{"id":35423,"date":"2026-05-04T08:00:43","date_gmt":"2026-05-04T08:00:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/?p=35423"},"modified":"2026-05-03T18:10:41","modified_gmt":"2026-05-03T18:10:41","slug":"dc-finest-the-joker-the-last-ha-ha","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/2026\/05\/04\/dc-finest-the-joker-the-last-ha-ha\/","title":{"rendered":"DC Finest: The Joker – The Last Ha-Ha"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\" \"\"
\nBy Dennis O\u2019Neil<\/strong>, Elliot S! Maggin<\/strong>, Bob Haney<\/strong>, Martin Pasko<\/strong>, David V. Reed<\/strong>, Steve Englehart<\/strong>, Len Wein<\/strong>, Paul Levitz<\/strong>, Dick Dillin<\/strong>, Neal Adams<\/strong>, Irv Novick<\/strong>, Jim Aparo<\/strong>, Ernie Chan<\/strong>, Jos\u00e9 Luis Garc\u00eda-L\u00f3pez<\/strong>, John Calnan<\/strong>, Marshall Rogers<\/strong>, Walter Simonson<\/strong>, Don Newton<\/strong>, Joe Staton<\/strong>, Joe Giella<\/strong>, Dick Giordano<\/strong>, Vince Colletta<\/strong>, Tex Blaisdell<\/strong>, Frank McLaughlin<\/strong>, Bob Wiacek<\/strong>, Terry Austin<\/strong>, Steve Mitchell<\/strong> & various (DC Comics)
\nISBN: 978-1-79951-025-3 (TPB)<\/p>\n

This book includes Discriminatory Content<\/strong> produced in less enlightened times.<\/em><\/p>\n

HEY! WHO LET THAT CLOWN IN? IS THERE A PARTY SOMEWHERE?<\/p>\n

An old adage says that you can judge someone by the calibre of their enemies, and that\u2019s never been more ably demonstrated than with Batman<\/strong>. For most of his near century of existence, but most especially ever since the 1970s, the position of paramount antagonist has been indisputably filled by Clown Prince of Crime The Joker<\/strong>! He first hit newsstands in Batman<\/strong> #1 (cover-dated Spring and officially on sale from April 25th<\/sup> 1940).<\/em> That\u2019s 86 exploding candles and poisoned cakes and he\u2019s still totally, lethally crazy after all these years\u2026<\/p>\n

Spanning cover-dates December 1969 to September 1981, this compilation collects stories from Justice League of America <\/strong>#77; Batman<\/strong> # 251, 260, 286, 291-294 & 321; Detective Comics<\/strong> #475-476 & 504; eccentric team-ups from The Brave and the Bold<\/strong> #111, 118, 129-130 & 141: The Joker<\/strong> volume 1 #1-10 and Earth-Two appearances from Wonder Woman<\/strong> volume 1 #280-283, a comprehensive but by no means complete carry on of one of the most conflicted and confusing characters in comics.<\/p>\n

In the late 1960s superheroes experienced a rapid decline in popularity – presumably reaction to global media\u2019s crass and crushing overexposure. When that bubble burst, Batman<\/strong>\u2019s comic franchise sought to escape the zany, \u201ccamp\u201d image by methodically re-branding the hero and returning to the original 1930s concept of a grim, driven Dark Avenger. Although hugely popular, TV\u2019s sappy buffoon\/thieving villain version of The Joker<\/strong> was almost fatal to the character on the printed page. However, a deftly calculated return to his Golden Age, eerie cheery killer persona began almost immediately. Thus this collection which kicks off with the Mountebank of Mirth manically upping his game and expanding his pool of enemies…<\/p>\n

In Justice League of America<\/strong> #77 (cover-dated December 1969), the smugly complacent confidence and cheery worldview of the World\u2019s Greatest Superheroes is shattered after enigmatic political populist Joe Dough<\/em> suborns and compromises their beloved teen mascot in \u2018Snapper Carr\u2026 Super-Traitor!\u2019 <\/em>This revelatory rite of passage comes from Denny O\u2019Neil, Dick Dillin & Joe Giella: a coming-of-age yarn that saw the team lose public support and even their secret HQ, as the comfy, cosy superhero game changes forever… and no guesses for who Joe Dough really is!
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\nThe dark transformation of the Crime Clown was fully accomplished in Batman<\/strong> #251 (September 1973 by O\u2019Neil & Neal Adams). \u2018The Joker\u2019s Five-Way Revenge!\u2019<\/em> reinstated the psychotic, diabolically unpredictable Killer Clown who scared the short pants off readers of the 1940s. A true milestone utterly redefining the hero\u2019s nemesis for the modern age, the frantic moody yarn sees the Mirthful Maniac stalking his old gang, seeking to eradicate them all, with a hard-pressed Gotham Guardian desperately playing catch-up. As crooks die in all manner of byzantine and bizarre ways, Batman realises his archfoe has gone irrevocably off the deep end. Terrifying and beautiful, for many fans this is the definitive Batman\/Joker story.<\/p>\n

