The Joker, clown prince of crime, master of disguise, a homicidal maniac or a calculating supervillain mastermind– he might be the greatest villain in comic book history. A character with an eighty year history is difficult to pin down “great-story” wise but let’s go ahead and try.
The Bat Man, as he was called when he was first introduced in the pages of Detective Comics #27 (May 1939) was a formidable success right from the start rivaling the popularity of National Comics Superman who had been introduced just a year earlier in Action Comics #1. While Superman existed in the daylight as a champion for the underclasses in the bright gleaming city of Metropolis The Bat Man seemed to strike out of the shadows at the underbelly of seedy Gotham City.
Initially Bat Man encountered crooked businessmen who would go as far as murder to advance their career but soon bizarre criminals who echoed the larger than life baddies appearing in pulp magazines soon began to appear; Doctor Death, a twisted mad scientist lost his face in an inferno after battling the cowled avenger but that didn’t stop him from adopting a wax replacement straight out of the horror film MYSTERY OF THE WAX MUSEUM (1933). A few issues later and The Mad Monk unleashed a terror plot on Gotham City that ran through several issues of Detective Comics before Bat Man was finally able to learn the truth- that The Mad Monk was a werewolf/vampire and the first supernatural villain in comics history. He met his untimely end thanks to the silver bullets of Bat Man’s .45 caliber automatic.
BATMAN #1 – SPRING 1940 “The Joker”
Sherlock Holmes had his Moriarty in his stories, a villain worthy of Holmes superior intellect, and in the pages of BATMAN COMICS #1 (SPRING 1940) we get our first introduction to The Joker! He’s given no origin story or explanation as to why his face is pale white his hair shocking green and his lips ruby red, he’s cold and calculating like Professor Moriarty and announces his intended victims as a warning to them and the police and is unstoppable as he kills them with his deadly Joker-Venom until he comes up against Batman and his fresh new sidekick Robin, The Boy Wonder in a two part tale in the issue. It’s interesting to note that The Joker dies at the end of this first encounter, falling on his own knife, but a hastily added panel finds one of the policemen on the scene revealing that he’s not dead. In the following issue The Joker is back as Batman plots to kidnap him in the hopes of taking him to a famous surgeon who might lobotomize him into normalcy! Yikes!
BATMAN #4 – WINTER 1941 “The Joker’s Crime Circus”
In BATMAN COMICS #4 (WINTER 1941) The Joker returns this time under the guise of THE JOKER’S CRIME CIRCUS in which his team of oddball sideshow performers put on private shows in the homes of Gotham’s wealthiest citizens so he can rob them blind. The story is heavy on shadows and atmosphere and was reprinted in the oversized BATMAN TREASURY C-25 which sports a Neal Adams Batman running on a red cover background.
BATMAN #8 – DEC/JAN 1941/1942 “The Joker’s Cross Country Crimes”
In his eighth appearance in a Batman comic book The Joker murders the head of the FBI in front of a large audience and then embarks on a cross country killing spree before Batman realizes he’s spelling out his name based on the states he’s committing his crimes in. He’s particularly deadly in this one, using black paint to change road markings and causing a bus full of innocent people to hurl to their death seemingly just for his own amusement.
BATMAN #73 – OCT/NOV 1952 “The Joker’s Utility Belt”
After being outfoxed by Batman’s utility belt again The Joker decides to create his own gadget laden version which includes a hand buzzer, sneezing tablets and mexican jumping beans. This era of The Joker finds him no longer murdering his victims, he’s regulated more to just annoying them and Batman. The art for this one is by legendary Golden Age artist Dick Sprang who brought a Chester Gould DICK TRACY element to Batman Comics of the period.
This story was pretty faithfully adapted as the first appearance of the character in the 1966 BATMAN TV show starring Adam West with Cesar Romero as the screen’s first live action Joker.
DETECTIVE COMICS #365 – JUL 1967 “The House The Joker Built”
An amazing cover by Carmine Infantino and interiors by Shelly Moldoff and Joe GIella with the writing by John Broome we get a Joker story that fits right into the popular TV Show of the time. The Joker is envious of the terrific sales of Batman Merchandise so he sets up a bootleg shop in a major department store in an effort to sell his bizarre Joker TV’s which allow criminals access to a show featuring his greatest Batman defeats. He what can we say it’s DC Comics of the 60s.
BATMAN #251 – SEPT 1973 “The Joker’s Five Way Revenge!”
With this story by Denny O’Neil and Neal Adams, The Joker is returned to his murderous ways after he escapes a mental institution on goes on a killing spree to eliminate his old gang who turned on him. It’s a top notch story which ends with Batman battling a shark with no shark repellent in sight!
DETECTIVE #475/476 – FEB/APR 1978 “The Laughing Fish” & “Sign of The Joker”
Steve Englehart and Marshall Rogers unseat O’Neil and Adams with this two part Joker epic which finds him closer to his roots and back to his insanely murderous self. The Joker decides if Colonel Sanders can make a fortune on chicken and they don’t even look anything like him, he can make ten times as much by infecting all of the fish on the Eastern seaboard with Joker venom giving them his trademarked grin, and if you think that’s a crazy idea he has an easy solution for eliminating you.
BATMAN THE KILLING JOKE – 1988
Considered by many to be the ultimate Batman Vs Joker story I’m including it in this list solely for that reason, while Brian Bolland’s art is absolutely brilliant and Alan Moore’s story and dialogue are hard to match I find the ending a major let down. Fan theories exist online that the ending is not necessarily what we think it is (See how I’m avoiding spoilers here?) but in a conversation I had personally with Bolland the ending in the script is exactly what you see spelled out in the story, there is no subliminal alteration.
BATMAN THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS – 1986 Part #3 – “Hunt the Dark Knight”
Frank Miller’s operatic four part Batman Mini Series THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS focuses on an older Bruce Wayne returning to the bat-suit after a short retirement. The battle between Batman and The Joker becomes the focus of the third issue of the series and it’s a fight to the death between these two adversaries, like Sherlock Holmes final battle with Professor Moriarty this is a worthy ending to the mythos.
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