DC comics retiring The Joker?

[phantom1592]

Marvel's most popular villain is doctor doom and even he is barely holding onto that distinction nowadays
Joker is comfortably far and away in his own little bubble above all the villains at DC and Marvel he now has a foothold on pop culture all its own

There was a time where marvel could have reached that level with a character but for the last decade or so they have basically invested in their heroes fighting each other

Doom's biggest problem is that he fights Fantastic Four.... who for the most part are REALLY boring. They're a great concept, but their books just can't keep an audience. In my opinion, Doom works best fighting EVERYONE. Like the original Secret Wars... Infinity Gauntlet... Even the new Secret Wars. Doom is bigger tehn just Reed Richards..

And I agree about heroes fighting heroes... it's REALLY gotten old and worn out. Civil War 1&2, A v X, Schism, even secret invasion had skrulls that LOOKED like heroes... >.<

[AlexanderLuthor]

What if you owned a unicorn that pooped skittles? The Joker is arguably DC's 3rd most valuable property (maybe 2nd?)

[Atlanta96]

Marvel's most popular villain is doctor doom and even he is barely holding onto that distinction nowadays
Joker is comfortably far and away in his own little bubble above all the villains at DC and Marvel he now has a foothold on pop culture all its own

There was a time where marvel could have reached that level with a character but for the last decade or so they have basically invested in their heroes fighting each other

Is Doctor Doom even a villain anymore? Him and Tony Stark seemed to get along alright in the last Iron Man issue I read.

If DC did retire the Joker, which they won't, I can imagine someone like Two Face or Bane taking his place. The only thing Joker has done that other Batman villains haven't is kill one of Batmans allies. If Harvey Dent takes out a Bat-Family member, which considering the size of the family I wouldn't really mind if he did, he could be a worthy replacement for the Joker.

[batnbreakfast]

Some other folks should rest a little while: Ra's, Talia and the League of Ass. They didn't have a good story since DEATH AND THE MAIDENS

[Kurtzberg]

Some other folks should rest a little while: Ra's, Talia and the League of Ass. They didn't have a good story since DEATH AND THE MAIDENS

Batman Inc was pretty damn good, one of the best I've read in years, and that was a Talia story.

[batnbreakfast]

Batman Inc was pretty damn good, one of the best I've read in years, and that was a Talia story.

I like Morrison's run and parts of INC, the parts not dealing with Ra's/Talia/League stuff just not my thing. I loved Ra's and that type of BondESQUE villain in the beginning but at some point I lost interest. Can't even tell you why.

[JohnnyGoodboy]

Hugo Strange would be my choice. He's criminally underused although his recent showing up in Gotham might change that.

[Rod G]

My choice ought to be the Scarecrow.

The Joker brings smiles.


The Scarecrow brings fright.