History: (Batman I #1) - Joker made a name for himself as a ghastly clown that committed brutal murders. Joker killed three prominent Gothamites using his Joker Venom, which left a hideous grin n their corpses. Batman intervened, and Joker escaped him in two straight fights, but the third time Batman defeated him and sent him off to jail. Joker promised he’d have the last laugh.

(Batman I #1) - Two days after Batman captured the Joker the villain escaped prison and went on a murderous crime spree. Batman and Robin caught up with Joker, and during their fight Joker accidentally stabbed himself in the chest, severely wounding but not killing him.

(Batman I #2) - Batman and Robin learned that Joker had survived their last encounter, and was undergoing major surgery at Vesalius Hospital. Batman planned to kidnap him, and bring him to a neurologist that would end his madness, but Crime Syndicate Inc. had already taken Joker from the hospital, forcing the doctors to quickly perform surgery so they could make Joker their new boss. They told him of their plan to steal E.S. Arthur’s Pharaoh’s jewels, but he didn’t want to cut them in, and used sleeping gas on them. He didn’t want to kill them, and seem ungrateful for their rescue. He killed Arthur with joker venom, but Catwoman, who was also after the jewel, was hot on his heels. Batman and Robin arrived on the scene, and Joker almost killed Robin, but Catwoman saved him. He set Arthur’s castle ablaze in an attempt to get the jewels away from Catwoman. He fought Batman, who knocked him out. Batman used the Bat-Plane to save Catwoman and Robin from the inferno, but left Joker behind.

(Batman I #4) - Joker survived his battle with Batman, clinging to a piece of driftwood after going overboard until a ship rescued him. He was elated to be alive, and vowed to strike back at the Caped Crusader. Joker assembled a traveling circus that performed for the social elite while casing them, and then returning to rob them blind. Batman and Robin stopped one robbery, and followed the crime circus to their headquarters, an abandoned mansion, only to learn that their ringleader was the Joker. Joker had the mansion rigged with booby traps and death traps, but Batman closed in on him, and the duo battled furiously. While grappling the Joker fell down one of his own trap doors, and Batman hoped he’d died for real this time.

(Batman I #5) - Joker fell from the trapdoor into sewage water, and made his way out to sea. He was rescued by smugglers who recognized him, and wanted to make him their new boss. He dubbed his new gang the Four Cards, and set up a sche,me to rob patrons of the gambling boat “The Deck.” Batman investigated as Bruce Wayne, and the Four Cards Black Queen fell madly in love with him. Bruce changed into Batman and once “The Deck” reached shore he pursed Joker in the Batcar, but after missing a hairpin turn the car launched off a mountaintop. Joker kidnapped Robin, and lured Batman into the Four Card’s den, promising to play a card game for Robin’s life. Joker cheated, and when Batman attacked him he sealed the door to his den and set the building ablaze, condemning the heroes and the rest of the Four Cards to death. The Jack of Diamonds Card tried to shoot Batman, but the Black Queen, recognizing Batman as Bruce because of a shaving nick on his chin, saved him, but died in the process. Batman and Robin escaped the deathtrap and pursued Joker to a lighthouse. In the battle Joker fell from the lighthouse into a raging stormy sea. Batman reflected that he died because he forgot a suite in his Cards, the Heart. It was the Black Queen’s heart that saved Batman’s life.

(Batman I #7) - Joker survived his plunge into the water, and posted a want ad for practical jokers, and found a few men capable of criminal behavior. He assured their loyalty by tricking them into leaving their fingerprints on evidence in major crime cases, and then directed their pranks. He started with publicly disruptive ones, like causing a mob scene throwing fake money at a bank, to killer jokes, like removing one-way street signs and changing up the switches on a railroad. The Joker sent a notice to the police, daring them to stop him, mocked Batman, and boasted that he'd steal Henry Verne's gems. The police and Batman guarded Verne's gems, but were attacked by Joker's practical jokers, who'd been made up to look just like him. The Joker's mob fled, they were just a distraction while Joker stole the valuables of another socialite. Joker's next target was Duke Michael, whom he disabled, and posed as to host a fundraiser. Joker pocketed the proceeds, but Batman and Robin figured out what he was up to and caught up with him. Joker tried to escape on a train, but he and Batman fought, and when their battled, and when they struggled atop their train Joker fell, plummeting into a nearby body of water.

(Batman I #52) - Joker played cards with a henchman who accused him of cheating after producing a hand of five jokers. The enraged Joker seemed ready to kill him, so the henchman feigned laughter, saying Joker couldn’t kill a goon with a great sense of humor, and claimed he thought it was hilarious when Joker robbed him. This gave Joker an idea for a series of funny robberies. He stole a ermine coat from wealthy Mrs. Carlin, snagging it with a fishing line. He proceeded to “row” away in a canoe with holes in the bottom for his legs so he could run away on foot. He stole Mr. Stark’s stamp collection, escaping on a chauffeur-driven pogo stick, and robbed the Dude Ranch nightclub by unleashing a wild steer after a patron asked for steer steak. Batman and Robin were confused when none of the victims wanted to press charges, saying they’d gotten such a good laugh at Joker’s antics. Batman wondered if he could induce joker to rob Bruce Wayne, and the next night Bruce had Alfred hang Franz Hals “Laughing Cavalier,” which he claimed to have just acquired. Joker burst in dressed as an artist, and stole the painting, calling it a masterpiece of crime. Bruce laughed at his floppy beret, and Dick, thinking he’d lost his senses, changed into Robin to pursue Joker, but the fiend knocked him out and took him hostage, flying away in a blimp. Batman used the Batplane to track down Robin’s location, which turned out to be a giant house of cards. Joker spoke to the Dynamic Duo over a loudspeaker, telling them the house of cards was a puzzle, and that if they didn’t solve it they’d be crushed when it came tumbling down. Robin asked Batman why he’d let Joker steal the painting, and Batman explained that after some research he’d found out that all Joker’s victims had crimes in their past they sought to conceal, and he figured that joker was blackmailing him. In disguise he spread the word in an underworld bar that Bruce Wayne had paid a crook to steal the “Laughing Cavalier,” which was actually a copy painted by batman himself. Joker phoned up Bruce, saying that if he let him steal the painting and laugh about it not only would Joker keep his crime secret, he would return later with two oils. The whole idea of the funny robberies was to confound Batman, which the Caped Crusader found rather conceited of Joker. Batman found two giant aces made of steel that provided shelter when the rest of the house of cards collapsed, and the heroes went to interview Joker’s victims again. Mr. Stark had been promised two collections of stamps, and Joker gave him rubber stamps. Mrs. Carlin got two ermines, but the small animals, not full coats. Nick Weston, owner of the dude Ranch was promised $10,000 for the $5,000 Joker stole, but got beaded wampum. Batman told the victims it was their own fault for thinking Joker would ever make an honest deal. Joker realized the Hals painting was a forgery and brought two giant tubes of oil paint to Wayne Manor, planning to squeeze them open with the Jokermobile to make a giant mess of the mansion. Batman rammed the Jokermobile with the Batmobile, and as Joker fled he ran over the tubes, covering Joker in paint. Batman and Robin took their embarrassed enemy into custody.

Due to the Crisis on Infinite Earths, Joker's existence was erased from DC continuity.

Comments: Created by Bill Finger & Bob Kane.

All characters mentioned or pictured are ™  and © DC Comics, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Please visit The Official DC Comics Site at: http://www.batman.com