Joker venom 2599959 225505087 2008-07-14T01:22:18Z 75.65.241.39 /* Batman (1989 film) */ {{unreferenced|date=May 2008}} [[Image:Jokervenom.jpg|thumb|right|230px|The Joker with a victim of '''Joker venom''', in the [[OverPower card game]]]] '''Joker venom''' is a [[List of fictional toxins|fictional toxin]], a favorite [[murder]] weapon used by [[Joker (comics)|The Joker]] in the ''[[Batman]]'' franchise of movies, comics, and cartoons. ==Analysis== Joker venom can exist in liquid and gas states and has been used to great effect. The gas form is slightly denser than air and in some portrayals dissipates over time. In a 1980s comic book, the Joker facilitates one of his many escapes from [[Arkham Asylum]] using the venom - by mixing together the common cleaning chemicals found in a janitor's closet. ===''The DC Technical Manual: S.T.A.R. Labs 1993 Annual Report''=== ''The DC Technical Manual: S.T.A.R. Labs 1993 Annual Report'' (a sourcebook for [[Mayfair Games|Mayfair's]] [[DC Heroes|DC Heroes Roleplaying Game]]) stated that Joker Venom is "a hellish mixture of [[hydrogen cyanide]] and Strychnodide (a [[strychnine]] derivative), the toxin causes immediate cessation of [[heart]] and [[brain]] functions. As a side effect, the victim's [[muscle]]s contract in such a way as to severely tighten and discolor the victim's [[skin]], especially in the facial area. This leaves the victim's corpse permanently scarred with a clown-like grin in tribute to his killer. Since the Joker Venom is just as deadly if absorbed through the pores as it is if inhaled, the Joker occasionally releases it in gas form throughout the [[HVAC|central heating/cooling vents]] of a building." ===''Batman: The Killing Joke''=== How exactly Joker knows how to make the venom varies by story. In the graphic novel ''[[Batman: The Killing Joke]]'', it was revealed that the man who would become the Joker once worked in a chemical plant, and may have had some chemical education as a result. ===''Batman'' (1989 film)=== In the [[Batman (1989 film)|1989 movie]], when Bruce Wayne reads through the police file on Jack Napier, he learns that Napier, despite his criminal ways, is extremely intelligent and especially gifted in art and [[chemistry]]. One shot of the film shows a tableau of photographs and file folders on the Joker's desk in his lair at the Axis Chemicals plant: the photos all show dead soldiers with crazy grins on their faces, and the words "[[Central Intelligence Agency|C.I.A.]]" and "ABANDONED" are visible on the file folders. This indicates that the Joker has reproduced or refined a [[nerve gas]] experiment conducted by the U.S. Government. Joker venom is the means by which Joker terrorizes Gotham City when he first appears in his new guise, slipping components of the toxin into household products such as cosmetics and cleaning fluids, in such a way that when used together, the products become deadly. In a mock TV commerical, he refers to the 'special ingredient' as Smilex and later attempts to wipe out hundreds of Gothamites with Smilex gas via giant festival balloons. ===''Batman: The Man Who Laughs''=== The 2004 [[graphic novel]] ''[[Batman: The Man Who Laughs]]'' revealed that Joker, who was created by falling into a vat of chemicals, had stolen them in a plan to poison Gotham City's reservoir, but the plan was foiled by Batman. His brand of Joker venom turns the victim's skin white and hair green, with the lips ruby red. However, this effect is not unique to this story alone, a similar effect was shown in The Killing Joke. A story arc in ''[[Legends of the Dark Knight]]'' revealed that a cousin of the man who became the Joker, Melvin Reipan, an [[autistic savant]] with a gift for chemistry, is persuaded to create the Joker Venom as a way to "make people laugh", in exchange for becoming "handsome". However, Reipan is in fact physically very attractive, only having been told by his [[child abuse|abusive]] mother he was ugly. This story appeared in ''Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #50'' and not only revealed the origins of Joker Venom, but also told the first battle between Batman and the Joker after his first attempt to destroy the city. ===Red Skull's "dust of death"=== [[Marvel Comics]] has an apparent equivalent to Joker venom in the form of [[Red Skull]]'s "dust of death", a chemical which turns the head of its victim into a "red skull" resembling that of Red Skull. In a crossover, the Red Skull and the Joker face off against one another, the Joker angry he had unwittingly worked for a [[Nazi]] ("I may be a lunatic, but I'm an American lunatic!"), and employ their favorite toxins on each other. They realize the toxins are