The Joker: Through the years

"The Dark Knight Returns" (1986)

The Setup: Cartoonist turned director Frank Miller imagines a future in which an older Bruce Wayne comes out of retirement to restore order to a lawless Gotham City. Thrilled their duel is back on, the Joker fakes rehabilitation long enough to appear on a talk show and kill the audience. Batman catches up to the Joker intending to stop him once and for all, but still can’t cross the line of killing him. Laughing at his foe’s dilemma, the Joker takes matters in his own hands and commits suicide.

The Punch Line: The relationship between Batman and the Joker reaches new, dark extremes that other comic book creators spent the next decade trying vainly to imitate. Miller’s Joker is less mirthful and more ruthless, interested only in racking up a body count to infuriate and embarrass Batman. The Joker's death, achieved by twisting his own neck until it snaps, is an appropriately gruesome finale to a longstanding rivalry.