it’s fun to have Batman as the “straight man” in joke setups, especially when two of his biggest villains are clowns, another is a ventriloquist, and another is always asking riddles

ayellowbirds:

but consider:

Batman whose seriousness is an utter affectation

Batman who is actually really easily amused by really basic shit

and the Joker can’t stand it, because he takes being funny seriously. He’s high-minded about comedic timing and irony in a very pretentious, bullshit way, but he’s got his head so far up his own pasty ass that he can’t understand why it is that the Bat starts corpsing when one of the henchmen fumbles a priceless antique, when Penguin accidentally puns, when Mister Freeze unintentionally says things that sound ridiculous in that flat affect monotone, when Robin keeps trying to get Two-Face to acknowledge things that come in threes or when the Signal literally catches some crooks red-handed in an incident at a dye factory.

and the Joker sits in one of the underworld dive bars, fuming about it. He’s staring into his dingy shot of punch (that is mostly spirytus), mumbling to himself about this and that incident, and why can’t he ever get a laugh out of the Bat, at least not when he’s meaning to. In fact, it seems like he gets even fewer accidental laughs out of the Rat With Wings than anyone else does.

sitting a little ways down the bar, sipping a daiquiri, Grimm mumbles the first words he’s spoken all night, “maybe you’re just not funny.”

A hand slaps down on Grimm’s shoulder.

The ape gangster and the Joker both look up.

It’s the Caped Crusader.

“I’m taking you in,” Batman says, the very corner of his mouth threatening to edge upwards, “for murder.”

Confused, Grimm raises a hand to protest…

…and the Bat gives him a high-five, and leaves the bar, chuckling into his cowl.