Batman #294

Issue Details

Synopsis

TESTIMONY OF THE JOKER! The court of Ra's al Ghul reconvenes to hear the testimony of the last "assassin" of Batman-- Joker.  The clown of crime reveals how, while casing a fur company for a robbery, he saw Batman capture another thief there. Unarmed at the time, he renewed his arsenal and went back, thinking himself free of Batman's interference, but found a figure in a Batman costume there, as surprised as Joker himself. Joker then doused him with a face full of dissolving liquid, stabbed him with a combat ring full of Joker Venom and killed him. He then eradicated his face and fingerprints and left him for the police to find.   When "Two-Face" asks for proof, Joker asserts he has photos of the dead Batman, unmasked, before he dissolved his face. "Two-Face" calls for a recess while Joker procures his evidence. Once outside, "Two-Face" doffs his disguise and stands revealed as Batman. He tracks down Joker, defeats him in combat, and sends him back to Arkham Asylum. There, Joker is driven wild to see Two-Face, and hears that the "district attorney" was never at the trial.   Later, Batman tells Commissioner Gordon that the real victim was Jerry Randall, a bookstore owner and Batman fan, who liked to dress up as Batman and reenact Batman cases after reading about them in the papers. Still later, a fireworks display proclaims to Gotham that "Batman is alive and well--and living in Gotham City".