Cover: Neal Adams

Batman #251

Sep 1973 · DC · 0.20 USD

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“The Joker's Five-Way Revenge!”

About this Issue

Batman #251, 'The Joker's Five-Way Revenge!', is the single most consequential Joker story of the Bronze Age and arguably the most influential villain-rehabilitation in the medium's history. Writer Denny O'Neil and artist Neal Adams stripped away more than a decade of campy, prankster-era characterization to restore the Joker to the murderous, unpredictable psychopath Bill Finger, Bob Kane, and Jerry Robinson had conceived in 1940 — a creative act that has shaped every serious portrayal of the character ever since. The story also codified a dynamic at the heart of the Batman mythos: the Joker's warped dependence on Batman as his only worthy opponent, a psychological underpinning that would echo through works from 'The Killing Joke' to 'The Dark Knight.' Its film noir mood, rain-soaked cinematics, and moral weight set the template for what a serious Batman story could look like on the page.

In "The Joker's Five-Way Revenge!", the Joker unleashes a twisted scheme that turns Gotham’s streets into a playground of chaos, testing the limits of Batman’s resolve. Written by Denny O'Neil and illustrated with intense precision by Neal Adams—whose dynamic pencils and inks define the era—this 1973 classic captures the dark, grounded tone of the series at its peak. The cover, also by Neal Adams, perfectly encapsulates the menace and theatrical flair of the story.

writer Denny O'Neil · artist, inker Neal Adams · cover Neal Adams

ComicBooks.com Value

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Raw (Fine) $321

CGC 9.8 · 33 in census $19,771

CGC 9.6 · 116 in census $4,067

CGC 9.4 · 180 in census $2,765

CGC 9.2 · 214 in census $1,525

CGC 9.0 · 289 in census $1,398*

CGC 8.5 · 377 in census $960

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CGC 8.0 · 385 in census $932

CGC 7.5 · 365 in census $608

CGC 7.0 · 386 in census $575

CGC 6.5 · 363 in census $511

CGC 6.0 · 283 in census $487

CGC 5.5 · 281 in census $479

CGC 5.0 · 271 in census $427

CGC 4.5 · 231 in census $360

CGC 4.0 · 200 in census $307

CGC 3.5 · 133 in census $284

CGC 3.0 · 94 in census $244

CGC 2.5 · 58 in census $172

CGC 2.0 · 35 in census $162

CGC 1.5 · 9 in census $127

CGC 1.0 · 3 in census $97*

CGC 0.5 · 15 in census $82*

* estimate — limited direct-sales data at this grade

Our model’s value — refined as new sales data arrives · CGC census counts shown where available

More listings for this title

CGC 9.8 · Signed $159.99 CGC 9.6 · Signed $299.99 CGC 2.5 $319 GD $320 CGC 3 $389.99 CGC 4 $409.2 CGC 4.5 $425 Signed $449.99

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History

By the time Batman #251 reached newsstands on July 28, 1973 (cover-dated September 1973), the Joker had been effectively sidelined for roughly four years — editor Julius Schwartz harbored a personal dislike of the villain, and the character's last pre-#251 appearance in a Batman title traced back to 1969. O'Neil and Adams, already celebrated for their character-darkening run that had introduced Ra's al Ghul (Batman #232) and revived Two-Face (Batman #234), seized the opening: Adams later recalled that he and O'Neil made a deliberate decision to push the Joker back toward his homicidal roots, with Adams reassuring O'Neil to 'write what you have to write' and trust that the Comics Code would not intervene. The lettering for the issue was done uncredited by Alan Kupperberg, working out of Adams's Continuity Associates studio to help meet a deadline — a production footnote not publicly confirmed until decades later by Alan's brother, writer Paul Kupperberg.

Trivia · 8 facts

Story title: 'The Joker's Five-Way Revenge!' — cover date September 1973, on-sale July 28, 1973.
Creative team: written by Dennis 'Denny' O'Neil, penciled and inked by Neal Adams, edited by Julius Schwartz; Dick Giordano contributed inking on the cover; lettering was done uncredited by Alan Kupperberg.
The Joker's last appearance before this issue was approximately four years earlier (circa 1969), during which the character had been effectively retired by editorial decision.
The story re-establishes the Joker as a genuine killer rather than a campy prankster, making lethal use of Joker Venom and methodically murdering his former gang members — a full restoration of his 1940s homicidal characterization.
Arkham Asylum did not yet exist in DC continuity at the time of publication; the Joker escapes from a generic 'state hospital for the criminally insane.' Arkham Asylum as a named Gotham locale would be introduced by O'Neil and artist Irv Novick in Batman #258 (1974).
The climactic showdown between Batman and the Joker takes place inside an abandoned aquarium, where Adams used a great white shark as a central narrative and visual device — a sequence later loosely adapted in the Batman: The Animated Series episode 'The Laughing Fish' (1993).
The issue has been reprinted in multiple collected editions, including Batman: The Greatest Stories Ever Told Vol. 1, The Joker: 80 Years of the Clown Prince of Crime: The Deluxe Edition, and a DC Facsimile Edition published to coincide with the release of the 2019 film Joker.
Neal Adams's cover — depicting a giant Joker figure looming over a Midtown Manhattan skyline — has become one of the most referenced Batman covers of the Bronze Age, directly inspiring a homage variant Adams himself drew for The Joker #1 decades later.