Batman/Dylan Dog #3 Reveals The Joker’s One Standard

Most believe that The Joker will do anything, no matter how sick, for a laugh. A self-styled symbol of chaos made manifest, the Clown Prince of Crime lives to defy the social order. However, as Batman/Dylan Dog #3 reveals, there is still one thing that offends even the Harlequin of Hate, and indeed may terrify him.

Written by Roberto Recchioni, with art by Werther Dell’Edera and Gigi Cavenago, Batman/Dylan Dog #3 finds The Joker returned to Gotham City after some time abroad. The archenemy of Batman joined forces with Doctor Xabaras, a mad scientist and archenemy of Dylan Dog. The two combined their respective sciences to resurrect serial killer Christopher Killex. The Joker viewed Killex, who had died after repeated clashes with Dylan Dog, as a potential partner in crime and friend. Killex also murdered people in creative fashions, as part of his efforts to find scientific proof that the human soul existed.

However, Killex was far from grateful for what The Joker and Doctor Xabaras had done. Far from the friend he hoped for, Killex viewed the Clown Prince of Crime’s mad murders as the opposite of his own killings. Killex murdered to try and find the meaning of life and an essential cosmic order. This stood in stark contrast to the absurdist nihilism of Gotham City’s greatest villain.

The Joker Cannot Abide Killing Without Passion

After Killex parted ways with him, The Joker was recaptured by Batman. Once confined at Arkham Asylum, he asked to speak with Dylan Dog. He then made a surprising offer to help him stop Killex’s renewed killing spree. When Dog questioned why the Mogul of Mountebanks would want to help him and Batman, the Joker said he had to, describing Killex as “a complete monster.”

While he was a killer, the Clown Prince of Crime also prided himself on being an artist, who put passion into his work. By contrast, Killex was a clinical, sterile killer. While he had no moral objections to anyone killing anyone, The Joker believed there was “nothing worse than emptiness.” This inspired a moral obligation to help Dylan Dog, whose intuitive approach to crime-fighting was the only way to track a soulless monstrosity like Killex.

Batman/Dylan Dog #3 is now available at comic shops everywhere.