Post by Batdan on Feb 8, 2005 22:33:29 GMT -5
Hello, fellow LoGsters:
There have been a couple of spots on the boards lately where people have been debating the basic nature of the Joker. On one thread, it was suggested that someone put together a primer on the Joker's history to help modern readers understand the character's background.
I've taken on the task and if this proves popular and useful, I'll be happy to tackle other characters down the line.
Here then is a basic history of the character, to give you a sense of how he evolved. It's by no means comprehensive but hits the key highlights. While many of you are undoubtedly familiar with this material, many, I'm guessing, are not.
Please feel free to comment and give your thoughts. I welcome them greatly.
The Joker first appeared in Batman No. 1, Spring 1940, which means his 65th anniversary is just about here. The character is very similar to how he's presented today: He is a killer who uses his Joker venom to leave a sick grin on the faces of his victims.
His motive at this point, however, is largely greed. He's not quite as chaotic as he is today but he's vicious. An interesting side note: He was originally supposed to die at the end of his second appearance in Batman No. 1, but an editor saw the character's potential and saved him. At the end of the story, a horrified doctor is aghast to learn that the Joker will live after he'd accidently stabbed himself.
(This, of course, has become standard over the years: Joker appears to be killed. Joker actually survives.)
Eventually, though, the Joker moved away from his murderous ways. For a number of reasons, comics became less violent in the ensuing decades and the Joker morphed into an outlandish robber. He became more a dangerous prankster than a homicidal maniac.
This characterization held up into the '60s. Cesar Romero's TV version was very much in line with how he was written in the comics, in fact. (Personal low point for me: He took on a henchman for I think one issue in 1966 -- Gaggy (!) a midget in a harlequin outfit. Harley Quinn, he wasn't.)
In the early '70s, though, Batman was returned to his dark roots and Neal Adams and Denny O'Neil produced one of the touchstone stories in the Joker's history: "The Joker's Five-Way Revenge" (1973). The Joker, venom at the ready, was back as a homicidal maniac.
Several years later in Detective, Steve Englehart and Marshall Rogers turned in a two-part piece commonly referred to as "The Laughing Fish" storyline. For many, this is the ultimate Batman-Joker storyline. It's essentially an adaptation of the stories from Batman No. 1, but he's crazier. (The story was turned into an episode of Batman: TAS. The ep also featured the shark tank climax from the O'Neil-Adams story.)
Still, there were plenty of hokey Joker stories around this time that showed him to be less threatening. Sometimes he was off his hinges, other times he was more a prankster. (Interesting side note: He had become so popular that he got his own book for a short spell. Of course, the Joker as protagonist is hard to sustain and the title soon died.)
By the '80s, he was pretty much a stone-cold killer who would turn on his own henchmen as quickly as he would turn on his victims.
The next real landmark appearance was in the "Dark Knight Returns." Here, he's a mass murderer and his body count is higher than in any previous story.
Then there was "The Killing Joke" in which he's an out and out sadist. It's this portrayal that survives most today. (The murder of Jason Todd was also chilling but not nearly as psychologically unnerving as this story.)
Anyway, I hope this helps people get a sense of how the Joker developed over the decades and why different readers have different ideas about how he should be written.
Again, I invite your comments.
There have been a couple of spots on the boards lately where people have been debating the basic nature of the Joker. On one thread, it was suggested that someone put together a primer on the Joker's history to help modern readers understand the character's background.
I've taken on the task and if this proves popular and useful, I'll be happy to tackle other characters down the line.
Here then is a basic history of the character, to give you a sense of how he evolved. It's by no means comprehensive but hits the key highlights. While many of you are undoubtedly familiar with this material, many, I'm guessing, are not.
Please feel free to comment and give your thoughts. I welcome them greatly.
The Joker first appeared in Batman No. 1, Spring 1940, which means his 65th anniversary is just about here. The character is very similar to how he's presented today: He is a killer who uses his Joker venom to leave a sick grin on the faces of his victims.
His motive at this point, however, is largely greed. He's not quite as chaotic as he is today but he's vicious. An interesting side note: He was originally supposed to die at the end of his second appearance in Batman No. 1, but an editor saw the character's potential and saved him. At the end of the story, a horrified doctor is aghast to learn that the Joker will live after he'd accidently stabbed himself.
(This, of course, has become standard over the years: Joker appears to be killed. Joker actually survives.)
Eventually, though, the Joker moved away from his murderous ways. For a number of reasons, comics became less violent in the ensuing decades and the Joker morphed into an outlandish robber. He became more a dangerous prankster than a homicidal maniac.
This characterization held up into the '60s. Cesar Romero's TV version was very much in line with how he was written in the comics, in fact. (Personal low point for me: He took on a henchman for I think one issue in 1966 -- Gaggy (!) a midget in a harlequin outfit. Harley Quinn, he wasn't.)
In the early '70s, though, Batman was returned to his dark roots and Neal Adams and Denny O'Neil produced one of the touchstone stories in the Joker's history: "The Joker's Five-Way Revenge" (1973). The Joker, venom at the ready, was back as a homicidal maniac.
Several years later in Detective, Steve Englehart and Marshall Rogers turned in a two-part piece commonly referred to as "The Laughing Fish" storyline. For many, this is the ultimate Batman-Joker storyline. It's essentially an adaptation of the stories from Batman No. 1, but he's crazier. (The story was turned into an episode of Batman: TAS. The ep also featured the shark tank climax from the O'Neil-Adams story.)
Still, there were plenty of hokey Joker stories around this time that showed him to be less threatening. Sometimes he was off his hinges, other times he was more a prankster. (Interesting side note: He had become so popular that he got his own book for a short spell. Of course, the Joker as protagonist is hard to sustain and the title soon died.)
By the '80s, he was pretty much a stone-cold killer who would turn on his own henchmen as quickly as he would turn on his victims.
The next real landmark appearance was in the "Dark Knight Returns." Here, he's a mass murderer and his body count is higher than in any previous story.
Then there was "The Killing Joke" in which he's an out and out sadist. It's this portrayal that survives most today. (The murder of Jason Todd was also chilling but not nearly as psychologically unnerving as this story.)
Anyway, I hope this helps people get a sense of how the Joker developed over the decades and why different readers have different ideas about how he should be written.
Again, I invite your comments.