Cover-dated February\/March 1974, The Brave and the Bold<\/strong> #111 boasted \u201cthe strangest team-up in history\u201d as writer Bob Haney & artist on fire Jim Aparo had the Gotham Guardian join forces with the Harlequin of Hate for a brilliantly twisty tale of cross-&-double-cross in \u2018Death has the Last Laugh!\u2019<\/em> Complex and compelling, this murder-spree yarn possibly led to the Crime Clown\u2019s own short-run series a year later.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, from Batman<\/strong> #260 (January\/February 1975 by O\u2019Neil, Irv Novick & Dick Giordano), \u2018This One\u2019ll Kill You Batman!\u2019<\/em> finds the grim, po-faced Darknight Detective racing to save his own life after being poisoned by Joker Toxin that acts like irresistibly lethal laughing gas, after which B&B<\/strong> #118 (April) sees Wildcat<\/strong> and Batman<\/strong> forced to brutally battle each other in \u2018May the Best Man Die!\u2019<\/em> after being sucked into Joker\u2019s scheme to poison boxers (and anyone else in range) with a deadly, blood-borne virus…<\/p>\n

Within 18 months of the breakthrough revision in Batman<\/strong> #251, The Joker<\/strong> won his own series. Titles starring villains were exceedingly rare back then and provided quite a few problems for writers and editors still labouring under the edicts of the Comics Code Authority. The outr\u00e9 experiment ended after 9 issues – spanning May 1975 to October 1976, (plus one formerly unpublished digital issue in 2019) – and had utilised some of the most talented creators in DC\u2019s employ. It remained a peculiar historical oddity for decades. Now, in these less doctrinaire times those strange tales of the Smirking Slaughterman have an appreciative audience…<\/p>\n

The murderous merriment commences with \u2018The Joker\u2019s Double Jeopardy!\u2019 <\/em>Here fellow Arkham Asylum inmate Two-Face<\/em> arrogantly escapes, pinking the Felonious Funnyman\u2019s pride and compelling the giggling ghoul to similarly break out to prove he\u2019s the greater criminal maniac. Their extended duel of wits and body-counts only lands them both back inside. That \u201crevolving door\u201d security at Arkham eventually leads to the firing of much-harassed guards Marvin Fargo<\/em> & Benny Khiss<\/em> in #2\u2019s \u2018The Sad Saga of Willie the Weeper!\u2019<\/em> However, as the again-at-liberty Lethal Loon attempts to boost the confidence of a lachrymose minor-league larcenist for his own purposes, those defrocked jailers determine to restore their honour and fortunes and astoundingly, they succeed.<\/p>\n

Written by O\u2019Neil with art by Ernie Chan (nee Chua) & Jos\u00e9 Luis Garc\u00eda-L\u00f3pez, \u2018The Last Ha Ha\u2019<\/em> in #3 details a burglary and kidnapping of superstar cartoonist Sandy Saturn<\/em> by a green-haired, cackling crazy. Witness accounts lead the cops to the ludicrous conclusion that The Creeper<\/strong> is the culprit. Cue lots and lots of eerie chortling, mistaken identity shenanigans and murderously manic explosive action…<\/p>\n

The ethical dilemma of a star who\u2019s arguably the world\u2019s worst villain is further explored in \u2018A Gold Star for the Joker!\u2019<\/em> (Elliot S! Maggin, Garc\u00eda-L\u00f3pez & Vince Colletta) wherein our Perfidious Pagliacci inexplicably develops a crush on Black Canary<\/strong>\u2019s alter-ego Dinah Lance<\/em> and resolves to possess her or kill her. Typically, even though she\u2019s perfectly capable of saving herself, Dinah\u2019s beau Green Arrow<\/strong> (see what I did there?) is also the possessive aggressive kind of consort\u2026<\/p>\n

