The Joker's greatest hits

“Joker’s Five-Way Revenge!” in "Batman" issue 251 (1973) was a killer story that showed off the villain’s murderous side, plus brought the Joker back into vogue after the 1960s "Batman" TV series — which starred Cesar Romero as the green-haired baddie — was canceled.

Frank Miller’s "Batman: The Dark Knight Returns" (1986) singlehandedly put Batman back on the map with a gritty future tale about Bruce Wayne coming out of retirement in his 50s to wage his war on crime once again. The Joker also makes a grand reappearance when he learns Batman’s back, and decides it’s time for one last face-off between the arch enemies.

"Batman: The Killing Joke" (1988), by writer Alan Moore and artist Brian Bolland, is considered by many to be the seminal Joker story. The one-shot delved into the Joker’s own past as a wannabe stand-up comedian and chemical engineer who loses his pregnant wife, but also showcased one of comics’ most brutal moments: when he shoots Barbara Gordon (aka Batgirl) through the spine, crippling her.

Tim Burton’s 1989 "Batman" movie cast Jack Nicholson as a gleefully maniacal Joker, nodded to his comic-book origin of becoming a madman after surviving a fall into a vat of chemicals, but also had the Joker be the man who killed Bruce Wayne’s parents as a boy — a role held by lowlife thug Joe Chill in comic lore.

Penned by Ed Brubaker, "Batman: The Man Who Laughs" (2005) expands upon the Joker’s first appearance with the villain threatening to kill some of Gotham City’s most well-known and influential figures, including Batman’s alter ego, millionaire Bruce Wayne.

The late Heath Ledger’s last acting performance also gave a generation their definitive Joker. His Oscar-winning role as Batman’s twisted, enigmatic and anarchic nemesis in "The Dark Knight" (2008) was embraced by comic-book fans and the mainstream alike.

The 2008 graphic novel "Joker" is a realistic and violent bent on the infamous psychopath and other Batman villains in a tale that finds the Joker broken out of Arkham Asylum only to learn that his criminal empire has been divvied up amongst the Penguin, Two-Face and the Riddler. And that just won’t fly.

The video game "Batman: Arkham City" (2011) finds the Joker (voiced by Mark Hamill) in dire straits as he’s being slowly killed by the Titan formula. So, of course, that means he has to infect his old pal Batman with it, too, sending the Dark Knight on a mission in a criminal-filled Gotham to find the cure.