He is depicted as a hybrid of both Batman (Bruce Wayne) and Batman's arch enemy Joker, and is a member of the Dark Knights and the overarching antagonist of the Dark Multiverse Saga, alongside cosmic deities Perpetua and Barbatos, from 2017 to 2021, following DC Rebirth. His first appearance was in the crossover storyline Dark Nights: Metal, before receiving his own series and serving as the main antagonist in Batman/Superman in 2019 and DC Comics' Year of the Villain alongside Lex Luthor.
His name is an allusion to the original Batman’s seriousness and to the 1928 film The Man Who Laughs featuring Conrad Veidt, whose performance inspired the creation of the Joker.
Publication history
The Batman Who Laughs was created by Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo first appearing in the comic book Dark Days: The Casting. The character was depicted as an alternate universe Batman who does not have a code against killing. Snyder explained his intent on the character in an interview by The Hollywood Reporter: "He's basically Batman's worst nightmare come to life: Batman, if he was infected by the Joker toxin and lost all sense of ethics. What he wants to do in Gotham is bring Bruce’s worst nightmares to life".[1] Snyder's hope was that his character would be popular enough to get his own comic book series, and Snyder believed that "Jock would be the perfect person to do it"..[1]
Fictional character biography
The Batman Who Laughs is an alternate universe variant of Batman from Earth -22 in the Dark Multiverse who was transformed into a Joker-like form as part of the original Joker's dying scheme. He then takes over Earth, killing most of his allies and turning his son Damian Wayne into a mini-Joker.[2]
After arriving on Prime-Earth, the Batman Who Laughs attempts to destroy reality using the Anti-Monitor's brain, but is defeated and imprisoned in the Hall of Justice.[3][4]
In Dark Nights: Death Metal, The Batman Who Laughs becomes Perpetua's lieutenant, aided by an army of evil alternate Batmen called the Dark Knights. Wonder Woman kills him, but the Dark Knights preserve his brain and transfer it to the body of "Batmanhattan", a variant of Batman who possesses Doctor Manhattan's reality-warping abilities.[5][6][7][8][9][10] Now known as the "Darkest Knight", he attempts to remake the universe before Wonder Woman destroys him by pushing him into the sun.[11][12][13]
Collected editions
Title
Material collected
Published date
ISBN
Dark Nights: Metal — Dark Knights Rising
Batman: The Red Death #1, Batman: The Devastator #1, Batman: The Merciless #1, Batman: The Murder Machine #1, Batman: The Drowned #1, Batman: The Dawnbreaker #1, The Batman Who Laughs (vol. 1) #1, Dark Knights Rising: The Wild Hunt #1
The Batman Who Laughs is depicted as having the same abilities as Batman, combined with the twisted nihilism of the Joker. Furthermore, he has a futuristic visor made out of "Dark Metal" that gives him a form of precognition, and wields various weapons, including machine guns, knives, and a bladed chain.
The Batman Who Laughs also uses batarangs made of "Dark Metal" that can bring out the worst version of the victim.
In Dark Knights: Death Metal, The Batman Who Laughs gains the powers of Doctor Manhattan by having Dr. Arkham surgically integrate his mind into that of a Bruce Wayne with Manhattan’s powers, granting him nigh-omnipotence, flight, and teleportation among other powers.
Like other inhabitants of the Dark Multiverse, The Batman Who Laughs is vulnerable to Nth Metal.
Reception
The Batman Who Laughs has been commonly described as "horrifying" by website authors.[14][15][16]Comic Book Resources describes The Batman Who Laughs as comprising all the "best" parts of Batman and the "worst" parts of the Joker.[17]
The character has been compared to Judge Death in design.[18] The character's creator, Scott Snyder, noted that the two characters have a similar aesthetic.[19][20]
The character appeared as an expansion for the second edition of the board game Zombicide.[24]
Merchandise
Knight Models has a line of gaming miniatures based on the DC comics run. Funko has released action figures of the character.[25] Various figures from companies such as Diamond Select Toys and Prime 1 Studios have produced figures as well.[20]McFarlane Toys has also made a version of The Batman Who Laughs for their new DC Multiverse line of 7-inch figures. McFarlane Toys also made a 5-inch Super Powers figure of The Batman Who Laughs in 2022..
