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| source// DC Comics |
The Joker has a truly rich history in comics, popping up countless times to ruin lives around the DC universe. Over the past 75 years, writers and artists have spun hundreds of stories around this troubling and intoxicating character. So why do people talk about only a handful of discussed-to-death storylines, just a single square’s worth in the massive crazy quilt of Joker’s existence?
Comics like “The Killing Joke,” “Mad Love,” “Arkham Asylum,” and “The Dark Knight Returns” are all rewarding, but surely there’s a bigger world out there for fans that want to soak up all things Clown Prince. Let’s go beyond his iconic appearances from recent years, like the fork-tongued butcher served up in “R.I.P.,” the degenerate punk of “Joker,” or the jilted court jester of the New 52. Let’s also bypass the foundation-laying classics— his first appearance in 1940, his origin reveal in 1951’s “The Man Behind the Red Hood,” or the dark 1970s tales “The Joker’s Five-Way Revenge” and “The Laughing Fish.”
The following are amazing but overlooked gems, well worth the digging required to find them. By the nature of this list, I’ve surely left out a lot of comics, so make sure to leave what I missed in the comments.
Now join me, would you, and plunge into the bubbling green depths…
10. Return Of The Joker (Batman 450-451)
In 1988, Joker shot Batgirl. In 1989, Joker killed Robin. In 1990, Joker stayed in his apartment and yelled at the television. This while a yuppie wannabe committed crimes in his name.
“Return of the Joker” is a story that totally lives in the shadows of “The Killing Joke” and “A Death in the Family,” but in a weirdly good way. Essentially it’s a twisted take on a “road to recovery” narrative, including a scene where Joker puts on his old Red Hood getup in an attempt to “find the joke again.” Plus, he thinks about how much his stomach hurts in thought bubbles, which is pretty strange.
9. Two-Timer (Batman & Robin Adventures 1)
Here’s Joker screwing up somebody’s life again for no good reason. This time it’s Two-Face. Harvey Dent has been making great strides in his rehabilitation at Arkham, until Joker makes up his mind to undo all his hard work.
All it takes is a whispered suggestion as Harvey passes Joker’s cell— that out in the free world, Harvey’s pal Bruce Wayne is getting it on with Grace Dent. Joker takes great pleasure in the results of his rumor, like some reality TV housewife, as Harvey spirals back into a vengeful Two-Face. Joker really sucks in this one.
8. Images (Legends Of The Dark Knight 50)
It’s not every Batman comic that opens with an F. Scott Fitzgerald quote. This particular passage about boats being “borne back ceaselessly into the past” sets up a tragic reimagining of Joker’s first attacks on Gotham. His ruthlessness is highlighted as he manipulates his chemistry savant (?) cousin into creating and supplying him with Joker venom.
Jerk that he is, he tests the venom on his cousin’s cat. And the cat’s name was Muffin, for pity’s sake. This is an ugly story that shows Joker at his most unlikable (if he can ever be likable) as he betrays his vulnerable cousin, a story that ends on a note of cruel irony that I won’t risk spoiling.
7. The Sound Of One Hand Clapping (Adventures Of Superman 14)
Another story set in the early days, this comic finds the Joker threatening to blow up the Daily Planet just so he can meet Superman. This is truly a Joker story unlike any other, because Superman is such a different audience for Joker’s ravings.
Unlike Batman, Superman actually takes time to listen and engage with what the villain says, pointing out faults of logic and laughing at jokes in equal measure. And Joker actually squirms under the even-handed scrutiny. It’s weird coming away from a Superman comic feeling like Joker is the more boring character of the two, but this well-written story might convince you.
6. The Reason For Hyenas (Streets Of Gotham 19)
When Paul Dini writes Joker for “Batman: The Animated Series,” he’s a ridiculous force of kid-friendly mayhem. When Dini writes him for comics, the experience is shockingly dark.
With yet another flashback to Joker’s early career (Who knew there was so much material there?), we witness him graduate from flakey performance artist to terrifying threat. His way of making a name for himself? Kidnapping a mobster and urging hyenas to feast on his body, starting with his fingertips. Ha?
5. World’s Finest (Superman/Batman: World’s Finest 1-3)
They don’t make comics like this anymore. Though published in 1990, this miniseries is a thoroughly committed throwback to the 1940s Golden Age. The story involves Batman and Superman switching cities as Lex Luthor expands his shady developments into Gotham and Joker creates mischief in the streets of Metropolis.
The Joker here is unlike any you’ve seen, his conceptualization offbeat and old-fashioned— he owns rundown apartment buildings rented out to hookers and junkies. Instead of threatening innocents, he engages in property warfare with fellow slumlord Luthor. It’s different. Also Steve Rude draws one of the most distinctive Jokers around, very impish and with a slight potbelly.
4. Knight Of Vengeance (Flashpoint: Batman 1-3)
Part of the fun with the Joker is the ambiguity of his true identity. Sometimes he was Jack Napier, sometimes Joe Kerr (goodness gracious), sometimes a mafioso, or a comedian, or a heist man, etc. The multiple choices for Joker’s past self increase when you take in alternate reality stories like “Knight of Vengeance,” which contains maybe the most dramatic recasting of his identity yet.
In a reality where the Wayne family was mugged but only young Bruce was killed, Thomas and Martha Wayne were destroyed by their grief. As their marriage splintered, Thomas tracked down and murdered the mugger and became Batman. Martha carved a permanent smile in her face and became the Joker. The plot kicks off as Joker kidnaps two kids and holds them at Wayne Manor. There, Batman and Joker, husband and wife, have their brutal final showdown.
3. Slayride (Detective Comics 826)
Think of the last place on Earth you’d ever want to be. Okay. I submit that your nightmare situation cannot match the terror of this comic’s setting— alone with Joker in his car. Robin finds himself in said predicament, tied down to the passenger seat, and can’t do anything but serve as Joker’s captive audience.
This is another unsettlingly cruel story by Paul Dini of “Batman: The Animated Series.” Joker runs over five pedestrians and shoots a drive thru attendant before Robin manages to free himself (distracting Joker with an argument over a Marx Brothers quote) and put an end to his spree. It’s sick but riveting stuff, as if all the self-censoring Dini had to do for the cartoon created a buildup of downright unpleasant Joker material.
2. The Killing Book (The Batman Adventures 16)
From the same series that spawned the definitive Harley/Joker story “Mad Love” comes this oddball treat. Joker is frustrated with his portrayal as “the guy Batman always beats” in the popular kid’s comic book “Gotham Adventures.” The proceedings are awesomely meta as Joker kidnaps the series’ artist and forces him to churn out comics glorifying his crimes.
Reading this story feels like being around a bunch of comic creators cutting loose. It’s fun, it’s quick, and it’s witty. It also features one of Joker’s best death traps yet— chaining Batman to a rocket triggered by a mini golf course. Because that’s comics.
1. Soft Targets (Gotham Central 12-15)
“Gotham Central” was to superhero comics as “The Wire” was to crime television, with its sprawling yet fleshed-out cast of police, its unflashy visuals, and its unfortunate lack of a large audience. This Joker-focused arc may be the series’ finest hour.
It opens on a startling note as a sniper kills the mayor during a meeting with Commissioner Akins. For much of the story Joker remains an unseen but lingering force, sniping public figures at random and spurring (as he has done so often) a panicked exodus from the city. This is Gotham’s Finest going up against the very personification of urban chaos, and when they finally get him in the interrogation room, things only get worse for everybody.
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