The Joker: Comic Book Auction Records

The Joker debuted alongside Catwoman in the pages of Batman #1 in Spring 1940 — originally intended to be killed in that very issue before an editor intervened at the last moment. Decades of censorship turned him into a mostly harmless prankster until 1973, when Denny O'Neil and Neal Adams restored his murderous nature in Batman #251 and launched the modern era of the character. From The Killing Joke (1988) to the Joaquin Phoenix Joker film (over $1 billion worldwide at the box office in 2019), Batman's archenemy has only grown more valuable on the collector market.

This guide sticks to the verifiable: records documented by Heritage Auctions, CGC, and the specialist press for grails beyond eBay's reach, and eBay medians from our estimator (eBay.fr + eBay.com, June 2026) for Bronze Age and Modern Age keys. Batman #1 returns approximately 100 eBay listings at a median of €7 — that figure is entirely dominated by DC facsimile editions and modern reprints; it bears no relation to the value of the 1940 original, which is a six-figure grail even in low grade.

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

The two Golden Age grails belong to series where our eBay estimator returns no usable median — documented auction records are the only reliable price reference. For Bronze Age and Copper Age keys, eBay medians reflect all grades combined; high-grade CGC copies trade at significantly higher levels.

Record sources: Heritage Auctions, CGC News, ComicLink, GoCollect, BleedingCool.

Batman #1 (1940): $2,220,000 — the ultimate grail

Published in Spring 1940, Batman #1 packs two of DC's most enduring characters into a single issue: it is simultaneously the first appearance of the Joker and of Catwoman. The script is by Bill Finger, the art by Bob Kane and Jerry Robinson — Robinson is generally credited as the Joker's visual creator. The issue is extraordinarily scarce in high grade: the CGC Census lists only one copy at 9.4, the highest grade ever certified. That unique White Pages copy sold for $2,220,000 at Heritage Auctions on January 14, 2021 — an absolute record for any Batman comic and the second-highest price ever paid for a comic book at public auction at the time. The previous Heritage record for the same issue was $567,625 (CGC NM- 9.2, 2013).

Watch out for a common trap: our eBay estimator counts roughly 100 listings for Batman #1 at a median of €7. That figure is driven by DC facsimile editions (official gold-cover reprints) and modern trade paperbacks — they have no bearing on the value of the 1940 original, whose lowest-grade copies change hands for thousands of dollars.

Detective Comics #168 (1951): $324,000 — the Joker's origin

Published in February 1951, Detective Comics #168 contains "The Man Behind the Red Hood!": for the first time, Batman discovers that the Joker was once a criminal lab worker who operated under the alias the Red Hood, dove into a vat of chemicals to escape Batman, and emerged with bleached skin and a permanent grin. Though some elements of this origin were later revisited — most notably by Alan Moore in The Killing Joke — this issue remains the cornerstone of the Joker's mythology. Our estimator returns only 4 eBay listings for this series, far too few for a reliable median. The high-grade market is documented exclusively by auction houses: a CGC 9.4 White Pages copy sold for $324,000 in November 2022, making it one of the most expensive non-immediate-Golden-Age DC comics on record.

Batman #251 (1973): the Joker becomes a killer again

Published in September 1973, Batman #251 marks the Bronze Age turning point for the Joker. Writer Denny O'Neil and artist Neal Adams deliver "The Joker's Five-Way Revenge!": for the first time in years of censorship-era softening, the Clown Prince of Crime is once again a genuine murderer. The cover — Batman holding a dead fish, the Joker looming behind him — has become one of the most iconic images in comics history. Our eBay estimator returns a median of €9 across 65 listings (June 2026) — a reliable volume reflecting ample supply in low and mid grade. In high grade, a CGC 9.8 copy set the issue record at $38,000 at ComicLink in June 2024. For a collector just entering the Joker key market, this is the most accessible starting point with documented auction history.

The Killing Joke (1988) and A Death in the Family (1988)

The year 1988 produced two modern keystones. Batman: The Killing Joke (Alan Moore, Brian Bolland) reinterpreted the Joker's origin and permanently disabled Barbara Gordon — a one-shot that structurally redefined the character and remains a benchmark of the form. A Death in the Family (written by Jim Starlin, drawn by Jim Aparo, covers by Mike Mignola) ran across Batman #426 to #429: readers voted by telephone to decide Robin/Jason Todd's fate, and the Joker killed him. Of the arc's four issues, only Batman #427 clears our 15-listing threshold (16 listings, median €21); the others — particularly #426 with around 11 listings — fall below the count needed for a reliable median. For The Killing Joke, our estimator does not cover that series separately; CGC 9.8 copies trade actively on the secondary market but no major Heritage auction record has been publicly documented. Both titles represent solid long-term holdings driven by the character's continued cinematic relevance.