Warning: Spoilers for Batman & The Joker: The Deadly Duo #3There’s no denying that the Joker is one of the scariest-looking characters in comics, but he just got a terrifying new look that one-ups his past costumes.
This all takes place in the ongoing series, Batman & the Joker: The Deadly Duo. There’s something afoul in Gotham City. After hearing reports of a green-haired, pale skinned murderer, Batman immediately assumed that the Joker was up to his old tricks.
But as Batman pursued the suspect, he found a crazed creature that looked like the Joker but had superhuman abilities. In fact, there are more than one of these things killing around Gotham, and Batman was barely able to take just one down.
Sensing that the Joker was somehow involved, Batman brought the Clown Prince of Crime back to his Batcave in Batman & The Joker: The Deadly Duo #3 by Marc Silvestri and Arif Prianto. Never one to trust the Joker, Batman bound him and also put a leather mask over his face. This mask had zipper holes over his eyes and mouth so that he couldn’t see or speak until Batman wanted him to. When Batman was finally ready to interrogate the Joker, he unzipped those holes and gave the Joker a much more terrifying look than he probably ever intended.
Batman Should Not Put A Mask On The Joker
Immediately, images of this mask invoke the iconic “gimp” scene from Quentin Tarantino’s film Pulp Fiction, though this mask certainly takes things a step further. The presence of the zippers definitely adds to the terrifying effect, but what makes matters worse are the exaggerated features on the Joker that poke through these holes. He has intense and unwavering eyes and a devious smile that is iconic across all of pop culture.
The Joker’s face alone is enough to give people nightmares. This is probably why one of his scariest looks is in the famous Death of the Family storyline from Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo, where the Joker reclaimed his own skinned face and pinned it to himself as if it were a mask. That image is probably up there as one of the Joker’s most horrifying appearances, though this one certainly gives it a run for its money. In that instance, the Joker is kind of wearing a mask, though he’s not because it’s technically his face. In this issue, he’s wearing an actual mask, so fans don’t get to see a lot of Joker’s iconic imagery such as his green hair and white skin. Though his eyes and his smile are really all that’s needed to make the Joker creepier than ever.
Batman & The Joker: The Deadly Duo #3 is now available from DC Comics.
