26 Years Later, DC’s Darkest Joker Joke Is Still When He Ate All of China

26 years ago, DC Comics made the Joker do something few writers have dared to do in the past. In the Superman comics of 2000, the Joker reshaped reality into one where he was the Emperor and Lex Luthor was his jester. He named himself Emperor Joker, and one of the darkest things he did was to eat all of China. It was not metaphorical. He literally ate the entire population of China. After he did that, he made a dark joke.

Yum. Yum. Dim Sum. Chinese food made from real Chinese people. All of them. I guess someone should have yelled ‘Peking…Duck’.

The Joker is known for making the most diabolical jokes at the darkest times, which is part of his nihilistic philosophy. But none trumps this truly horrendous, borderline racist joke after one of his most heinous actions. We have seen him gas a city, cripple a hero, and break a sidekick, yet nothing else matches the sheer absurd horror of that one meal. Here is how Emperor Joker earned its reputation, and why that reputation has never faded among longtime comic fans.

DC’s Emperor Joker Ate All of China with Chopsticks

Emperor Joker | Credits: DC Comics

The story of Emperor Joker ran across several Superman titles in 2000. Joker tricked Mister Mxyzptlk into handing over 99.9% of his power to him, and he then reshaped reality into one that fits his image. The result was a cube-Earth that formed the face of Joker. He made Lex Luthor his court jester and Harley Quinn his royal companion.

What became of the Batman? Well, the Clown Emperor of Crime did not hold back at all. He constantly killed Batman and revived him to kill him yet again. It was a truly chaotic world with no one remembering what normal was like, except Superman. Then came the moment fans still cannot shake. 

He ate the entire population of China. He then joked that it was real Chinese food made from real Chinese people. The visuals themselves were grotesque. It showed the silhouette of Emperor Joker feeding on a Chinese food box with chopsticks, while a mountain of skulls flowed behind him. A raging fire burned in the background with Chinese temple arches. A joke at this time, with such horrific imagery, is truly diabolical, and it is one of the Joker’s darkest moments.

Looking back, the whole storyline of him ‘eating China’ can be problematic, especially the jokes he made after the fact. However, it is still one of the darkest moments in DC Comics history, as it basically just showed how Joker is capable of creating a g*nocide. The ending is no redemption either. He only gave up his powers when Superman pointed out that he could not live without Batman. Batman really should have killed Joker for this.

Moreover, what elevates this horror beyond an ordinary comic apocalypse is the complete absence of purpose. When cosmic tyrants such as Thanos or Darkseid wipe out populations, their slaughter is driven by grand ideologies like universal balance or Anti-Life equation. However, for Joker, it wasn’t an ideological conquest, but rather a throwaway gag born purely out of boredom.

The Joker Has Done Some Pretty Dark Things Over the Years

The Joker | Credits: DC Comics

While Emperor Joker is the biggest atrocity made by DC Comics over the years, the Joker was no boy scout before this. The Clown Prince of Crime is known for his chaotic and unpredictable crimes, with some just being downright disgusting. Emperor Joker just showed what he would have done if he were given inhuman powers, not inhuman intentions. He always had them.

In 1988, The Killing Joke had him shoot Barbara Gordon and torment her father, and A Death in the Family saw him beat Jason Todd with a crowbar. Those stories were cruel on a human scale, which is why many readers find them harder to sit through than a cosmic joke about eating a nation. 

In Batman: Endgame, the Joker used his toxin to take control of the Justice League and force Batman to fight them. On Earth-22 of the Dark Multiverse, he went on a killing spree through Gotham, murdering several of Batman’s villains and Commissioner Gordon, and later created The Batman Who Laughs.

Among such heinous deeds, Emperor Joker still stands out for its sheer absurdity and the terrifying scale of what the villain is capable of. It is what happens when an agent of chaos is given omnipotent powers. Nothing has come close since then in DC.

What do you think is Joker’s worst moment? Comment below.