The shocking ending of Batman: The Killing Joke has been the subject of debate for years. Did the Caped Crusader kill the Clown Prince of Crime? Famed Batman writer Grant Morrison seems to think so. The question has never been definitively answered. But, that didn't stop a Spider-Man comic from mocking the iconic comic book scene.
In Batman: The Killing Joke (1988) by Alan Moore and Brian Bolland, the book ends with a rain-filled confrontation between Batman and the Joker. While the Dark Knight offers to rehabilitate his long-time villain in an effort to stop their fighting for good, the Joker responds with a joke. The joke centers around two guys escaping an insane asylum, with the punchline that once one of the inmates jumped across a building, he would shine a beam of light with a flashlight that the other one could walk across. Joker's punchline "'Wh-what do you think I am? Crazy? You'd turn it off when I was half way across!” even makes Batman laugh before he takes down the villain.
In The Web of Spider-Man #50 by Gerry Conway, Alex Saviuk, Keith Williams, Rick Parker, and Bob Sharen the story centers around a new photographer named Katzenberg selling photos of Spider-Man stealing jewelry. Elated, J. Jonah Jameson hires the photographer on the spot. When the headline "Spider-Man: Thief" is printed in the Daily Bugle the next day with the photo, The Bugle's Joe Robertson is incensed while reading the news, as he awaits his father's upcoming trial. As he cools down in the hallway, the Joker can be seen being escorted by police.
In the image, the Joker lookalike delivers the same punchline as he did in Batman: The Killing Joke. However, instead of eliciting laughter from his captures, none of the cops or people surrounding him react. It's quite the stark difference between the Joker making Batman laugh to failing to make a room full of cops do the same. It's a fun reference to the widely-debated ending of one of the most popular comics of all-time.
Clearly, the Joker's best material isn't as effective in the Marvel Universe. The cops don't seem interested or pleased and probably just wanted to throw the insane villain into jail and shut him up. Meanwhile, Batman had a smile on his face and let out a laugh before taking down the Joker - possibly for good. Marvel's version of Batman: The Killing Joke would likely have been much tamer than the original story, especially depending on how you interpret the ending.