When it comes to comic book villains, the Joker plays second fiddle to nobody. Few can match the madness of the clown prince of crime. Despite all this, the Joker was not always a despicable bad guy. You heard it right! During his rich, eighty-year-long history in the comics, the Joker has had his good days too.
Fought Crime In Gotham (2017)
“Batman: White Knight” is set in an alternate reality in which Batman and the Joker have actually switched places. The Jester becomes the city’s hope for salvation, and Batman is seen as the main bad guy. After recovering from his madness, Joker decides to take the name Jack Napier, becoming a member of the Gotham Council, whose sole purpose is to end crime.
Stopped the Batman Who Laughs (2017)
If Batman and Joker are teaming up, the situation is really dire. In “Dark Knights: Metal,” the readers are introduced to a new villain – the Batman, who laughs. He is a mixture of Batman and Joker in one freaky bottle. What made this enemy so formidable is that he knows every move that Batman knows. Thus, Bruce was forced to ask the Joker for help in eliminating the new threat. Since Batman and Joker never fought together, the Batman who laughs could not analyze their tactics and got his butt handed to him.
Pillar Of The Community (1998)
This story happened in “Superman: Distant Fires.” If you decide to read it, skip the complicated love triangle between Superman, Wonder Woman, and Batman, and focus on the Joker. After a nuclear war destroyed most of humanity and many superheroes as well, a group of survivors made it to one of the cities. The Joker not only regains sanity after the fallout, he begins to create and implement plans to protect the city from a bunch of nasty mutants. When the Joker becomes the last hope, you know the world’s gone to hell.
Saved Lego Gotham (2017)
Given that “The Lego Movie: Batman” was made for a younger audience, the chances of seeing the brutal side of Joker were close to zero. Instead, we saw Batman’s greatest enemy team up with him to save Lego Gotham City. By the end of their adventure, Batman and Joker both understand that they really need each other. Great movie with super-bromantic vibes.
Thwarted the Black Glove (2008)
In the Batman: R.I.P. story, the Joker becomes a hero, helping Batman destroy the nefarious Black Glove organization. Of course, this “help” isn’t really driven by the Joker’s instincts of self-preservation, he probably just wanted to kill a bunch of dudes. One way or another, the Joker helped Batman stop a group of criminals, so it counts!
Gave Away Millions
In one of the episodes of “Batman The Animated Series” (Joker’s Millions), the bankrupt Joker receives an “inheritance” from King Barlow in the amount of $250 million. With a hefty amount of money in his pocket, the Joker announces his retirement from the criminal world, throws a lavish party, and showers Gotham City citizens in crisp Benjamins. Naturally, this was all just a big scam, wonderfully orchestrated by Barlow on his deathbed, so the Joker’s “rich guy” phase was short-lived.
Went Sane… For a Short While (1994)
The idea that the real evil of Gotham is Batman has been touched on in many stories. In the story of “Batman: Going Sane,” in which Batman was killed by the Joker, the Clown decides to leave his dark past behind. After the Bat went down, Joker began to regain his sanity and started seeing through the veil of the Fourth wall. It was pretty cool!
Naturally, Batman comes back, and Mr. J, aka, Joe Kerr snaps back to reality. Even though this only lasted for a few issues, the fact still remains: without Batman, the Joker saw no reason to be a villain.
