Warning! Contains spoilers for Batman: Fortress #1!
While Batman has demonstrated an overwhelming restraint in not killing the Joker, his latest justification shows the clown might be wearing the Dark Knight down. Batman: Fortress #1 shows Bruce Wayne closer than ever to getting rid of his enemy, ready to give into his darkest impulse if not for one thing.
If there's one thing that's perplexed many a reader in the decades that the Dark Knight has battled the Clown Prince of Crime, it's wondering why Batman refuses to kill the Joker. Batman has a number of rogues who are no stranger to murder, but none with the massive body count that the criminal clown has under his belt. Bruce has even faced judgement from his own allies who have been personally victimized by the Joker and can't understand why Batman refuses to kill the enemy that's inflicted so much pain.
As it turns out, Batman is fully prepared to help the Joker meet his maker. Batman: Fortress #1 by Gary Whitta and Darick Robertson shows a Gotham in turmoil. Darkness has spread worldwide and riots are breaking out. The Joker uses the mayhem to his advantage and kidnaps an entire school bus full of children. Batman blinds the clown with a light, causing the Joker to crash the bus on a bridge over Gotham's harbor. While the kids are safe, Joker winds up dangling off the side, eerily laughing at his predicament. The Dark Knight notes that the Joker can't swim, recalling the night he fell into a vat of acid. Bruce contemplates that if he had just let the Joker drown, that Gotham would have been safer and now he's being given a chance to correct his past mistake. But with children around, Batman relents and saves the Joker with a grappling hook.
This wouldn't be the first time Batman has toyed with the notion of allowing the Joker to die. During the "Under the Red Hood" storyline, Bruce admitted to Jason that he's fantasized about killing the Joker, but he refuses to do so out of fear that he wouldn't be able to come back from it. Batman stopping the Joker from dying so children won't be traumatized by the sight could be seen as a more noble justification, but it appears that the Dark Knight is quickly running out of patience with his archenemy.
Though the situation presented here doesn't have Batman actively trying to kill Joker, he seriously leans towards letting nature take its course and allowing the clown to die by his own undoing. While Batman does decide to save the Joker in the end, it's not out of a moral justification, but one rooted in public perception. As time goes on, the destruction the Joker leaves in his wake has only gotten worse and it appears that the clown's crimes have pushed the Dark Knight to a tipping point. If the only thing saving the Joker from being killed is a public audience, he may want to avoid being alone with Batman in the future.
Batman: Fortress #1 is available now from DC Comics.