Home Cooking With the Joker

July 28th, 2010

Filed under: Comics, Medicine

What exactly goes into Joker Toxin (aka Joker Venom, Smile Venom, Joker Juice, and sometimes, Smilex)? The recipe seems to have changed over the years:

1991
HUNTRESS: “Just tell me if any dimethyl silicate has changed hands lately. You know it Charley -– the poison the Joker makes his Smile Venom from.”
Joker VenomDimemethyl silicate is most commonly found in cosmetics. For instance, it’s a common ingredient in lip gloss.
Joker VenomSource: Wonder Woman #282 (Admittedly, this story takes place on Earth-2)

1993
BRUCE WAYNE: “Some strange compound of chlorides and hydrocolloids with a protein catalyst.”
Joker VenomThis one is little more than medical technobabble as all three terms, while real, are maddeningly vague. (FYI: Wikipedia entries on chlorides and hydrocolloids).
Joker VenomSource: Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #50

2006
DR KOWALSKI: “I had never seen anything like the neurotoxin before. It blocked the calcium and potassium channels and also placed the victim in anaphylactic shock.”
Joker VenomMore technobabble, but, like the best technobabble, there is just enough real science present to give it a whiff of truth: calcium channels are found throughout the body, but are especially common in nerves and muscles, and potassium channels are found in nerves and the heart muscle. Anaphylactic shock is a fatal allergic reaction — for example, people who die from bee stings.
Joker VenomSource: Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #200

2010
BATMAN: “The most lethal element of authentic Joker Venom, hydrogen cyanide, is absent. strychnodide is present, though. It causes the muscle contractions that produce the hallmark grin.”
Joker VenomHydrogen cyanide is a very real, very fast, and very deadly toxin (its symptoms don’t really match Joker Venom though). Strychnodide is a fictional derivative of strychnine.
Joker VenomSource: Detective Comics #867.
Joker VenomThough this is the first mention (to my knowledge) of this Joker Venom recipe in an actual comic, this combination of toxins was first mentioned in a DC Heroes Role Playing Game supplement in back in 1993 (DC Technical Manual: S.T.A.R. Labs 1993 Annual Report — I scanned in the relevant section here.).

10 Responses to “ Home Cooking With the Joker ”

  1. Dean
    July 29th, 2010 at 1:43 am

    The Joker obviously likes to change his formula fairly frequently, to keep the authorities guessing.

  2. Bryan L
    July 29th, 2010 at 9:43 am

    Yes, but is his formulat PATENTED?

  3. Lazarus Lupin
    July 29th, 2010 at 9:44 am

    also, since the joker is hardly a reputable chemist he’s not working in the best labs or the best ingredients. No doubt sometimes he has to reach for substitutes or synthesize various ingredients from other sources.

  4. Heimdall
    July 29th, 2010 at 9:48 am

    Er, 1991? Wonder Woman #282? Earth-2 Huntress (presumably in the back-up feature)? Are you sure about the year?
    (I’m thinking you meant 1981. #282 – with Huntress back-up – is cover-priced at $.50, which was the then-current price.)

  5. Dr Archeville
    July 29th, 2010 at 11:40 am

    Didn’t he once mix up a batch of it from stuff he’d found in a janitorial closet in Arkham?

  6. Lazarus Lupin
    July 29th, 2010 at 8:36 pm

    Dr. Archeville I do believe in that case it wasn’t joker gas but a combination of cleaning chemicals to make a super slick surfer, they were afraid it was joker venom till he threw it on the floor and made his escape.

  7. Sean Murphy
    July 30th, 2010 at 9:14 am

    “Yes, but is his formulat PATENTED?”

    Wasn’t that a plot for the Joker fish issues? That he wanted to patent the fish with the joker face?

  8. Beaton
    July 31st, 2010 at 3:29 pm

    Great entry, Scott!

    So if the great writers of the DCU can’t come up with a plausible Joker toxin, maybe we can. ;)

    Let’s start with the effects of JT (which can vary wildly depending on who’s writing the story).

    The common symptoms are:

    1. Euphoria/uncontrollable laughter, possibly accompanied by hallucinations

    2. Seizure (sometimes–again, depending on the writer)

    3. Rapid death occurring less than 24 hours after exposure

    4. Rictus grin, appearing shortly before death and remaining on the victim’s corpse long after.

    [There have been stories where JT also turns the victim's skin white, hair green, etc., but let's stick to the basics.]

    Let’s brainstorm!

    I’ll start:

    For the grin, I like the idea of manipulating calcium channels to force tetany, but I’m not sure it’s possible to target one specific area, like the face. I don’t know, is it possible for a chemical or pathogen to target a specific nerve or plexus? Damage to CN VII could cause perma-grin, could it not?

    The biggest problem with the grin, of course, is that you wouldn’t be able to see it unless the corpse was pretty darn fresh. Rigor lasts, what, eight hours? Then every muscle relaxes, regardless of electrolyte balance or present toxin, and you become an expressionless rag doll. If Bats found a body two days dead, he’d have no way of knowing the Joker was behind it without doing some lab work. Am I wrong in that?

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  10. Lazarus Lupin
    August 1st, 2010 at 10:34 am

    Beaton great idea, may I add something? Maybe it has an affect on more than the face. It’s just that the wild frozen grin is what people see when they are presented with a fresh joker corpse. Later on, at the autopsy the other effects are duly listed.

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