The Joker laughs with a broken jaw in DC Comics cover art by Francesco Mattina
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Nicolas Ayala
Published 34 minutes ago
Nicolas Ayala is a Senior Writer for the Comics team at ScreenRant, with over five years of experience writing about Superhero media, action movies, and TV shows.
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DC's Joker shows how badly Marvel's Ant-Man has been wasting his powers all these years. Ant-Man is one of the founding members of the Avengers and one of the most versatile heroes in the Marvel Universe. His size-shifting powers allow him to become a stealthy spy or a massive powerhouse, depending on the situation.
Only a few months before Ant-Man made his comic debut in January 1962, DC introduced its own size-shifting hero, the Atom, who debuted in October 1964. Both heroes have very similar explanations behind their abilities. Ant-Man uses Pym Particles to reduce or increase the size of any organic or non-organic matter. Meanwhile, Atom uses the remnants of a white-dwarf star to compress matter.
Sixteen heroes and villains face off against each other in DC KO #2 cover variant by Dan Mora
Ant-Man's Pym Particles and Atom's belt have the key to their respective heroes' powers. When they fall into the wrong hands, chaos ensues.
The Joker Becomes A Living Nightmare With The Atom's Size-Shifting Powers
DC K.O. #2; Written by Scott Snyder; Art by Javi Fernández & Alejandro Sánchez
The Joker crushes Giganta and other fellow villains in DC KO #2
As all surviving DC characters move to the next round in the competition to become King Omega, the thirty-two remaining contestants fight to claim sixteen of DC's most powerful weapons. Lex Luthor becomes DC's most powerful villain by grabbing a Black Lantern ring, while Lobo gains a Venom upgrade and Harley Quinn claims a Speed Force ring. The Joker ignores more powerful DC weapons to claim Atom's belt, which he uses to crush multiple opponents and eat several others.
The Joker has had a standout run so far in DC K.O. First, the Joker kills Batman with a gag handgun. Then, he outlives characters as powerful as Shazam, Blue Beetle, and Hal Jordan. And now, the Joker steps on Giganta and chews on an unknown number of other heroes and fellow villains before moving on to the next round.
There's no worse character in the DC Universe to wield the Atom's powers than the Joker. The Atom usually uses his powers to enhance his agility and his strength, or for infiltration purposes. A criminal like the Joker sees Atom's powers as an opportunity to treat his victims like bugs he can crush and toy with.
Ant-Man's Pym Particles And Atom's Belt Are Underrated Weapons
Size-Shifting Powers Are Often Nerfed To Keep Things Fair
Four size-shifting superheroes stand together in Ant-Man #3 cover
Ant-Man’s Pym Particles and the Atom’s belt can transform anyone into a nearly invincible microscopic assassin or a kaiju-like giant capable of leveling cities. These technologies could also solve world hunger, multiply scarce resources, and mass-produce rare materials for fellow heroes. They could neutralize dangerous enemies instantly by reducing them to harmless specks.
Size-shifting's logical applications would break both universes beyond repair. So, naturally, characters like Ant-Man and the Atom are constantly restrained or ignored. To keep stakes meaningful and maintain tension, Marvel and DC treat these technologies conservatively. Only in events like DC K.O. do characters like the Joker show the damage an unrestrained size-shifter could do.
The Joker in Batman: The Animated Series (1992)
The Joker
Created By
Bill Finger, Bob Kane, Jerry Robinson
First Appearance
Batman (1940)
Comic Books
Joker #1, The Joker #5, Joker: Killer Smile #1, Batman: Three Jokers #1, Batman: The Joker War Zone #1, DC's Year of the Villain: Joker #1, Batman & The Joker: The Deadly Duo #1, The Joker: The Man Who Stopped Laughing #1, Joker/Harley: Criminal Sanity Secret Files #1, The Joker 80th Anniversary 100-Page Super Spectacular #1
Franchise
D.C.
NAME
Arthur Fleck
Alias
Red Hood, Clown Prince of Crime, Ace of Knaves
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