What happened to your sense of humor, Son? You and I - we were quite a team in our day, weren't we? I'd write the material. You'd read your lines. But you had to go and improvise the big finale, didn't you? 
- — Joker
Red Hood and the Outlaws #15 is an issue of the series Red Hood and the Outlaws (Volume 1) with a cover date of February, 2013. It was published on December 19, 2012.
Synopsis for "It Only Hurts when You Laugh"
With Isabel having somehow suffered from a forced overdose, Jason Todd is forced to contend with the Gotham City Police Department, who have been called against him. Sternly, Jason orders Detective Harvey Bullock to take Isabel to the hospital and let him go - otherwise, he will take down every officer in the room. He is forced to do just that, before stealing Harvey's keys and his cruiser. Unfortunately, the Joker is waiting in the back, and gases him.
Meanwhile, Starfire has grown more interested in Roy Harper as a person rather than as someone to sleep with occasionally. She is actually fascinated by his technical genius, despite his occasional thick-headedness. At this moment, he is rewiring Crux's ship to suit their purposes, and she is raptly watching.
Jason wakes, unable to move, next to one of his helmets, which has been pinned next to him with a crowbar. Joker explains that he has paralyzed him for the next hour or so. Joker suggests that it is his role to make the Batman better by pointing out that he wastes his time with his Bat Family. Feigning annoyance at Jason's failure to respond, he remarks how strange it is, given that he is the one who wrote the material that comprised Jason's life - Jason had merely to read the lines. That said, Joker prepares to beat Jason's paralyzed body with the crowbar.
Rather than allow that, Jason kicks out with his feet by virtue of the fact that his training with the All-Caste made him impervious to paralytic toxins - a fact unknown to the Joker. Getting the upper hand, Jason prepares to kill the Joker with the crowbar, but he is suddenly electrocuted by a charge in the metal weapon. Impressed, the Joker offers Jason a slow clap.
At the hospital, Bullock sees no indication that Isabel is an addict, and decides that it must be a set up. Using her phone, he finds the number most called on her phone and dials it, assuming it must be that of the man he encountered before. Bullock's message is relayed to Starfire's island, where Roy and Starfire - currently in the midst of relations - are spurred into action, realizing that Jason must be in trouble.
Despite evidence to the contrary Jason chooses not to acknowledge the Joker's suggestions that he knows who he is. This is difficult, given that the Joker keeps referring to him with familial words like "son" and "boy". The Joker challenges Jason's doubt by showing him the bullet that was removed from his father on the day he was shot. More evidence is that the Joker has recreated the scene of Jason's discovering his mother's body at her overdose. Angrily, Jason refuses to accept that the Joker was somehow behind the scenes throughout his entire life. The Joker responds that he certainly was - that they're practically family. Hearing this, Jason falls with a thud next to the unconscious body of Red Robin.
Elsewhere, Roy and Starfire arrive in Gotham, and have heard a commiqué between Wonder Girl and Batgirl, suggesting that the Joker is involved. Regardless of whether Jason is there or not, Roy decides that they should offer their help.
Appearing in "It Only Hurts when You Laugh"
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Notes
- This issue is reprinted in Red Hood and the Outlaws: Death of the Family and The Joker: Death of the Family.
- The story continues from Teen Titans (Volume 4) #15.
See Also