Batman Who Laughs First Appearance and Key Issues

The Batman Who Laughs first appeared in Dark Days: The Casting #1, which DC released on July 12, 2017 (Wikipedia; DC). It is a cameo: Comic Book Treasury lists it as his first cameo, and PriceCharting describes the issue as the first cameo of the Dark Knights, the evil Batmen of the Dark Multiverse. The character was created by Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo.

The issue itself was written by Scott Snyder and James Tynion IV, with art by Andy Kubert, Jim Lee, John Romita Jr. and others, a Jim Lee and Scott Williams cover, 40 pages and a $4.99 cover price (DC). PriceCharting notes a foil-stamped cover and lists a release date of September 1, 2017, which matches the cover date rather than the day it reached stores.

Collectors split his debut into two keys:

• Dark Days: The Casting #1 (July 2017): first appearance, a cameo.
• Dark Nights: The Batman Who Laughs #1 (November 15, 2017): a Dark Nights: Metal tie-in one-shot written by James T. Tynion IV with art by Riley Rossmo and a Jason Fabok cover, $3.99 (DC). Comic Book Treasury calls it his first full appearance.

He is also a lead villain across Dark Nights: Metal #1 to #6 (2017 to 2018), so some sellers label Metal issues as "first" appearances too. The seller's label is not proof; the issue number and date in the indicia are.

PriceCharting values, read on September 25, 2026:

• Ungraded: $9.74 (about 1 sale a week)
• CGC 4.0: $8.51
• CGC 6.0: $16.10
• CGC 8.0: $19.00
• CGC 9.2: $19.96
• CGC 9.8: $79.99 (about 1 sale a month)

PriceCharting's sales list puts past CGC 9.8 sales between about $39 and $130. Grading costs $30 per modern book at CGC plus a $5 handling fee per online order (CGC fee page, September 25, 2026), so grading only pays when a copy is likely to come back 9.8. See CGC grading cost.

No. He is Bruce Wayne from Earth -22 of the Dark Multiverse. In his world a dying Joker pushes Batman to kill him, and exposure to the Joker's toxin leaves Batman with the Joker's look and personality (Wikipedia). Comic Book Treasury describes him as a hybrid of Batman and the Joker: Batman's intellect with the Joker's psychopathy. The Joker of the main DC universe is a separate character; see the Joker's first appearance.

His stories ran in DC's regular monthly titles and event series. Comic Book Treasury's reading order goes through Dark Nights: Metal #1 to #6 (2017 to 2018), The Batman Who Laughs #1 to #7 (2018 to 2019), Batman/Superman (2019 to 2020), Year of the Villain: Hell Arisen and Dark Nights: Death Metal #1 to #7 (2020 to 2021).

Wikipedia reports that The Batman Who Laughs #2 was the best-selling comic by units in the North American direct market in January 2019, with about 116,800 copies ordered. In Death Metal, Wonder Woman kills him; the Dark Knights move his brain into a body with Doctor Manhattan's powers, and as the Darkest Knight he is finally destroyed when Wonder Woman pushes him into the sun.

In the City of Bane storyline, Thomas Wayne, the Batman of the Flashpoint world, shoots Bane in the head at point-blank range in Batman #82 (2019), seemingly killing him, right as Bruce is about to break Bane's back (ComicBook.com). This story is separate from the Batman Who Laughs; both belong to DC's late-2010s Batman line.

• Indicia: the small print on the first page or inside cover gives the title, issue number, date and publisher; reprints and facsimiles usually say so there.
• Cover price and barcode: a price or barcode format that did not exist in the year printed means a later edition.
• Paper and staples: old newsprint tans at the edges; bright white pages on an old date are a warning sign.
• Restoration: color touch, trimmed edges and replaced covers are common on expensive keys; a grading service can detect them. See spot a fake or restored comic.

Shoot the front cover flat, straight on, in even light, then the indicia and the back cover. The ComicLens app reads the title, issue number and cover and matches them to the checks on this page, and there are free scans every day. The indicia photo settles most reprint and variant questions.

Research and drafting were assisted by AI, and every fact was checked against the sources listed at the bottom of the page: Wikipedia, DC product pages, Comic Book Treasury, PriceCharting, CGC fee page and ComicBook.com. Prices are PriceCharting figures read on September 25, 2026 unless another source and date are named; they move with the market.