Who has your favorite sense of humor in the DCU?

[Bored at 3:00AM]

One of the most refreshing aspects of Bendis taking over the Super books is that we've now got a Superman who is consistently funny again. Superman's sense of humor is a tricky balance that not every writer has managed to nail because he's often making jokes at the expense of hapless criminals completely out of their league. Thus far, Bendis has threaded that needle pretty well. Superman's humor was the secret ingredient of the Donner films that too many attempting to ape those films often forget-- Superman was constantly making jokes and was clearly having the time of his life playing the mild mannered goofball at the Daily Planet. Superman's also one of the first superheroes to break the fourth wall and acknowledge the audience, paving the way for Ambush Bug, She-Hulk and Deadpool years later. Jerry Seigel said it best when he explained that the key to Superman was that even though he had dedicated his entire life to defending truth and justice, he made sure to never take himself too seriously in the process.

In the right hands, Batman has the most cutting dry wits in the DCU, although that's clearly something he learned from the absolute master of the passive-aggressive sarcasm--Alfred Pennyworth. There's also a lot of comedy to be mined with the more self-serious Batman being so overly-sensitive about himself that he constantly feels the need to correct anyone who suggests that he pads his Bat-suit or one of his Bat-gadgets isn't perfect. The concept of Batman is so ridiculous, as most superheroes are, that I think he really shines when the humor isn't forgotten among all the misery, death, and sadness. Otherwise, Batman's just a sad rich kid with issues beating up the mentally ill.

One of the things that disappointed me the most about Dick Grayson on the Titans TV show was how utterly humorless he was, which, to be fair, was also true of his characterization in the classic Wolfman/Perez era. However, I think Dick works best when he's cracking jokes non-stop while punching badguys with a big smile on his face. Hopefully, they'll course correct in the second season, particularly after seeing how successful Doom Patrol was at balancing the humor and darkness. I'm not even going to get into the mess that comics's Dick is currently mired in

Wonder Woman is a bit too serious for my tastes, along with Aquaman, which is likely why I've never warmed to either of them enough to regularly follow their titles for any extended period of time. There's certainly been some great comedy mined from Diana's early experiences in Man's World, such as Johns's oft recycled ice cream joke, but few writers have managed to give Wonder Woman much of a sense of humor in the modern day.

The same has unfortunately been true of Aquaman in the comics, although the Brave & the Bold cartoon and Jason Mamoa have certainly found ways of making the character funny. My guess is being saddled with being the father of a dead baby for decades had a lot to do with that, which is very likely one of the main reasons Geoff Johns retconned that away as soon as he could in the New 52. Not many guys are going to be cracking a lot of jokes with a murdered infant son haunting them forever.

The Flash has generally managed to remain such a light-hearted superhero, despite all the various tragedies creators have thrown at them, and each speedsters respective sense of humor has been a key factor in that. Whether it's the dad jokes of Jay Garrick, the nerdy quips of Barry Allen, the everyman zingers of Wally West, or the ADHD goofiness of Bart Allen, The Flash is almost always a funny character.

Same goes for most of the various Green Lanterns. While Alan Scott was the straight man to the comedic Doiby Dickles, Hal Jordan was constantly creating goofy constructs for no other reason other than making himself laugh like trapping a purse snatcher in a giant green purse, and this was carried over to later GLs like Guy Gardner and Kyle Rayner. Even though John Stewart has been stuck being the more serious due to his own personal tragedies of being widowed and more, he was actually pretty funny in the beginning, like "accidentally" putting a racist politician in blackface.

Martian Manhunter's bemused, sometimes exasperated, but worldly sense of humor was one of the delights of the Bwa-Ha-Ha era of the League. It's a shame that not enough writers show this side of J'Onn anymore.

What about you? Which characters in the DCU have your favorite sense of humor?

[Blue22]

Aside from the obvious comic relief characters like Harley or Bart (the latter usually always able to get a smile out of me), I tend to enjoy characters that have a bit of a dry, sarcastic, or even dark sense of humor. The ones that immediately come to mind for me are characters like Alfred, Jason, or even Lois at times. Not really the kinds of characters who'll make you laugh out loud, but still have lines that might make you chuckle to yourself or think "Heh. That was pretty clever".

