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The Joker has caused too many deaths but the responsibility for his death should not fall on Batman, but on his greatest ally.
WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for The Joker #12, on sale now.
“Why doesn’t Batman kill the Joker?” is a question both casual and hardcore fans of the Caped Crusader ask each other. As one of the most iconic and terrifying villains in all of fiction, the Joker has been responsible for countless deaths and an untold amount of misery in Gotham and nearly every other corner of the DC Universe. Due to the body count attached to his name and the sheer glee he gets out of causing so much destruction, one can make the case that the Joker is a rare case of a person who not only deserves to die but needs to for the good of humanity.
However, many people always attach the responsibility for the Joker’s actions and his life solely on Batman. While it makes sense, considering the long relationship the two foes have with one another, the Joker has caused harm to so many people’s lives, that there are plenty of other contenders. The Joker series for the past twelve issues has been focusing on Commissioner Gordon, the man who has perhaps suffered more than anyone from the Clown Prince’s continued existence. While a man of resolve and an unshakeable code of honor who would normally balk at an extrajudicial murder, Gordon being the one to end the Joker’s life could be a satisfying conclusion to their story and while against his own ethics, could entirely be justified given all that he has been through.
While there is an argument that it should be either Batman or another member of the Bat-family (especially Red Hood) to be the one to end the Joker’s life, it runs counter to everything Gotham’s costumed vigilantes stand for. Not only do Batman and his family have a moral code of honor that separates them from the criminals they fight against, it also helps them as incorruptible symbols of a better future for Gotham City. Additionally, plenty of alternative universes have shown what happens when Batman crosses that line and it rarely ends well for Gotham or the rest of the DC Universe. Commissioner Gordon, on the other hand, is neither a superhero nor a symbol, he is simply a police officer who took an oath to serve his community.
Since his early career as a Captain in Gotham, Jim Gordon has always been presented as a good man in a bad city. The Joker series has expanded this by portraying Batman’s oldest ally as a good man in an evil world, where corruption and depravity are embedded within the system that governs our world itself, and allows villains like the Joker to get away with murder for so long. The Joker #12 has a scene where Gordon is lamenting the unfairness of the world and the advantages of “cutting corners” while also commenting that maybe he’s too “stubborn” to cross that line. While he acknowledges that it’s not his nature to commit such an act, it hints that Gordon may finally be ready to pull the trigger on the Joker once and for all and enjoy the payday he is getting for it.
Related: Catwoman’s Breakdown of the Joker Confirms a Horrifying Truth About the Villain
With the recent revelation that Bane was the man behind A-Day and has been the one to orchestrate the plan for Gordon to carry out his hit, the Joker now currently has the cannibalistic Sampson Family, Bane, Bane’s daughter Vengeance, the Court of Owls, and Jim Gordon himself all out to murder him. Additionally, with rumors that Batman may be dying along with other members of the Justice League and The Joker series is set to end around the same time, it seems plausible that DC would kill the Joker around the same time as Batman as the Joker wouldn’t want to live in a world without his “darling”.
Against such forces, it seems incredibly difficult for even the Clown Prince of Crime himself to get out of the situation. Even though it goes against Gordon’s ethical code, no one is more deserving of revenge against the Joker than he is, and “cutting corners” in this case may be fully within his rights, even if it puts him at odds with his greatest ally. While it is a line Gordon once promised himself he would never cross, it may just be time for him to sacrifice that code for the greater good of humanity and end the Joker’s life once and for all.
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