In Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Strikes Again, the original Robin became a dark new Joker. In this sequel to the iconic The Dark Knight Returns, Richard Grayson makes his first appearance after being fired by Batman, but his time away plus the trauma he suffered as a child has created a shape-shifting, giggling psychopath who hates the Dark Knight as much as he loves him. Considering Richard Grayson grew up to be one of the world’s greatest heroes in another world, this version is his mirror opposite where Dick unintentionally took on the legacy of one of the world’s greatest villains.
Taking place five years after the events of The Dark Knight Returns, someone who looks and sounds like the Joker has been methodically killing retired superheroes. Despite the fact the Joker died during his last battle with Batman, Bruce learns of this new Joker after the villain kills the Martian Manhunter by setting him on fire. Later, during her visit with Saturn Girl, the former Robin Carrie Kelley is warned that the new Joker hates her more than anyone else, including Batman, but the current Catgirl dismisses this as she believes she killed the new Joker a few weeks ago when he ambushed her and Green Arrow. After freeing the world from Brainiac and Lex Luthor’s control, Batman gets a call from Carrie that she is under attack from the Joker, who survived her brutal assault and has come to add her to his considerable body count.
In The Dark Knight Strikes Again #3, Bruce arrives at the Batcave just in time to save Carrie’s life from the sadistic Joker and reveals that he knows his real identity, Richard Grayson. With the truth exposed, the Joker changes his appearance to resemble his original Robin costume as his threats are undermined by Batman’s taunts. The beaten and ragged Bruce Wayne appears to bully him, reminding him that he was fired for being weak and incompetent in the field and that his powers have changed nothing. Thanks to the now-deceased Lex Luthor, Grayson underwent an experimental procedure involving gene therapy that makes him nearly immortal as a result of cellular regeneration, but he was driven insane in the process. Their reunion is anything but pleasant as Bruce and Richard prepare to fight each other to the death in what remains of the Batcave.
In the timeline of The Dark Knight Returns, Dick Grayson’s descent into villainy is a consequence of his relationship with Batman. If Miller and Jim Lee’s All Star Batman and Robin is canonical, Dick Grayson was kidnapped by the Dark Knight to become his ward after the death of his parents. He experienced physical, emotional and psychological abuse from Batman and later became aggressively obsessed with finding his parents’ killer. Considering that one of his first outings as Robin almost killed his world’s Green Lantern, Dick’s downward spiral toward villainy isn’t much of a surprise, it’s more of a certainty. When they are reunited, Batman shows no pity or compassion to his former sidekick, he continues to belittle and insult him. Bruce accepts little to no responsibility for his hand in creating this monster who claims that he still loves him despite everything he’s done.
After cutting his head off with an ax fails to kill the new Joker (no surprise, as Catgirl reports having literally taken him apart “piece by piece” with Green Arrow’s arsenal), Bruce triggers the destruction of the Batcave, intending for the former dynamic duo to fall to their deaths in the lava below. While Batman is saved at the last minute by Superman, Robin dies engulfed in lava, erasing any possibility of his return. Batman says goodbye as Robin and the Joker‘s legacies die then and there in the pages of the remarkably savage The Dark Knight Strikes Again.
