Does Joker kill too many people?

[Robotman]

In the first chapter of Joker War, Batman says that The Joker sees people as just meat to be slaughtered. As Joker killed yet another room full of people I realized that it just doesn’t really matter. There’s no shock value if Joker is just going to kill 50 people every time he appears. The reader is desensitized if Joker is killing people left and right every time he shows up.

In his first appearance he called out a few specific targets and Batman had to figure out how he would do it. In the past decade or so it seems like Joker kills countless people before the story really gets started. There’s no real suspense or intrigue.

[Restingvoice]

In one story? Yes. Counting ever stories? Yes

[Claude]

The move from "the thing about Joker is that he's a clown" to "the thing about Joker is that he's a pestilential force of death who kills hundreds at a pop and has no motive apart from making Batman do Batman things" feels like a representation of all that's gone a little off-beam in comics.

It doesn't help that most Batman writers wouldn't actually know a joke if it Exposed The Dark Truth About Gotham in front of them.

[batnbreakfast]

Batman is ridiculously overpowered and so Joker, as his nemesis, also needs to be but it doesn't make for better stories DC. The past 1-2 years have been a nice jumping-off point for me.

[Frontier]

I just feel numb to Joker killings at this point.

The move from "the thing about Joker is that he's a clown" to "the thing about Joker is that he's a pestilential force of death who kills hundreds at a pop and has no motive apart from making Batman do Batman things" feels like a representation of all that's gone a little off-beam in comics.

It doesn't help that most Batman writers wouldn't actually know a joke if it Exposed The Dark Truth About Gotham in front of them.

Paul Dini seems to be one of the few writers who still gets the Joker's supposed to be funny on-top of his homicidal mayhem.

[Alan2099]

Yes. A thousand times (which is about his body count per story) Yes!

[king81992]

The Joker has killed way too many people and Batman's insistence on not putting him down makes Batman look incompetent.

[jb681131]

The Joker has killed way too many people and Batman's insistence on not putting him down makes Batman look incompetent.

Batman doesn't kill. The incompetants are the Gotham Asylum Arkham) and the Gotham prison (Blackgate).

But without the Joker getting out, there wouldn't all thos fun Joker stories.

As for the Joker Killing too much, I would say no. He's a killing vilain, so he's got to kill. When he's in a story, he's got to kill, otherwise the reading is disapointed.

[JackDaw]

The Joker has killed way too many people and Batman's insistence on not putting him down makes Batman look incompetent.

I don’t suppose Batman can just off him. But one would think he would have done something creative by now like getting Superman transport him into Phantom Zone.

How does he keep escaping anyway? (Having a wide mouth and a green and white complexion doesn’t strike me as a particularly useful powerset for jail breaks.)

[Klaxton]

Asking does Joker kills too many people is like asking does people drink water. Joker kills people like breathing.

[scary harpy]

In one story? Yes. Counting ever stories? Yes

Good Reply.

And I would like to add Yes.

[Robotman]

Batman doesn't kill. The incompetants are the Gotham Asylum Arkham) and the Gotham prison (Blackgate).

But without the Joker getting out, there wouldn't all thos fun Joker stories.

As for the Joker Killing too much, I would say no. He's a killing vilain, so he's got to kill. When he's in a story, he's got to kill, otherwise the reading is disapointed.

I’m not saying he shouldn’t kill. The Joker is a deadly villain. It’s just that when he kills a hundred or so people every time he shows up, the reader just gets numb to the act. Something like death should never get to the point of being boring. After reading the first part of Joker War I realize DC has gotten to that point with the character.

[thwhtGuardian]

I’m not saying he shouldn’t kill. The Joker is a deadly villain. It’s just that when he kills a hundred or so people every time he shows up, the reader just gets numb to the act. Something like death should never get to the point of being boring. After reading the first part of Joker War I realize DC has gotten to that point with the character.

It's not just Joker War, he's been that way for years now.

[JackDaw]

I’m not saying he shouldn’t kill. The Joker is a deadly villain. It’s just that when he kills a hundred or so people every time he shows up, the reader just gets numb to the act. Something like death should never get to the point of being boring. After reading the first part of Joker War I realize DC has gotten to that point with the character.

Numb.

And it also makes it harder for reader to have sufficient suspension of disbelief to fully enjoy the ongoing Batman/Joker saga.

Inevitably you start wondering why Joker can’t be dealt with more competently...he really doesn’t have an impressive power set. You begin to wonder why The Martian Manhunter or Zatanna hasn’t mind wiped him long ago...surely Batman isn’t too proud to ask for help when hundreds are dying.

It just feels like run of the mill boring writing. Perhaps I’m wrong..after all I deliberately avoid reading Joker stories nowadays.

[TheMaker1610]

Batman doesn't kill. The incompetants are the Gotham Asylum Arkham) and the Gotham prison (Blackgate).

But without the Joker getting out, there wouldn't all thos fun Joker stories.

As for the Joker Killing too much, I would say no. He's a killing vilain, so he's got to kill. When he's in a story, he's got to kill, otherwise the reading is disapointed.

I am pretty sure the Joker is either
A- paying corrupt Arkham Staff members
or
B- making direct threats on the live of any unfortunate Arkham staff member that happened to make any sort interaction with him

That being said, it really amuses me how neither Batman, the GCPD, or Arkham higher-ups could figure that already, or work on it to prevent Joker from making any more harm.. smh