Batman: Shadow of the Bat #38

THE JOKER PART 2 - TEARS OF A CLOWN

The Joker addresses his recent abductees at the abandoned Mercey Mansion. He reflects upon the time before he became the Joker, when he was little more than a down on his luck comedian. Having failed to impress the audiences at Gotham University, he has now decided to pay them back for failing to laugh at his jokes. All of the Joker's prisoners are outfitted with special collars that are designed to detonate should they start laughing. The Joker recites a few gags, but the captives refuse to laugh. Naturally, this angers the Joker even more (despite the fact that he is the one who placed the explosive collars on them. The Joker executes two of his prisoners by shooting them in the face. Afterwards, he reminisces about the turn of events that first transformed him into the Joker.  Meanwhile, Batman and Wilde Norton separately arrive at Mercey Mansion. The Batman enters the auditorium just as the Joker executes another victim. He leaps atop of him and begins beating the Joker up. The Joker reminds Batman that tonight is the anniversary of their encounter with one another. Just as Batman is readying a final punch, Wilde Norton comes up behind and knocks him out by striking him with the butt of his gun. He wants the Joker for himself. He shoots the Joker through the hand, then through the knee. He reminds the Joker how he once slaughtered his entire family, but the Joker has no recollection of him (he's killed so many people after all). Wilde levels his pistol ready to shoot the Joker in the face. The Joker however, has one final gag. He doses Wilde with a blast of his infamous Joker venom and Wilde falls over in a fit of laughter. Batman revives, but the Joker has escaped. He realizes that the stage is rigged to explode and manages to get to safety just in time. Wilde Norton and a few of the other prisoners managed to escape as well. Outside, the police and Jeremiah Arkham arrive. Wilde, still reeling from the effects of the Joker venom, is remanded into Arkham's care. Jeremiah muses about whether Mercey Mansion might be a good site for a new sanitarium.