Would you trust the Joker? Of course not, that would be crazy. But what if the fate of Gotham City depended on it? What if the only way to save the city was to trust the Clown Prince of Crime? This is something Batman is currently struggling with. If you read the recent Batman #7 by Matt Fraction and Jorge Jimenez, then you know Joker is claiming to be cured of his insanity, and he has a dire warning for Batman about the future of Gotham.
Joker seems harmless in his stasis tube, and the enigmatic Dr. Zeller has given the Clown Prince a clean bill of health, but teaming up with the Joker rarely turns out well. If Batman needs more convincing, then he should look no further than the Joker’s past partnerships. Here are six people who regretted teaming up with Gotham’s most notorious villain…
The Penguin
In 1944’s Batman #25, Joker partnered with the Penguin, marking his first official supervillain team-up. (The Joker encountered Catwoman in 1940’s Batman #2, but they had been adversaries.) Some prison administrator thought it would be a bright idea to put Penguin in Joker’s cell, which results in the two villains helping one another escape and forming a criminal alliance.
The problem is that both Joker and Penguin have huge egos, which makes it hard to have a successful partnership. Ultimately Penguin misses the opportunity to kill Batman and Robin once and for all because he’s too wrapped up in trying to outdo Joker. The experience is so bad that Oswald Cobblepot vows to never take on a partner again. For his part, Joker blames the failure on Penguin, calling him a lousy partner.
Sal Valestra
In the Batman Animated Universe, Sal Valestra was a crime boss who had used Jack Napier as a hitman before he transformed into the Joker. During Batman: Mask of the Phantasm, various members of Sal’s old criminal organization begin getting murdered one by one, and Sal suspects that Batman is behind it. (In reality, the murders are being committed by the titular Phantasm.) Fearing for his life, Sal approaches his old associate Joker, reasoning that if anyone could take Batman on, he could do it.
Sal offers the Joker $5 million to protect him from Batman, and the Clown Prince accepts…and then proceeds to kill Sal himself. Joker then uses Sal’s corpse as a booby trap for the Phantasm. Sorry Sal, but this one is on you. Why on Earth would you pick the Joker to be your bodyguard?
Mister Mxyzptlk
Mister Mxyzptlk has always been a lover of mischief and chaos, so it makes sense that he would be drawn to the Joker. During the Emperor Joker storyline, Mxy decides it will be fun to give the Clown Prince 1% of his power and see what kind of mayhem he creates. What could possibly go wrong?
Just about everything.
Joker tricks Mxy into giving him 99% of his power and traps him on the moon. He then remakes the world in his image, proclaiming himself Emperor Joker. The Clown Prince uses his cosmic powers to torture Earth’s heroes, reshape reality and cause all kinds of destruction. In the end, Superman tricks the Joker into giving up his powers and everything returns to normal, but not before he gives Mxy an earful about why you shouldn’t team up with homicidal clowns.
Ra’s al Ghul
Ra’s has centuries of life experience, so he really should’ve known better on this one. During The Demon Laughs storyline, Ra’s al Ghul decides it would be a bright idea to team up with the Joker to create a doomsday virus. Seriously, there are so many red flags going into this partnership that it’s amazing Ra’s didn’t abort sooner.
When Ra’s has his men capture the Joker from Arkham, the Clown Prince headbutts Ra’s and kills some of his soldiers. Amazingly, Ra’s still believes the gambit is worth it, even as his daughter Talia insists the Joker will betray him. It turns out Talia is right, and Joker tries using the virus on Ra’s. Fortunately, the Demon’s Head knew there was a risk of the Joker betraying him and had developed a vaccine in preparation. The entire experience tests Ra’s al Ghul’s patience, and he ultimately realizes that while the Joker is a keen strategist, working with him is more trouble than it’s worth.
Simon Hurt and the Black Glove
Dr. Simon Hurt and the Black Glove have a plot to kill the Dark Knight, and in Batman R.I.P., they nearly succeed. Their two fatal mistakes are underestimating Batman and recruiting the Joker. It doesn’t take long for the Clown Prince to remind Simon Hurt that he’s a literal wild card and turn on the Black Glove.
The Joker kills one of their members and promises Simon and the others he will come for the rest of them in good time. True to his word, the Joker adopts the new identity of the Domino Killer and hunts down various members of the Black Glove.
Why? Because he can.
Lex Luthor (Again and Again and Again)
In 1957’s World’s Finest Comics #88, Lex Luthor teams up with the Joker for the first time. The duo start their own manufacturing company, which is really a front for them creating robots to commit crimes. The plan is foiled by Batman and Superman, and Luthor blames Joker for their failure. However, that doesn’t stop Lex from teaming up with the Joker again. And guess what? It keeps blowing up in Lex’s face.
In 1990’s World’s Finest, Joker targets Lex’s business as revenge for reneging on their partnership. In 2008’s Salvation Run, Joker turns on Lex and gives him a severe beating. In 2024’s Batman/Superman: World’s Finest #25, Joker betrays Lex during a heist for the Heart of Eternium. Do you need more examples, because I could go on for another 1,000 words.
The point is, despite claiming he’s the greatest criminal mind of all time, Lex keeps on making the mistake of partnering with the Joker, even though it always blows up in his face. Even Harley Quinn eventually called it quits. What does it say that when it comes to the Joker, Harley seems to have more sense than Lex Luthor?
With all this in mind, should Batman really trust the Joker? Dr. Zeller may claim he’s a changed man, and on the surface, it would seem like there’s not a lot of harm he can do in a stasis tube, but the Clown Prince’s track record isn’t filling me with confidence. If I were Batman, I would take everything the Joker says with a grain of salt. Or he can just ignore all the red flags like Lex Luthor and hope it works out better for him because…he’s Batman, I suppose? We’ll just have to keep reading Fraction and Jimenez’s Batman to find out.
Joshua Lapin-Bertone writes about TV, movies and comics for DC.com, is a regular contributor to the Couch Club and writes our monthly Batman column, "Gotham Gazette." Follow him on Bluesky at @joshualapinbertone and on X at @TBUJosh.
NOTE: The views and opinions expressed in this feature are solely those of Joshua Lapin-Bertone and do not necessarily reflect those of DC or Warner Bros. Discovery, nor should they be read as confirmation or denial of future DC plans.
