This Elseworlds Joker is only briefly discussed in Gotham by Gaslight as a man who married ten wealthy widows, poisoned all ten with strychnine, and then ingested the poison himself when police attempted an arrest, resulting in partial facial paralysis. His visual depiction of the Joker anticipated prospective advertisements for his work in Gotham by Gaslight, yet the cover text still adhered to the ' Death in the Family' storyline.

But at the time, it was just another job.' In contrast, Mignola did not address his cover illustration of the Joker, and the accompanying cover text, for Batman #429. I wish I had something profound to say about it. When people talk about my career, that is one of the covers that a lot of people kind of go back to. When asked if fans continued to question him about that cover, he replied, 'You know, it does crop up. I never imagined I'd be talking about it all these years later.' I've gotta say-I don't think I was giving it a lot of thought. So the idea was: I'll draw him dead, and if he lives, then it's just a cover of him being badly hurt. I didn't know if he was going to live or die, because I did the cover ahead of time. 'It's so amazing to me that people are still talking about that damn thing.

In an early 2000s interview, Mignola was asked if his 1988 cover art and cover text for Batman #428 anticipated the telephone vote for the death of the second Robin ( Jason Todd). Writer Brian Augustyn and Mignola crafted the Gotham by Gaslight one-shot in 1989. Mignola drew covers for several Batman stories, including ' Batman: A Death in the Family' and 'Dark Knight, Dark City'. With writer Jim Starlin, Mignola produced the Cosmic Odyssey miniseries in 1988. He drew the Phantom Stranger and World of Krypton limited series. In 1987, he began working for DC Comics as well. In 1983 he worked as an inker at Marvel Comics on Daredevil and Power Man and Iron Fist and later became the penciler on titles such as The Incredible Hulk, Alpha Flight, and the Rocket Raccoon limited series. In 1982 he graduated from the California College of the Arts with a BFA in Illustration. His first published front cover was The Comic Reader #196 in November 1981. His first published piece was in The Comic Reader #183, a spot illustration of Red Sonja (pg. He began his career in 1980 by illustrating spots in The Comic Reader. Mignola was born in Berkeley, California. Mike Mignola was born September 16, 1960. He has also created other supernatural and paranormal themed titles for Dark Horse including Baltimore, Joe Golem, and The Amazing Screw-On Head. Mike Mignola ( / m ɪ ɡ ˈ n oʊ l ə/ born September 16, 1960) is an American comic book artist and writer best known for creating Hellboy for Dark Horse Comics, part of a shared universe of titles including B.P.R.D., Abe Sapien, Lobster Johnson, and various spin-offs.

Sledgehammer 44 by Mike Mignola