto, in the trailer for the 2016 movie, “Suicide Squad.” Until the film was released, we didn’t really know who the Joker was talking to, but we all found out the hard way when it hit theaters. In a flashback, we saw Dr. Harleen Quinzel (Margot Robbie) as the Joker’s psychiatrist, who fell in love with the criminal clown — much in the same way she did in the animated series and then the comics. It seemed like a match made in heaven… until the Joker escaped.

What was the first thing the Joker did once he was free? Did he give Quinzel a kiss and tell her he loved her? No, he strapped her down on a bed and gave her electroshock therapy. She said she could take it, came out of it just as crazy as the Joker and turned into Harley Quinn, but it was still a cold-blooded thing to do (and hugely problematic to a lot of moviegoers and fans).

JOKER SKINNED HIS EX-PARTNER

Written by Brian Azzarello and illustrated by Lee Bermejo, 2008’s graphic novel “Joker” told the story of the clown’s release from Arkham Asylum from the perspective of one of his henchmen. As he’s driven around by the henchman, the Joker is focused on settling old scores, one of whom is a former lackey named Monty, who the Joker follows into the backroom of a strip club, ostensibly to “discuss” what’s happened since his incarceration. Minutes later, Monty stumbles out, skinned from the neck down, and collapses in a fleshy heap.

The Joker may be crazy, but not when it comes to his businesses. He needs money to pull off his “wacky” schemes, and his organization is one that employs a lot of people to do terrible things to get it. Monty learned the hard way not to trust the Joker and never to cross him. The Joker is a lot of things, but a forgiving person isn’t one of them.

JOKER KILLED PEOPLE FOR PRACTICE

Written by Ed Brubaker (with art by Doug Mahnke, colored by David Baron), “Batman: The Man Who Laughs” was released in 2005, and retold the story of Batman’s first battle with the Joker. Adapted from the original story in “Batman” #1, the one-shot comic showed the Joker committing crimes by predicting them beforehand. The police raced to try to stop him, only to discover the Joker had plotted devious ways to kill his targets and steal their valuables, and ended by trying to poison Gotham’s water supply.

The story was set shortly after “Batman: Year One,” and showed a Gotham City trying to adjust to a world of costumed heroes and villains, but the Joker took things to a whole new level. He even killed nine people with his toxic venom just for practice, and when he began his real murders, Batman felt helpless to stop them. It was the beginning of the Joker’s career as a crazy supervillain, and he got off to a great start — or a terrible start, depending on your point of view.

JOKER KILLED GORDON’S WIFE

Sarah Essen had a long history with Commissioner Gordon, starting in 1987’s “Batman” #405, when she had a brief affair with him. She began dating him after Gordon’s divorce, and he married her shortly after. Unfortunately, that’s when the Joker stepped in, to end their happiness. In “Detective Comics” #741 (written by Devin Grayson and Greg Rucka, penciled by Dale Eaglesham and Damion Scot in 2000), the Joker kidnapped dozens of babies and hid them in the basement of the Gotham police station. When Essen pulled a gun on the Joker, he tossed a baby at her. We repeat, he threw a baby at her. When she caught the baby, he shot her in the head and left her with the baby crawling over her bloody corpse.

As messed up as it was to use a baby to kill someone (and it was), it was who he killed that makes the death so horrible. The Joker killing Gordon’s wife threw the commissioner into a rage that made him shoot the clown in the leg. It wasn’t even close to making up for the pain the Joker caused, but he had a good laugh.

JOKER KILLED 19 POLICE

In the New 52 reboot of the DC universe, the Joker had arranged to have his face cut off and disappeared for a year. In the 2012 story arc “Death of the Family” (by writer Scott Snyder, drawn primarily by Greg Capullo), The Joker returned in the worst way. As Commissioner Gordon worked with his police, a figure appeared in the door of the station that he immediately recognized as the Joker… just as the lights went out.

As Gordon frantically tried to restore the lights and find the Joker, the madman went through the station telling jokes while snapping necks. By the time the lights came back on, Gordon huddled in the police station alone, surrounded by 19 dead bodies. The deaths of the police officers were just the beginning of the Joker’s reign of terror, and he had much worse in store for Batman and his team. But these murders stood out. He took on the protectors of Gotham and showed how none of them could stop him.

JOKER RAINED BROKEN GLASS ON GOTHAM

Written by Michael Green and penciled by Denys Cowan, “Batman Confidential” #11 in 2008 showed one of the Joker’s most brutal and vicious crimes. The Joker was free, and thinking how he could make more people like him. After deciding Gotham needed a dose of medicine, he sent a blimp over the City and blew it up… but it wasn’t filled with explosives. It was filled with broken glass tainted with his Joker venom, raining shards onto the terrified city.

It wasn’t the first time the Joker had killed with his poison that forces a grisly smile on its victims, but it seemed more horrific to be trapped in a rain of broken glass than sprayed with a squirting flower on the lapel. The only problem was that Batman was holed up in the hospital at the bedside of his girlfriend, Lorna Shore. With all the people he killed, the Joker was really just trying to get Batman’s attention, and didn’t even succeed.

JOKER BLEW UP A SCHOOL

In 2009, Kevin Smith, Walt Flanagan and Sandra Hope collaborated on “Batman: Cacophony,” a three-issue series about a battle between Batman, the Joker and Maxie Zeus. In the series, the Greek madman Maxie Zeus was combining the Joker’s venom with ecstasy to create a new street drug called “Chuckles.” The Joker didn’t take kindly to his deadly poison being used by partying kids and wanted it stopped, going so far as starting a gang war. To make his point, the Joker met with Maxie Zeus and blew up a school full of kids.