[Adekis]

Early Superman's got one of my favorites, but I think the way it was pitched during the Golden Age has kind of fallen off, which is somewhat disappointing to me. I kind of like when he'd smash his way through a Nazi submarine and say "That's my good deed for the day!" or what-have-you. A foe shoots at him and he remarks "I sense you're an optimist!" Stuff like that!

Amusingly, in his first (and only Golden Age) appearance, Metalo was basically treated as an evil version of Superman, cape and all, but I thought the coolest thing about him was that he made exactly the same kinds of wisecracks as Superman himself! Seeing Kent take the same kind of trash talk he'd so often doled out was pretty funny, but it mostly worked because of how much I like that kind of trash talking in the first place.

Oh, and on a totally unrelated note, obviously Impulse is amazing. A personal favorite is in Legion of Three Worlds, when Superboy-Prime yells "You're toast!" at Bart, and he responds, "With jelly!" I believe.

[HandofPrometheus]

Comics don't really make me laugh but Captain Boomerang back in the 80s was hilarious because he was such an ******* and when bad stuff happened to him it was so refreshing.

John Stewart in his early years made me laugh a lot mainly because his personality was just perfect and he was charming.

[DCStu]

The Rebirth Harley Quinn books have made me laugh out loud on a couple of occasions. It usually involves Red Tool somehow.

[qwertyuiop1998]

Not have strictly characters,but i laughed out many times when I reading justice league international

[dancj]

Alfred Pennyworth by a mile

[caj]

Blue and Gold for the win

[MrBlondey]

Oh yeah, I was gonna say Batman had a few zingers lately, but that cover sais it all! BWA HA HA

[Jim Kelly]

The Magazine of Weird Humor!

PLOP!

[stargazer01]

One of the most refreshing aspects of Bendis taking over the Super books is that we've now got a Superman who is consistently funny again. Superman's sense of humor is a tricky balance that not every writer has managed to nail because he's often making jokes at the expense of hapless criminals completely out of their league. Thus far, Bendis has threaded that needle pretty well. Superman's humor was the secret ingredient of the Donner films that too many attempting to ape those films often forget-- Superman was constantly making jokes and was clearly having the time of his life playing the mild mannered goofball at the Daily Planet. Superman's also one of the first superheroes to break the fourth wall and acknowledge the audience, paving the way for Ambush Bug, She-Hulk and Deadpool years later. Jerry Seigel said it best when he explained that the key to Superman was that even though he had dedicated his entire life to defending truth and justice, he made sure to never take himself too seriously in the process.

In the right hands, Batman has the most cutting dry wits in the DCU, although that's clearly something he learned from the absolute master of the passive-aggressive sarcasm--Alfred Pennyworth. There's also a lot of comedy to be mined with the more self-serious Batman being so overly-sensitive about himself that he constantly feels the need to correct anyone who suggests that he pads his Bat-suit or one of his Bat-gadgets isn't perfect. The concept of Batman is so ridiculous, as most superheroes are, that I think he really shines when the humor isn't forgotten among all the misery, death, and sadness. Otherwise, Batman's just a sad rich kid with issues beating up the mentally ill.

One of the things that disappointed me the most about Dick Grayson on the Titans TV show was how utterly humorless he was, which, to be fair, was also true of his characterization in the classic Wolfman/Perez era. However, I think Dick works best when he's cracking jokes non-stop while punching badguys with a big smile on his face. Hopefully, they'll course correct in the second season, particularly after seeing how successful Doom Patrol was at balancing the humor and darkness. I'm not even going to get into the mess that comics's Dick is currently mired in

Wonder Woman is a bit too serious for my tastes, along with Aquaman, which is likely why I've never warmed to either of them enough to regularly follow their titles for any extended period of time. There's certainly been some great comedy mined from Diana's early experiences in Man's World, such as Johns's oft recycled ice cream joke, but few writers have managed to give Wonder Woman much of a sense of humor in the modern day.