useless against each other, as both combatants are [[immune]] to their own, and both toxins are strikingly similar at a chemical level. ==Effects== *Lethal version Contact with Joker venom causes uncontrollable [[spasm]]s of laughter, followed by a painful death. Some have speculated that the venom hyperstimulates the laughter functions of the [[brain]], leaving the victim unable to breathe. *Non-lethal version The venom causes uncontrollable laughter, but instead of dying, their faces are usually pulled into an unusually large grin. Artists often stylize the effects, adding yellowed teeth, bulging eyes, etc. similar to the features of the Joker himself. Prolonged exposure to the non-fatal forms can cause permanent [[brain damage]]. ==Usage== ===Comics=== Joker venom has been a part of the Joker's arsenal since his first appearance in ''Batman'' #1 (1940). The venom is often deployed as an airborne agent, but can also be used in its liquid form (used both to poison victims through their unwitting consumption of it, or in special darts). In ''[[The Killing Joke]]'', Joker uses a spike worn in his palm (similar to a [[Joy Buzzer]]) to administer the drug in a handshake. In [[Jeph Loeb]]'s and [[Tim Sale]]'s ''[[Catwoman: When in Rome]]'' Joker venom is duplicated by [[Riddler (comics)|the Riddler]] to blame [[Catwoman (comics)|Catwoman]] for the murder of a [[Sicily|Sicilian]] [[Mafia]] kingpin. It is referred to as Joker Juice by both Catwoman and The Riddler. ===''[[Batman: The Animated Series]]''=== In the 1990s animated series, Joker venom was almost exclusively a non-lethal gas, or, as seen more often, infected individuals are almost always revived before death (the venom doesn't kill as quickly in the series). It was also used as part of a [[binary compound]] in an episode called "[[The Laughing Fish]]", in which selected targets were exposed to part of the compound and later gassed with the second part, thus the venom would only affect the intended party. That same episode also featured a diluted version of the toxin, which only affected fish to make them smile (though as Joker later revealed in "[[Mad Love (comic)|Mad Love]]", the toxin is ineffective on [[piranha]]), as part of Joker's plan to sell "Joker Fish" and earn money off product sales (Joker also indicated a possible plan to alter the toxin to affect cattle should the fish plan not work — a hint that Joker could alter the toxin to affect any specific species of life he wished). In [[Joker's Wild]], he escapes Arkham by pouring a random assortment of janitorial chemicals into a bucket and threatening the guards. ("It's time for everyone's favorite game, 'What's the Joker got in the Pail'?") In later movies and episodes, the venom became lethal (it was used to kill, among others, Sal Valestra in ''[[Mask of the Phantasm]]'', a security guard in "[[Holiday Knights]]" and a government agent in the ''[[Justice League]]'' episode "[[Wild Cards (Justice League episode)|Wild Cards]]"), although Joker also used the non-lethal variant as well. Joker did not appear to be immune to it, as evidenced by his protective helmet in "The Last Laugh". In the episode "Harley & Ivy", [[Poison Ivy (comics)|Poison Ivy]] displays immunity towards it due to her [[immune system]]'s resistance to toxins. ===''[[The Batman (TV series)|The Batman]]'' (new TV series)=== Both versions of the venom are used in the new cartoon. The non-lethal version is weaponized as a gas and seems to dissipate over time. The gas is called "laughing gas," and puts its victims into a coma. Batman provided an antidote to this laughing gas. However, Joker also has a lethal version which is a liquid. The effects of this venom are the same as the one used in the Joker's first appearance in the comics (a venom which takes 24 hours to kill). In the meantime, the victim slowly has increasing bouts of uncontrollable laughter until they are unable to breathe and die with Joker's trademark grin. Batman was infected with the venom, but was able to create a cure before it was too late. The venom is also explosive, as shown in "The end of the Batman". ==Aliases== Joker Venom has had a variety of names depending on the writer. They include: Smilex, Smylex, Laughing Gas, Joker Gas, Joker Juice, Laughing Toxin, Laugh-A-loads, and Perma-Smile. ==Pop Culture== Joker venom is mentioned several times by various musicians, artists, and authors such as: [[The Unthinking Majority]] by [[Serj Tankian]]. In this video, Smilex represents one of the [[antidepressants]] used by the masses to dull their minds to the real world. {{1989-1997 Batman film series}} [[Category:DC Comics objects]] [[Category:Fictional drugs]] [[pl:Smilex]]