The deaths of so many children would rank high on many lists, but not with the Joker. Much like some of the other murders in this list, it’s the casual way the Joker killed that made it so horrible. He really blew up the school as the end of a joke. For the Joker, death is the best punchline of them all.

JOKER POISONED BEAUTY PRODUCTS

Up until the 1989 Tim Burton “Batman” movie, the Joker was best remembered by the public as the chortling prankster played by Cesar Romero in the 1966 TV series. Jack Nicholson quickly erased those memories with his twisted portrayal of a homicidal Joker with a permanent smile, and he did some pretty horrific things to get there. One of the worst had to be his contamination of hygiene products in Gotham City with a chemical toxin called Smylex.

The fact that the Joker killed people with beauty products was all part of his ugly obsession with his own disfigurement. Since no one knew which items had been poisoned, everyone just stopped using them. That left a city too afraid to put on makeup or even deodorant. His transformation into a hideous clown made him decide to make everyone else as ugly as he was; but in the end, he showed the truly ugliest one was himself.

JOKER GAVE AWAY POISONED COTTON CANDY

As we’ve seen before, the Joker doesn’t shy away from killing anyone, and that includes children. Let’s go back to Frank Miller’s “The Dark Knight Returns” for another moment, where the Joker had executed his final plan of convincing the world he was sane enough to show up on a late-night talk show, only to poison everyone in the room and make his escape. From there, the Joker set up a booth at the county fair to hand out free (but poisoned) cotton candy to 16 Cub Scouts, killing them all.

Killing hundreds of people in a TV studio was a terrible thing to do, and should have been really high on the list, but somehow the poisoning of children (Cub Scouts, no less) was much more horrifying. Imagining the joy on the kids’ faces, quickly turning to agony and horror is enough to turn your stomach. Batman stopped the Joker from killing more with a batarang to the eye, but not in time to save all the kids of Gotham.

JOKER TRIED TO COPYRIGHT FISH

In 1978, “Detective Comics” #475 (written by Steve Englehart, pencilled by Marshall Rogers, colored by Jerry Serpe), the Joker committed one of his most bizarre crimes ever. When Gotham City discovered fish in the harbor that had a ghoulish smile, the Joker announced that he wanted to copyright them, only to be told that fish couldn’t be copyrighted. The Joker went on to kill city officials to try to force them to meet his demands, but since they literally could not, a lot of people died.

It’s the senselessness of these murders that ranks it so high on the list. The Joker didn’t target anyone who could actually let him copyright the Joker Fish, making the whole exercise just an act of torture, and another example of how the Joker’s actions seem so meaningless. This story was later adapted into an amazing (but kid-friendly) episode of “Batman: The Animated Series” in 1993.

JOKER DESTROYED SUPERMAN

“Injustice: Gods Among Us” is a 2013 fighting game that pitted DC heroes and villains against each other, transcending the game and becoming a massive hit as its own comic. In the game, the characters from the mainstream DC universe crossed over into an alternate reality where Superman and the Justice League had imposed totalitarian rule. The event that pushed Superman over the edge was caused by none other than the Joker.

In the “Injustice” comic book, it explained how the Joker stole a nuclear submarine and dosed Superman with a kryptonite-laced version of the Scarecrow’s fear gas. The gas made Superman see and fight his enemy Doomsday, only to discover he really fought his pregnant wife, Lois Lane. Even worse, her death triggered the detonation of a nuclear bomb in Metropolis. The shock of losing Lois and Metropolis caused Superman to kill the Joker and take over the world, which was what Joker wanted in his twisted way all along.

JOKER ATE CHINA

In 2000, Superman found himself in a bizarre and twisted world where his enemies were the heroes and the heroes were the villains. Created by Jeph Loeb, Joe Kelly, J.M. DeMatteis and Mark Schulz, the nine-issue crossover came to be known as “Superman: Emperor Joker,” where the Joker stole the reality-altering powers of Mister Mxyzptlk. The Joker used his god-like powers to make twisted versions of the superheroes, kill and resurrect Batman daily… and oh yeah, eat China.

That’s right, the Joker ate the entire population of China, which is home to over a billion people. The worst part is that he just did it so he could make a joke about Chinese food. As far as body count, it’s hard to top that one. The only thing that keeps it from being number one is the fact that everything Emperor Joker did was reversed, so it never actually happened. But the memory of mountains of skulls still lingers for many fans, as does the fact that we all know the horrors of which Joker is capable, given enough power.

JOKER PARALYZED BARBARA GORDON

Of all the crimes the Joker has ever committed, there’s one that rises above all others, and has even triggered debate outside of the comic world about his mania. Written by Alan Moore and illustrated by Brian Bolland, 1988’s graphic novel “The Killing Joke” was a dark and twisted story where the Joker tried to drive Commissioner Gordon insane by shooting Barbara Gordon. The shooting left Barbara alive, but paralyzed from the waist down.

While the Joker put Commissioner Gordon through a twisted ride showing nude pictures of Barbara — more than implying that he assaulted her on various, horrendous levels — the Commissioner managed to hold onto his sanity. By this estimation, then, the Joker ultimately failed, but Barbara Gordon’s paralysis remained, leaving her unable to continue as Batgirl. She eventually used her computer hacking ability to become the secret crimefighter Oracle, and the New 52 reboot retconned her paralysis, but the focused cruelty and intimate viciousness of the attack brought up debates even outside the comic book community on whether the Joker, as a character, went too far.

What’s the worst thing you think the Joker has done? Let us know in the comments!

The post The 16 Worst Things The Joker Has Ever Done appeared first on CBR.com.

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