The same has unfortunately been true of Aquaman in the comics, although the Brave & the Bold cartoon and Jason Mamoa have certainly found ways of making the character funny. My guess is being saddled with being the father of a dead baby for decades had a lot to do with that, which is very likely one of the main reasons Geoff Johns retconned that away as soon as he could in the New 52. Not many guys are going to be cracking a lot of jokes with a murdered infant son haunting them forever.

The Flash has generally managed to remain such a light-hearted superhero, despite all the various tragedies creators have thrown at them, and each speedsters respective sense of humor has been a key factor in that. Whether it's the dad jokes of Jay Garrick, the nerdy quips of Barry Allen, the everyman zingers of Wally West, or the ADHD goofiness of Bart Allen, The Flash is almost always a funny character.

Same goes for most of the various Green Lanterns. While Alan Scott was the straight man to the comedic Doiby Dickles, Hal Jordan was constantly creating goofy constructs for no other reason other than making himself laugh like trapping a purse snatcher in a giant green purse, and this was carried over to later GLs like Guy Gardner and Kyle Rayner. Even though John Stewart has been stuck being the more serious due to his own personal tragedies of being widowed and more, he was actually pretty funny in the beginning, like "accidentally" putting a racist politician in blackface.

Martian Manhunter's bemused, sometimes exasperated, but worldly sense of humor was one of the delights of the Bwa-Ha-Ha era of the League. It's a shame that not enough writers show this side of J'Onn anymore.

What about you? Which characters in the DCU have your favorite sense of humor?

I love this thread! I think you nailed it on Superman's humor. I have no idea why some people think that he needs to be super serious all the time. He does have a sense of humor and he also has swagger when he wants to, and Donner showed it perfectly with the Lois interview on the roof and also during his first day as a superhero when he was stopping street based criminals. I'm not sure how to call Superman's kind of humor.. witty and also cocky?

I'm not a big fan of Reeve's clumsy Clark kent, though, because it's too over the top and cartoony. Makes Clark look too goofy to me. I prefer mild-mannered Clark.

I also loved that scene in Superman Returns when the bullet crashed on his eye and he was totally fine. The way he looked at the criminal, so cocky! Justice League for all its faults also captured Superman's humor perfectly, especially when he teased The Flash during the race. Man of Steel also had a bit of it, IMO, when Cavill Superman asks Lois to move away before he takes off; he was being cocky and charming to me. he really needed more of those moments of fun in his movies.

The Flash is just a funny and charming character to me. That's why I enjoyed Ezra Miller in the role. He captured the innocence and child-like quality I like in the character. yes, he has his dark moments, but he is an optimist deep down.

I also enjoy Batman's dry and sarcastic humor. I think the JL unlimited cartoon captured it well. Affleck's Batman did too in some scenes in JL movie, especially with Aquaman. And Momoa's Aquaman is really funny in a charming way, IMO. Deep down he is a very funny guy but he doesn't want you to know it, so he pretends to be this really tough guy. We need more of this in the movies and shows, IMO. It makes the ride more entertaining. Sure, some moments need to be serious, but not the whole time.

[Lee Stone]

Blue and Gold for the win

Definitely.
The Archie and Jughead of the DCU.
With Guy as Reggie, Fire as Veronica, and Ice as Betty.

[The Darknight Detective]

When I was a kid, it was the Joker hands down, especially in his own title. For whatever reason, his brand of black humor did it for me.

[Bored at 3:00AM]

I'm not a big fan of Reeve's clumsy Clark kent, though, because it's too over the top and cartoony. Makes Clark look too goofy to me. I prefer mild-mannered Clark.

Reeve's Clark works for me because it's an extension of his sense of humor. He's having a blast playing up the goofiness. It's a
private practical joke he's enjoying acting like the biggest goofball he possibly can. I think this scene crystalizes it perfectly. Just look at the big rascally smirk on his face at end when he throws away the bullet. That's why the over the top cartooniness of Reeve's Clark works for me, because he's having so much fun playing the part, he can't help himself from going a little too over the top and yet still manages to get away with it (until Lois figures it out, of course)...

[Cap808]

Dick Grayson, be it Robin or Nightwing. I can imagine being one of the henchmen of Batman's rogues, and some young punk is talking trash to you as he's kicking your butt.