Instances of Actually Pretty Funny in comic books.
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- Batman: The post-Crisis origin for Jason Todd has him as a street punk who steals the tires off the Batmobile. Batman can't help but laugh at the sheer audacity of such an act. Keep in mind that this was the night of his annual patrol of Crime Alley, where his parents were killed, and you realize how funny he really thought it was.Batman: (thinking) I have to hand it to 'em — it takes stones to rip off the Batman's buggy —
- Batman Adventures, Vol 2, issue #3, involving Harley trying to get a glum Joker to smile again has Robin exclaiming that, "A barracuda down the pants IS kinda funny." Batman is not amused however.
- Black Moon Chronicles: When Wismerhill and Pilou run into Ghorghor Bey's warband, the dreaded warlord attempts to claim Pilou's two Empathic Weapons for himself, only for Pilou to repeatedly summon them back. This initially pisses off Ghorghor, who considers having them both killed on the spot, before switching gears and admitting that it takes guts to taunt him like that. He happily embraces the two and inducts them into his army.
- BoBoiBoy Galaxy x Lawak Kampus: SUPERIOR: While Sai retorts in anger at Ami calling his shield/helmet a satellite dish, his (usually equally stoic) twin sister Shielda can hardly contain her laughter.
- In the Bone series, Thorn is understandably shocked at learning about her past and her destiny. She shouts, "My parents are dead, and I'm a princess with magic powers? What does that make me?" Fone rather unhelpfully suggests, "A fairy princess?" Thorn reacts coldly to this remark. Later, Fone tries to apologize, but Thorn says it was actually pretty funny now that she thinks about it.
- Diabolik, master criminal and wanted murderer, once was dealing with a gang of smugglers that could have given him trouble... So he called the police on them. As she was talking with inspector Ginko, the smugglers' boss realized what had happened... And started laughing, before explaining it to a humorless Ginko.
- In the Green Lantern miniseries Guy Gardner: Reborn, Guy, having lost his ring, tries to get powers from the New Guardians (who, for the purposes of this story, are portrayed as New Age Retro Hippies). He eventually annoys them to the point that Gloss hits him so hard he goes flying off their island.Tomas: That was not very enlightened, Gloss.
[Beat]
Tomas: But I have to admit, it was pretty funny. - Justice League of America Vol. 2 issue #0 depicts the events after the now famous "One Punch" delivered by Batman to Guy Gardner, showing Batman retelling the story to Superman and Wonder Woman. Superman initially tries to lecture him about punching out a fellow League member, especially one like Guy, but the whole time, he's clearly trying not to laugh. Finally, he gives in and asks Batman, "It felt good, didn't it?"
- At the end of The Killing Joke, Batman actually ends up laughing at the joke The Joker tells, despite him having earlier crippled and humiliated Barbara Gordon and then kidnapped and tortured Commissioner Gordon. You can see why when you realise how the joke relates to them and their views of humanity.
- Legion of Super-Heroes: In their first story, the Legion puts Superboy through an initiation prank where they make his powers look useless. Right after joining, Superboy solves a crisis by mimicking Lightning Lad and Cosmic Boy's powers, and then he uses a mind-reading trick when he talks to Saturn Girl. Imra gets shocked and then smiles, realizing that is his payback.
- In a brief scene in Watchmen, Dan (Nite Owl II) is telling Laurie (Silk Specter II) the story of a masochist who used to follow the Masks around pretending to be a supervillain in the hopes of getting beaten up. Then he eventually tried it on Rorschach and got thrown down an elevator shaft. Laurie says it's not funny, but both she and Dan are trying and failing to suppress their laughter.
- In one A Mad Look At article, a student tells a teacher an apparently offensive joke. The teacher steps out into the hallway, laughs, then returns to the classroom and reprimands the student for the joke.
- The one-shot Preacher special "Tall In The Saddle" has a scene where main protagonists Jesse, Tulip and Amy, after being coerced into helping Texas Ranger Tom Pickett go after a horse rustler named Langtry, all end up getting captured by the same and meet his boss, the stereotypically French horse "connoisseur" Napoleon Vichy. When Ranger Pickett insults Vichy by making a joke alluding to how America saved France from Germany in World War II, even the murderous (but American) horse thief Langtry beams with a wide smile.
- The Transformers: Last Stand of the Wreckers: Faced with a room full of very angry Decepticons, Rotorstorm yells out "Wreckers, combine!", to no reaction from his teammates. Seconds later, the normally reserved Overlord starts laughing... and then he blows Rotorstorm's head open.
- In one Usagi Yojimbo story, the Snitch, an recurring informant, is caught doing an elaborate double-cross. His suckers are caught between outrage and amusement.Stray Dog: You've been playing us against each other -
Gen: - and charging us for it! I'd wring your neck if I didn't admire you so much. - In The Wicked + The Divine, Luci almost says this word-for-word when talking about Sakhmet being teased with a laser pointer.
- In W.I.T.C.H., Cedric, the shape-shifter also known as Prince of Lies, was captured and locked in a cell made for him, with him locked in a form that isn't his and surrounded by books that only contain lies. He liked the idea so much that the one time he got a visitor he started telling Blatant Lies to continue the joke.
