The Joker: Key Issues and Essential Specials

The Joker has been Batman's archenemy since 1940: created by Bill Finger, Bob Kane and Jerry Robinson (exact credit remains disputed), he appeared in the very first issue of the Batman series. Over more than eighty years, the character has traversed every era of comics, from the Golden Age to the contemporary Black Label imprint, and has inspired some of the most consequential stories in the industry. Two films have been devoted entirely to him: Joker (2019, Joaquin Phoenix) crossed one billion dollars at the worldwide box office, becoming the first R-rated film to reach that milestone.

This guide covers his most important key issues and specials while sticking to the verifiable: eBay medians from our estimator (eBay.fr + eBay.com, June 2026, minimum 15 listings required for reliability) and records documented by Heritage Auctions and specialist press. Series published under the sole title The Joker or Three Jokers are not indexed in our tool; their values rely on verified external sources.

Joker key issue ranking (real market values, June 2026)

The Golden Age issues (Batman #1 and Detective Comics #168) have no usable eBay median for the originals — the first is swamped by reprints, the second counts only four eBay listings. Auction records are the only price reference for them. Issues from the Batman series (Bronze Age and modern) have reliable eBay medians when listing counts exceed 15.

Record sources: Heritage Auctions, sellmycomicbooks.com, curiocomp.com, GoCollect.

Batman #1 (1940): the first appearance, the absolute grail

Published in Spring 1940, Batman #1 is simultaneously the first Batman solo series and the first appearance of the Joker — as well as Catwoman. The character is already presented as a sadistic criminal who announces his murders in advance. Credit for creating the Joker is disputed between Bill Finger, Bob Kane and Jerry Robinson; Robinson claimed the visual inspiration came from Conrad Veidt's character in The Man Who Laughs (1928). The CGC 9.4 copy (the sole example at that grade), sold for $2,220,000 at Heritage Auctions in January 2021, represents the absolute record for this title. Note: our eBay estimator returns a median of €7 across 100 listings for this series — that figure reflects exclusively modern reprints and facsimile editions, not the 1940 original, which is a six-figure grail.

Detective Comics #168 (1951): the Joker's origin

Published in February 1951, Detective Comics #168 delivers one of the character's foundational stories: for the first time, the Joker reveals his past as the Red Hood, a criminal who fell into a vat of chemicals during a confrontation with Batman. This origin — which would directly inspire The Killing Joke thirty-seven years later — places the issue among the absolute Golden Age DC keys. Our eBay estimator returns only four listings: too few to provide a reliable median. Auction rooms are the only price reference: a CGC 9.4 copy sold for $324,000 at Heritage Auctions in November 2022; a CGC 6.0 had reached $23,345 in March 2022.

Batman #251 (1973): the Joker gets his teeth back

Published in September 1973, Batman #251 marks the Bronze Age turning point for the character. Neal Adams's iconic cover and Denny O'Neil's story — titled "The Joker's Five-Way Revenge!" — restore the Joker as a genuine psychopathic killer, after years in which he had been reduced to an eccentric prankster in Silver Age comics and the 1960s television series. The issue is regularly cited in Overstreet's top 25 Bronze Age comics. Our estimator returns a median of €9 across 65 listings — a reliable signal for the mass market at all grades combined. In high-grade certified copies, the documented record stands at approximately $38,000 for a CGC 9.8 (June 2024).

The Joker #1 (1975): the first solo series

In May 1975, DC Comics attempted something unprecedented: a monthly series headlined by a super-villain. The Joker #1, scripted by Denny O'Neil with a cover by Dick Giordano, launched a nine-issue run in which each issue pitted the Joker against another DC character (Two-Face, Green Arrow, Black Canary and others). This format — the Joker as protagonist rather than Batman's foil — had never been attempted at that scale. The series is not indexed in our eBay estimator; the sole documented value benchmark is a CGC 9.8 that sold for $2,760 in December 2021, making it an accessible key compared to the Golden Age grails.

Batman: The Killing Joke (1988): the one-shot that changed everything

Published in March 1988, Batman: The Killing Joke is a prestige-format one-shot written by Alan Moore and drawn by Brian Bolland (who also recoloured the 2008 deluxe reprint). In a single issue, Moore deepens the Red Hood origin from Detective Comics #168, shoots Barbara Gordon (Batgirl) through the spine, paralyzing her, and advances the argument that Batman and the Joker are two sides of the same coin. The story is today one of DC's all-time bestselling graphic novels and directly influenced the Joker film (2019). The series is not covered by our eBay estimator. Documented sales place the CGC 9.6 between $75 and $100 and the CGC 9.8 between $150 and $250 — modest values relative to the title's cultural significance, owing to a large original print run.

A Death in the Family (Batman #426–429, 1988–1989)

This four-part arc, written by Jim Starlin and drawn by Jim Aparo, sees the Joker beat Jason Todd (the second Robin) to death with a crowbar before blowing up the warehouse where he is trapped with him. Jason Todd's fate was put to a reader phone vote; the character lost to survival by a few hundred calls. Our estimator returns usable medians for Batman #429 (€28 · 32 listings) and #427 (€21 · 16 listings). Issues #426 (11 listings) and #428 (12 listings) fall below the 15-listing reliability threshold; their respective medians of €29 and €44 are indicative only.

Three Jokers (2020) and Joker: Killer Smile (2019)

Batman: Three Jokers (August–October 2020), written by Geoff Johns and drawn by Jason Fabok, delivers the resolution to a mystery seeded in Justice League #50 (2016): what if the three major incarnations of the Joker — the Golden Age criminal, the Silver Age trickster, the Bronze Age murderer — had always been three different men? The three-issue miniseries is widely regarded as a spiritual successor to The Killing Joke. That same period brought Joker: Killer Smile (2019, three issues, DC Black Label), a psychological horror miniseries by Jeff Lemire and Andrea Sorrentino that shifts between multiple graphic styles throughout its narrative. Neither series is indexed in our eBay estimator; both remain accessible on the secondary market for under a few dozen euros in ungraded condition.