The seemingly eternal struggle between Joker has been raging for decades with no end in sight, though in one alternate future within the DC Universe, the Joker is finally killed in a manner that was just as violent and twisted as his life was. While the Joker’s death came as quite a shock to readers, it wasn’t very surprising to Batman, as the Caped Crusader predicted the Joker’s death long before it happened–though not in the way fans would expect.
The Joker made his debut in Batman #1 by Bill Finger and Bob Kane. In this issue–which contained multiple storylines–the Joker makes two separate appearances, and in both of them, he proves his unparalleled villainy. The Joker first puts himself on Batman’s radar after launching a twisted scheme to steal valuable jewels and rubies from a number of wealthy and prominent residents of Gotham City, killing them in the process. While many die in the Joker’s wake, Batman is eventually able to stop him and bring him to justice by putting him in prison where he belongs. However, the Joker escapes from jail later that same issue, and is defeated in much more dramatic fashion.
In the Batman #1 story “The Joker Returns,” the Joker breaks out of prison and goes right back to his villainous plot of killing those with valuable jewels and then taking those valuables for himself–all the while outsmarting the police and Batman in the process. However, after becoming more familiar with his methods and motives, the caped hero is able to catch the Joker much faster than last time, which brings the two to a brutal fight to the death. When face-to-face with Batman, the Joker pulls out a razor-sharp dagger and attempts to kill the Dark Knight once and for all. Unfortunately for the Harlequin of Hate, Batman out maneuvers him, which causes the Joker to accidentally stab himself in the chest–a wound that seemingly kills him. Standing over his supposed corpse, Batman utters some final words on the Joker’s behalf that are equal parts haunting and profound, saying, “When the flesh is gone–the grinning skull will still carry the sign of the Joker… into eternity!”
Decades later in the alternate future of Batman: The Dark Knight Returns by Frank Miller, Klaus Janson, and Lynn Varley, Batman and the Joker engage in their final conflict at an amusement park. Inside a ride called "Tunnel of Love," Batman delivers a devastatingly brutal blow upon the Joker, which paralyzes the villain from the head down. Wanting to make the authorities believe Batman actually murdered him, the Joker breaks his own neck with his last remaining strength, all the while laughing maniacally. When the police finally do show up, they inadvertently activate an incendiary device Batman placed on the Joker, setting his body ablaze. After the Joker’s corpse bursts into flames and his skin is burned off of his bones, leaving behind a grinning skull caught ablaze. Batman looks back at the Joker’s body and says, “Stop laughing…”–thereby fulfilling the prophecy he uttered the first time he believed the Joker to be dead.
Batman’s sentiments in Batman #1 basically state that the Joker’s death won’t be enough to put an end to his villainous impact on Gotham City, including the impact the Joker has on Batman personally. When readers saw that Batman could still hear the Joker laughing at him even after he dies in Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, it was revealed that Batman was right and proves that Batman predicted the Joker’s death decades before it happened as the Joker’s grinning skull ripped of its flesh did, indeed, live on into eternity.
