The Joker: Through the years

“The Laughing Fish” and “Sign of the Joker” (1977)

[Published in Detective Comics #475-476]

The Setup: The Joker returned to comics in the 1970s more like his original self: insane and ready to kill. In this tale by Steve Englehart and Marshall Rogers, Joker uses his venom to put a smile on all the fish hauled from Gotham Harbor and then demands a cut of all fish sales from the government or he’ll start killing bureaucrats.

The Punch Line: After the campy TV series had run its course, the comics began a long process of rehabilitating Batman in the public eye by taking him back to his dark roots. The more realistic and cinematic tone of the era’s comics amplified the Joker’s grotesque appearance and played up his symbiotic relationship with Batman. The smiling fish have endured as one of the Joker's most memorable bits, and this tale was adapted into an episode of "Batman: The Animated Series" in 1992.