\u2018The Joker Goes Wilde!\u2019<\/em> (Martin Pasko, Irv Novick & Tex Blaisdell) finds the Clown Prince in bombastic competition with similarly playing-card themed super-bandits The Royal Flush Gang. <\/em>Everyone wants to secure a lost masterpiece, but even as he\u2019s winning that weird war, the Mountebank of Menace is already after a hidden prize.<\/p>\n

More force of nature than mortal miscreant, the Pallid Punchinello meets his match after assaulting actor Clive Sigerson<\/em> in #6. Famed for stage portrayals of a certain literary detective, Sigerson sustains a nasty blow to the bonce which befuddles his wits and soon \u2018Sherlock Stalks the Joker!\u2019<\/em> (O\u2019Neil, Novick & Blaisdell), foiling a flood of crazy schemes and apprehending the maniac before his concussion is cured…<\/p>\n

We learn surprising facts about the Clown Prince of Carnage when he steals the calm, logical intellect of Earth\u2019s most brilliant evil scientist. Naturally, psychic transference in \u2018Luthor\u2026 You\u2019re Driving Me Sane!\u2019<\/em> (Maggin, Novick & Frank McLaughlin) is two-way and, whilst the newly cognizant Clown becomes ineffably intelligent, Lex Luthor<\/em> is reduced to a risk-taking maniac unphased by potential consequences and determined to have fun no matter who dies. The Joker<\/strong>\u2019s eighth outing covered a clash with Gotham\u2019s self-acclaimed Master of Terror as \u2018The Scarecrow\u2019s Fearsome Face-Off!\u2019<\/em> (Maggin, Novick & Blaisdell) saw the top contenders for scariest guy in town (not counting Batman!) steal each other\u2019s thunder whilst vying for that macabre top spot, before the villainous vignettes conclude with a claws-out clash as \u2018The Cat and the Clown!\u2019<\/em> (Maggin, Novick & Blaisdell) sees an aged comedian and his million-dollar kitty targeted by rival rogues Catwoman<\/strong> and Joker. Unhappily for the crooks they had both underestimated the grizzled guile of their octogenarian victim\u2026<\/p>\n

In Fall of 2019 the unpublished tenth issue was released digitally and appeared in monolithic, print-only, rather inaccessibly expensive The Joker: The Bronze Age Omnibus<\/strong> (Collected)<\/strong>. There – and here – Pasko & Novick\u2019s tale \u201899 and 99\/100% Dead!\u2019<\/em> involves a deal with the Devil (AKA \u201cLou Cipher<\/em>\u201d) and scheme to murder Earth\u2019s greatest heroes – The JLA<\/strong> – that doesn\u2019t quite come about and ends on a cliffhanger…<\/p>\n

Here, however, we resume with a rare two-parter from The Brave and the Bold<\/strong> #129 & 130: a jam-packed action-romp with \u2018Claws of the Emperor Eagle\u2019 <\/em>pitting Batman, Green Arrow and The Atom<\/strong> against Joker, Two-Face and hordes of bandits in a manic race to possess a statue that had doomed every great conqueror in history. The epic, globe-trotting saga concluded with an ironic bang in \u2018Death at Rainbow\u2019s End\u2019<\/em>…<\/p>\n

In Batman<\/strong> #286,\u2018The Joker\u2019s Playground of Peril!\u2019<\/em> (April 1977 by O\u2019Neil, Novick & Bob Wiacek) sees The Clown escape Arkham Asylum prompting panic in the lawyer who failed get him off and the fence who cheated the loon when selling his ill-gotten gains. The fugitives make it easy for the manic by hiding in the same Amusement park but the Dynamoc Duo are clued in and waiting…<\/p>\n

Next is an extended saga from Batman<\/strong> #291-294 (cover dates September through December 1977) written by author David V. Reed and illustrated by John Calnan & Tex Blaisdell. Over four deviously clever issues \u2018Where Were You the Night Batman Was Killed?\u2019<\/em> sees hordes of costumed foes the Caped Crimebuster has crushed assemble to verify the stories of various felons claiming to have done the deed. This thematic partial inspiration for Neil Gaiman\u2019s \u201cLast Batman Story\u201d kicks off with \u2018The Testimony of the Catwoman\u2019<\/em> followed by \u2018The testimony of…\u2019<\/em> The Riddler, Lex Luthor and The Joker before satisfactorily concluding with a twist in a spectacular grand manner.<\/p>\n

