The Joker: The Man Who Stopped Laughing #4 reveals the one character it’s title protagonist admits beats him as DC’s most popular character.
Warning! Spoilers ahead for The Joker: The Man Who Stopped Laughing #4!It may not seem like it, but the Joker is willing to give credit where it’s due. In The Joker: The Man Who Stopped Laughing #4, the Clown Prince of Crime reveals the one character that absolutely beats him in popularity.
While the DC Universe is home to many notable heroes, few have reached the heights that the Joker has. Not only is he the most identifiable villain in Batman’s rogues’ gallery, he’s likely one of the most popular characters owned by DC Comics. No matter where Batman goes in movies, television, video games or audiobooks, the Joker is never far behind. The clown has even been the subject of his own movie that broke several box office records. Needless to say, if there’s one DC character that is beloved by fans everywhere, it’s the Dark Knight’s greatest enemy.
However, in Joker’s opinion, there’s one particular character that trounces him in popularity. In The Joker: The Man Who Stopped Laughing #4 by Matthew Rosenberg, Carmine Di Giandomenico, and Franceso Francavilla, hell is breaking loose at a hospital thanks, in part, to the Joker triggering a bomb threat in order to get treatment from a doctor he held hostage. After impromptu brain surgery, the Joker tries to navigate the hospital, currently in panic mode trying to get their patients to safety. Realizing that he’s trapped in the chaos and the incoming SWAT teams, the Joker retreats into the hospital. As he makes his way through the building, Joker narrates his moves with a familiar joke that he admits is from someone much more famous than him. He recites the Pagliacci joke from Watchmen (though with his own twist to the punchline), a joke infamously told by Rorschach.
Joker Gives Respect To Watchmen’s Rorschach
It’s surprising to hear the villain give respect to the Watchmen hero. But while Joker has met a Rorschach, he’s never met Walter Kovacs, the featured character in the original story. And he obviously never read the original joke as it appeared in the first Rorschach’s journal. However, it fits Joker’s meta sensibilities to be aware of things he otherwise shouldn’t know. Clearly he knows enough about the vigilante to know that when it comes to DC characters, Rorschach may have Joker beat.
There’s little doubt that Watchmen is one of the most iconic books ever put out by DC Comics. And for better or worse, Rorschach is easily the most identifiable characters in the entire story. If Joker really is aware of the world beyond the walls of his reality, then he should know the prominent place he has in pop culture. And yet he’s still willing to claim that Rorschach beat him when it comes to fame. Maybe he’s acknowledging the unparalleled success of Watchmen, or maybe he just finds humor at Rorschach’s place in the story. Either way, the Clown Prince of Crime has officially decreed Rorschach as the more popular DC character in The Joker: The Man Who Stopped Laughing #4, on sale now.
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