Batman: Dead to Rights - part 3

[espanolbot]

The first trial of the Joker continues, with an increased guard after Mr J lethally poisoned a judge with a severe peanut allergy in the previous issue.

A psychologist has been called on by the defence to try and prove that the Joker isn't mentally competant enough to stand trial for his many, MANY crimes.

The defence lawyer: Doctor, would you characterise my client as either a pyschopath or a sociopath?
The doctor: Truthfully... I don't know what he is.



Defence lawyer: Is my client in any way mentally fit to stand trial?
Doctor: I do not think the defendant is capable of assisting in his own defence.
Defence Lawyer: So your answer is "no", doctor?
Doctor: No.
Judge: Your witness, Mr. Dent...

The interview is intercut with Matches Malone committing some crimes to get locked up in the cell next to the Joker, to try and get an insight into what the Joker wants.





Detective Shancole, the guy whose wife was talked into committing suicide by the Joker within hours of being dumped at the police station, struggles to snatch a pistol from a guard to try and shoot the Joker, but he's stopped by his friend.

Later, the Mayor is yelling at DA Harvey Dent and Lt. Gordon about how incompetant he feels the pair are, and how he wants "that freak in a prison cell. Not in some glorified rest home watching 'the View' between art therapy and nap time." He leaves, with Dent leaving soon afterwards.

The Batman shows up and tells Gordon that he should be more careful with how he treats the Joker, getting the bitter response: "Excuse me for thinking shotguns, leg-irons and a straitjacket would do the trick." He then says that he thinks that Batman is just as in the dark with how to deal with the Joker as everyone else. Batman says that all they need to do is work out what the Joker wants, and they'll be able to use that to control him better.

This leads back to the Matches Malone bit at the beginning of the issue, where he's now in the cell next to the Joker's cell. The pair talk for a while, and its revealled that the Joker spotted that Matches was Batman almost instantly. As Batman just gives up the pretence and changes back into his uniform, the Joker turning his back because "I like-a me the ladies", Mr J decides to finally just say what it is he's after,

"You really didn't need to go to all this trouble. I'm happy to share. All I want for Christmas is... you. You're the wind beneath my winds. And suprise, suprise, sweetie darling. I'm the Wind beneath your's. You complete me.

"Here's the deal. I don't care if I'm in jail or living in a mansion with a cement pond. I'm going to hurt people. AND I'll have my jollies doing it. Until you kill me... or I kill you. So, either way, grow the testes to play by Brooklyn rules..."




After the trial, Gordon goes to Shancole's home, to try and convince him to go to AA again, having stopped since his wife died. He tells him that either he gets help about his drinking, or he'll have to turn in his badge and gun.

Shancole immediate turns in his badge, but just as he says that he'll need his fun for a little while longer, Gordon notices a gurgle coming from behind Shancole's couch. It's Shancole's detective friend, and he's been shot twice in the chest.

The issue ends with Detective Shancole apologising to Jim, and then shooting him as well...

Comments

[jlbarnett]

I do not understand how writers can write this character and not end it with someone pulling his head off his neck.

[espanolbot]

Well, the story IS partially about a policeman who snaps after the Joker killed his wife, and tries to murder the Joker for revenge, so it's not as if the issue is being danced around in this storyline.

Though it is kinda non-canon.

[auggie18]

Yep. Feels like this conversation rolls around every few months, but it's pretty massively true. When you have a character running around blowing up school buses, forcing fathers to eat their own babies, and kidnapping the goddamn President, there should be some freaking consequences. There are people who can kill in the DCU and unlike us, they don't know it won't stick. Just have a cop blast him, leave him dead for a year or two, then bring him back.


I mean, geez...

[jlbarnett]

hell, just have him randomly go back to be a humorous guy

[drmcninja]

Victoria Hand's quote comes to mind when I think of this. I can't remember the exact wording, but it was along the lines of, When a hero constantly catches a criminal, but he always breaks out and kills more people, always to be brought back in and break out again, at what point does it become the hero's fault for not having him killed?

Courts apply all the same. Just give him the death penalty or something, for real. You'd think eventually someone would realize, "Oh, hey, he IS crazy, but all he really does with it is kill dozens and dozens of people. Maybe he DOES know what he's doing!"

[starwolf_oakley]

It was Maria Hill, actually. She said how another SHIELD agent wondered when Norman Osborn killing people became Spider-Man's fault for not killing Norman. While it isn't Spider-Man's fault Norman is crazy, it is his fault he's still alive. (Also, Spider-Man may be the ONLY good guy in the Marvel universe who doesn't want to kill the bad guys.)

http://pics.livejournal.com/starwolf_oakley/pic/005a7wyk
http://scans-daily.dreamwidth.org/2705302.html

Nightwing and Oracle had a similar conversation about the Joker during LAST LAUGH, as they never did anything "permanent" to stop the Joker.

http://scans-daily.dreamwidth.org/1002706.html

[an_idol_mind]

I would say that Maria Hill's argument is bunk, but considering that the Joker's life has been directly saved by superheroes at least three times that I know of, his case would be an exception. Batman has tried harder to save the Joker's life than he does for some innocent civilians.

[blunderbuss]

Yeah, why not give him ACTUAL death immunity so he can come back from the dead? Then he could at least DIE every once in a while.

[an_idol_mind]

Or stop having him get caught all the time. When the Joker got uncertain death scenes or managed to escape while Batman saved some innocent lives, the Gotham legal system didn't look as wall-bangingly stupid.

[venatosapiens]

This doesn't work. Period. Stop.

[blunderbuss]

Yep. Joker is a character that needs a steady hand to make sure he doesn't make the suspension of disbelief, but they fail every single time.