The only real contenders for the plaudits of being the best Joker yarn ever follows: a two-part saga from Detective Comics <\/strong>#475-476 (February & April 1978) concluding a breathtaking, signature run of retro tales by Steve Englehart, Marshall Rogers & Terry Austin. The absolute zenith in a short but stellar sequence resurrecting old foes naturally peaked with the Dark Knight\u2019s nemesis at his most chaotic, and began with \u2018The Laughing Fish!\u2019<\/em> and culminating in \u2018The Sign of the Joker!\u2019<\/em>, comprising one of the most reprinted Bat-tales ever concocted. It was even adapted as an episode of the award-winning Batman: The Animated Adventures<\/strong> TV show in the 1990s. In fact, you\u2019ve probably already read it. But if you haven\u2019t\u2026 what a treat awaits you!
\n\"\"
\nAs seafood sporting the Joker\u2019s horrific smile began turning up in sea-catches all over the Eastern Seaboard, the Clown Prince attempts to trademark them. When patent officials foolishly tell him it can\u2019t be done, they start dying – publicly, impossibly and incredibly painfully\u2026<\/p>\n

The story concluded in a spectacular apocalyptic clash which shaped, informed and redefined the Batman mythos for decades to come\u2026<\/p>\n

The best was saved for last, with continuity altering sub-plots concerning Bruce Wayne\u2019s current inamorata Silver St. Cloud<\/em>, crooked politico \u201cBoss\u201d Rupert Thorne<\/em> and the Gotham City Council who had outlawed the hero, and even the recurring ghost of Hugo Strange<\/em> culminating in THE classic confrontation with The Joker.<\/p>\n

B&B<\/strong> #141 (May\/June 1978) offers another Batman team-up with Black Canary as \u2018Pay – or Die!\u2019<\/em> (by Haney & Aparo) finds Dinah Lance looking at a modelling career but pausing to help Batman and Alfred<\/em> quash the Joker\u2019s bizarrely byzantine extortion\/loan sharking\/crooked mortician scheme in \u2018Pay – Or Die!\u2019<\/em>
\n\"\"
\nThe gleeful terror continues with \u2018Dreadful Birthday, Dear Joker…!\u2019 <\/em>by Len Wein, Walt Simonson & Giordano (from Batman<\/strong> #321 March 1980), wherein the Malevolent Mummer planned to celebrate his anniversary in grand style: kidnapping a bunch of old chums like Robin<\/strong>, Jim Gordon<\/em>, Alfred Pennyworth<\/em>, Catwoman\u00a0and others to be the exploding candles on his giant birthday cake…<\/p>\n

The Joker has the rare distinction of being perhaps the most iconic villain in comics and can claim that title in whatever era you choose to concentrate on; Noir-ish Golden Age, sanitised Silver Age or malignant modern and Post-Modern milieus. This book captures just a fraction of all those superb stories and with the benefit of another two and a half decades of material since the release of this compendium, just think of what a couple of equally well-considered sequels might offer…<\/p>\n

Cover-dated July 1981, Detective<\/strong> #504 – by Gerry Conway, Don Newton & Dan Adkins – details \u2018The Joker\u2019s Rumpus Room Revenge!\u2019<\/em> Closing the Batman related portion of the book, here the Murderous Mummer again slips out of Arkham and murders an old puppet-maker to lure the Dark Knight into a killzone packed with killer toys and robots…<\/p>\n

During the late Seventies and early Eighties Helena Wayne<\/em> was the daughter of the deceased Earth-2 Batman and Catwoman Selina Kyle<\/em>. As The Huntress<\/strong>, the immensely popular character sprang from a then-current Justice Society of America<\/strong> series in All Star Comics<\/strong> into her own relatively long-running back-up feature initially in Batman family and then in Wonder Woman<\/strong> (#271 September 1980 through #321, November 1984). She died in but notionally survived the Crisis on Infinite Earths<\/strong> by being retooled as mob-orphan Helena Bertinelli<\/em> to become a post-Crisis Dark Knight adjunct.<\/p>\n

