Warning: Spoilers for Batman / Dylan Dog #3 ahead!

The Joker is undeniably the greatest villain in Gotham City, and now he’s revealed why. While many may argue that the Joker’s singular relationship with the Dark Knight places him atop Gotham’s criminal food chain, it may surprise readers to know that the Joker himself has a very different view of what makes him the best of all Gotham villains.

Batman’s adventure with the Italian “Nightmare Investigator” Dylan Dog concludes in Batman / Dylan Dog #3 by Roberto Recchioni, Gigi Cavenago, and Werther Dell’Edera. After the Joker has released the soul of serial killer Christopher Killex into Gotham, the city’s defenders are surprised when the Joker requests a special audience with Dylan Dog, introducing himself to the detective in grandiose style.

Calling himself “the most worthy representative” of Gotham’s criminal caste, the Joker reveals that he wants to help Dylan Dog capture Killex, seeking vengeance after having been snubbed by the dispassionate doctor.

For the Joker, Crime Is an Act of Passion

Gotham Is the Canvas For the Joker’s Art

The similarities between the Joker and Christopher Killex have served as the impetus for this entire series. While the two look similar on paper (both are mass murderers with improbably high body counts, considering their relatively mundane abilities), the two end up splitting ways due to fundamentally different ideology. The Joker is quick to point out that chaos and murder are his art and passion. By contrast, Christopher Killex is a twisted scientist, killing with no emotional investment whatsoever; to him, his crimes are simply a means to an end in his research into the human soul.

This is a key insight into the Joker’s psychology, explaining why he believes he is the “most worthy representative” of Gotham’s supervillains: out of all of Batman’s rogues’ gallery, the Joker is indisputably the most passionate about what he does. This reasoning also provides readers with a scale for measuring the Joker’s esteem of any particular villain, with criminals of passion like Clayface (who incorporates his love of acting into every heist) outranking power brokers like Two-Face, despite the latter’s greater connection to Batman and larger influence over Gotham as a whole.

The Joker’s Crimes Are Meaningless If He Can’t Have a Good Time

“There’s Nothing Worse Than Emptiness”

While the Joker’s psychology is notoriously inconsistent, he rarely, if ever, commits a crime that lacks some kind of point or a punchline, and is noticeably despondent when his favorite audience (Batman) is unavailable. With this in mind, it makes sense that, in the Joker’s eyes, one’s efficacy as a villain is tied less to how much money one can steal or how much property one can destroy as it is to how much fun one can have in the process. No one has more fun causing mayhem and destruction than the Joker – and to him, that makes him hands down Gotham’s top villain.

Batman / Dylan Dog #3 is available now from DC Comics.