When the Joker puts on lipstick, it’s not FOR SHOW. it’s a weapon befitting the Clown Prince of Crime. His lipstick is laced with Joker Venom, his signature toxin. If you are unlucky enough to get kissed by Joker you will be convulsed by uncontrollable laughter, muscle spasms, paralysis, and eventually suffocation. If he’s in a good mood you might just get dizzy, disoriented, or knocked out cold. In Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns, the lipstick was a paralytic with hallucinogenic and mind controlling effects, turning his kiss into your waking nightmare. 

Joker Venom is a concoction, an ever-shifting compound The Joker brews with devious intent. First—A KISS takes you by surprise. Your lips then contort into lock into a hideous toothy grin, followed by hysterical laughter, insanity, convulsions and death. Joker has delivered this venom in nearly every way imaginable: gas clouds puffed from his lapel flower, liquids slipped into drinks, injections hidden in playing cards, in addition to lipstick and perfume. The Joker’s apothecary blends hallucinogens, paralytics, and asphyxiants into a venomous paste, neurotoxic gas or liquid. Joker Venom is a tour-de-force of diabolical chemistry. 

Batman has never been able to keep up with Joker’s never-ending modifications to this evil cosmetic masterpiece.