Warning: Spoilers for Batman #129 ahead!Every now and then The Joker is cast as an anti-Batman, donning cape and cowl in a sickening twist on the Dark Knight’s crusade against injustice. This sick parody of the Joker’s usually comes with his own utility belt and an array of clown-themed gimmicks that he’s known for: explosive chattering teeth, lethal joy buzzers, etc. But it turns out there’s nothing deadlier than the Joker’s own lethal smile, which he has weaponized in the form of throwing knives clearly meant to ape Batman’s iconic Batarang.
For all of Batman’s many, many tools, the Batarang has long been his calling card. First appearing in 1939’s Detective Comics #31 by Gardner Fox, Bob Kane, and Sheldon Moldoff, Batman’s Batarang was originally a boomerang in the shape of a bat, with the term later expanded to include a wide variety of throwing knives and gadgets. This tool perfectly encapsulates Batman’s crime-fighting ethos: it requires vast skill to master, yet in the hands of The Dark Knight becomes a non-lethal weapon used to disarm or distract. Even as Batman’s arsenal has expanded to include explosive gel and tactical drones, the Batarang remains a staple part of the Batman identity.
In the backup story “I Am a Gun (Part 2)” from Batman #129 by Chip Zdarsky, Leonardo Romero, and Jordie Bellaire, Batman (who has been struggling under the influence of his newly reactivated Zur-Enh-Arrh identity) confronts the Joker after the latter has broken into a laboratory and assaulted the staff. Accusing Batman of having lost his mind, the Joker, no longer smiling, growls that “if you’re as crazy as me…then I guess I’m as serious as you!” and hurls a new gadget at Batman: razor-sharp crescents, molded in the shape of his signature smile. The stress of the encounter proves to be too much for Bruce, and, grinning, he succumbs to the Zur-Enh-Arrh persona for the first time.
The Joker’s Deadly Smile Is His Own Batarang.
While this isn’t the first time media has shown the Joker with a smile-themed throwing weapon, those devices usually show up as defaced Batarangs rather than as unique gadgets in their own right. Notably, the 2017 video game Batman: The Enemy Within has the Joker throwing jagged grinning “Joker-rangs” after Batman trained him in their use; In 2020’s Joker War event, the Joker confronts Batman in his own clownish Batsuit, hurling Batarangs with smiles painted on. However, this new weapon is wholly unique, with none of the bat-shaping to suggest it was ever part of Batman’s arsenal.
These “razor smiles” are, ironically, just as well-suited to the Joker’s identity as the Batarang is to Batman’s. Simple yet deadly, they embody the Joker’s unpredictable nature and the pain and violence that his smile symbolizes to his victims, literally cutting them with the sharpness of his manic grin. It’s a chilling reminder of just how similar The Dark Knight is to his nemesis, and just how thin the line between them can truly be. Writers often like to speculate about The Joker taking on Batman‘s role (and vice-versa) as a true nightmare scenario for Gotham, and now the character has a sickening new weapon with which to do so.
Batman #129 is now available from DC Comics.