From Wonder Woman<\/strong> #280 – 283 (vol. 1, June to September 1981) and crafted by Paul Levitz, Joe Staton & Steve Michell \u2018Lion at Bay\u2019<\/em> sees Huntress crush her mother\u2019s old nemesis Lionmane<\/em>, but not before his mass jailbreak allows a declining but still demented and deadly Harlequin of Hate to escape Gull\u2019s island prison. Refusing to believe Batman is dead, elderly Joker proceeds to poison old foes like Commissioner O\u2019Hara<\/em> to draw out his enemy. Stalked by Huntress in \u2018Always Leave \u2018em Laughing\u2019<\/em> before recruiting another old Crazy Clown combatant to help trick and trap the madman, the end comes in \u2018First Laugh…\u2019<\/em> and final encore \u2018…Last Laugh!\u2019<\/em><\/p>\n

With covers by Murphy Anderson, Adams, Tatjana Wood, Nick Cardy, Aparo, Giordano, Ross Andru, Chan, Garc\u00eda-L\u00f3pez, Drew Moore, Rogers & Austin, Simonson, Jim Starlin, Rich Buckler, and George P\u00e9rez, this quirky oddment offers slick plotting and startling visuals as madcap misdemeanours are soundly upstaged and shoved aside by lunatic larks, malign malice and a more mounting degree of murderous mayhem than most classical fans might be comfortable with, but always sustained and supported by strong storytelling and stunning art to delight fans of traditional Fights \u2018n\u2019 Tights sagas.
\n\u00a9 1969, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1980, 1981, 2026 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.<\/p>\n

Today in 1913 author and groundbreaking comics scripter John Broome<\/strong> (aka John Osgood <\/strong>& Edgar Ray Meritt<\/strong>) was born, followed in 1928 by Filipino art maestro Nestor Rendondo<\/strong> (Darna<\/em><\/strong>, Rima the Jungle Girl<\/strong>, The Bible<\/strong>, Swamp Thing<\/strong>); Belgian cartoonist Joseph Loeckx<\/strong>\/\u201cJo-El Azara<\/em><\/strong>\u201d (Taka Takata<\/em>, Clifton<\/strong>) in1937, and our own astounding John Ridgway<\/strong> (Commando Picture Library<\/strong>, Famous Five<\/strong>, Young Marvelman<\/strong>, Judge Dredd<\/strong>, Bozz Chronicles<\/strong>, Hellblazer<\/strong>) in 1940.<\/p>\n

This date in 1953 welcomed US cartoonist\/book illustrator Doug Cushman<\/strong> (Aunt Eater<\/strong>, Holiday Mice!<\/strong>); Canadian Underground artist Patrick Henley<\/strong> AKA Henriette Valium<\/em><\/strong> in 1959; Mad magazine<\/strong> illustrator Tom Richmond<\/strong> in 1966; Scott Kolins<\/strong> in 1968 and Ale Garza<\/strong> in 1977.<\/p>\n

We lost today editor Lou Stathis<\/strong> in 1997, and Henry<\/strong> Sunday page artist Don Trachte<\/strong> in 2005 but the day did give us Richard F. Outcaul<\/strong>\u2019s Buster Brown<\/strong> which launched in 1902, Ivy the Terrible<\/strong>\u2019s debut in The Beano<\/strong>, courtesy of Roy Nixon<\/strong> in 1985 and the very first Free Comic Book Day <\/strong>today in 2002.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Dennis O\u2019Neil, Elliot S! Maggin, Bob Haney, Martin Pasko, David V. Reed, Steve Englehart, Len Wein, Paul Levitz, Dick Dillin, Neal Adams, Irv Novick, Jim Aparo, Ernie Chan, Jos\u00e9 Luis Garc\u00eda-L\u00f3pez, John Calnan, Marshall Rogers, Walter Simonson, Don Newton, Joe Staton, Joe Giella, Dick Giordano, Vince Colletta, Tex Blaisdell, Frank McLaughlin, Bob Wiacek, Terry … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “DC Finest: The Joker – The Last Ha-Ha”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[191,211,10,258,33,75,76,91,15,16,225,272,315,172,107,327,9,263,380,325,48],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-35423","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-adventure","category-atom","category-batman","category-black-canary","category-catwomman","category-crime-comics","category-dc-superhero","category-flash","category-green-arrow","category-jla","category-mystery","category-neal-adams","category-power-girl","category-robin","category-science-fiction","category-sherlock-holmes","category-superman","category-the-brave-and-the-bold","category-the-creeper","category-the-joker","category-wonder-woman"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4AFj-9dl","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35423","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35423"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35423\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35430,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35423\/revisions\/35430"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35423"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35423"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35423"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}