Has anyone ever...

[Eternal Padawan]

...read all the Batman comics and done a running tally of all the people the Joker has killed? After almost 70 years, I bet it's in the hundreds of thousands. And if you presented those overwhelming numbers to batman along with a cross reference of how shitty the Gotham City penal system is at keeping this freak locked up, would it be enough to make him go "Yeah. OK. I'll kill him."

[jjreason]

He kills him in Dark Knight - and it's fucking great (but you know that already, more like an assisted suicide).

That's the weird thing about DC heroes.... all that shit that's happened just can't possibly have happened in one adult's lifetime. It's that same impossible-to-manage continuity that allows the Joker and Lex Luthor to remain alive, coming up with one nefarious plot after another (but you know that already as well).

I think that in any continuity BatMan will break down and kill the Joker - it's just destined to happen, especially if you go with the Tim Burton theory that he was actually the thug that popped the good Doctor and his Mrs. in front of tender Bruce.

[anarky]

No, Joker kills himself to frame Batman. Read it more carefully.

[jjreason]

I know he twists his own neck, but Bruce was still choking the shit out of him with evil intentions, unless I'm way off. Like any act of violence, Bruce would ultimately be responsible for the final result of his actions (like the poor sap who punches a guy who then falls down and bangs his head and dies).

They way I see it, the Joker wouldn't have died then if Bats wasn't choking - hence my conclusion that the responsibility is blended (though I'd attribute more of it to the Joker).

[Eternal Padawan]

The way I read it, Joker offed himself and right before he did, he called Batman a pussy for not having the stones to do it, but that it would look like he had done it, so the Joker wins twice. Because only he and Batman would know that he was getting fucked over for what Joker had done himself.

[Diabolical]

You guys are asses.
I just bought The Dark Knight Returns on Tuesday.

[jjreason]

Who's the ass? That shit came out like 25 years ago!!!!


Nice purchase though, you won't be disappointed.

[Seamus ODoyle]

You guys are asses.
I just bought The Dark Knight Returns on Tuesday.

Sure'n ye won't be dissappointed when ye read that piece o' art. Written by a fine Irish lad, that were. Oi've traded fists an' stories an' everything else with Francis and tha' bloke is a right honest fella. Next time Oi sees him, Oi'll be sure'n buy him a pint. Too bad about them Robocop sequels. That was right shit, that was.

[jjreason]

If'n yer so feckin' Oirish, 'ow come yewr toypin' in Oirish insteados lettin' us eemagine it for areselves?

[Seamus ODoyle]

If'n yer so feckin' Oirish, 'ow come yewr toypin' in Oirish insteados lettin' us eemagine it for areselves?

Sure'n ye better watch that filthy sailor filth mouth afore Oii trade fists wit' ye, ye dirty omadun. Oi'll nae ha'e my ears soiled with the likes of ye! Filthy bugger!

[Zero]

You guys are asses.
I just bought The Dark Knight Returns on Tuesday.

So, what'd you think?

[Diabolical]

17 kinds of awesomeness.

[anarky]

Just 17? I'd think it qualifies for at least 19.

Have you read the other crucial Batman stories?

Year One
Shaman
Gothic
The Killing Joke
Year Two
Son of the Demon
A Death in the Family
Year Three
A Lonely Place of Dying
Sword of Azrael
Knightfall/Knightsquest/Knightsend (a lot of filler in those three, but well worth it overall)
No Man's Land: You can skip the Contagion and Cataclysm. All you need to know for NML is that Gotham was hit by an epidemic, then a massive earthquake, and that the effects were probably ten times as bad as New Orleans, and a corrupt metahuman (whose motivations are, unfortunately, not entirely spelled out) actually convinces the feds to shut down Gotham completely.

[Zero]

The villain from Year 2 was a ridiculously cool design. They need to bring him back. I know the character is dead, but the costume is to cool to leave unused.

[Diabolical]

I have The Sword of Azreal. Just reread it a month or two ago. Still pretty good stuff.
I read bits and pieces of Knighfall/Quest when they came out. Wasn't too impressed at the time.

I've seen/read a little bit of The Killing Joke and A Death in the Family. And Year One is something that I've always wanted to read. Those three are near the top of my top read list.
So is the Dark Knight sequel (yeah, yeah, I've heard it is a bit of a disappointment) and all the Frank Miller Batman, Hush, The Long Halloween, Dark Victory, Black and White, and one or two I'm forgetting...