Welcome to Yummy Joker Goodness™,
the page that pays tribute to the tastiest (in my opinion) starring or cameo
appearances of The Joker across the DC comic universe.
(Please keep in mind that I, as a humble
fan, receive no financial gain from this endeauvour – whereas, DC
Comics, they of the great Copyright, will no doubt receive epic monetory gain
from my entirely magnanimus promotion of their product! So who are they to
complain… )
So. Who knew that the J got around so
much? It seems that every major DC heavyweight has had to deal with him at some
time or another, and for every new packs of super teens, he’s an obligatory
trial-by-fire. Oh dear, when will they ever learn? Arrogance in the face of The
Joker is just asking for treble in the key of Ouch. Just ask Jason Todd.
Which brings me to the classic Death
in the Family, likely to be one of the best known of the comics and
graphic novels I’ll be featuring here. What red-blooded DC fan hasn’t read
this tale of innocence and betrayal? What green-hearted Joker fan hasn’t come
away from it with a vastly different feeling to his or her non-coulrophillic
peers? I know I did. Of course, Death
in the Family is from a simpler time. A traditional time. A Jim Aparo time,
afterall. And Jim Aparo’s style is Jim Aparo’s style and we wouldn’t have it
any other way. But really, “sexy” is not on his agenda. He’s much more
concerned in the madman aspect of the Joker’s personality. My opinion? I’m fine
with that! We should never forget that our favourite mass-murdering psychotic
clown is… just that!
Although the ‘Aparo look’ was pretty
standard at the time, some artists went out on a limb with their own design for
Mr J. As it was in the 1987 Batman story, “Catch As Cats Can”, which featured
the highly retro Catwoman (her costume wasn’t cat-like at all, unless you count
the little bumps on her hood as cat ears).
The Joker’s look, however, was rather good. Effete but not effeminate.
Implike. Pucklike, really. The story was pretty good (note the rather
annoying pun in the title, being as Catwoman was the subject of a catscan experiment),
and was spread across two issues, the latter of which offered the following
quote:
Batman: Do something
sensible for once, Joker! Surrender!
Joker: What, and get
drummed out of the union?
Speaking of Selina Kyle, she has had
no shortage of brushes with the Clown Prince in her own title, all of them
highly amusing. A personal favourite of favourites is the three issue arc where
he implants her with a tracking device that essentially turns her into a moving
target, spreading destruction wherever she goes, in an effort to create the
following joke: Batman’s girlfriend becomes the source of villainy that
he must fight against, and ergo he can’t enjoy the fact that he’s found
someone, because she’s a crook. Although, Mr J… that was kind of the case
already… albeit she wasn’t killing people (as she accidentally did, as a
result of his plan). This was news to Batsy and Catty, who didn’t realise they
were made for each other. “Uncle Joker knows of what he speaks!” The J assured
them. Because he enjoys played Twisted Cupid. That comic is full of witty repartee. For instance:
Catwoman: You know, most days I wake
up thinking I could match you, insanity for insanity —
Joker: — But you’d rather dress
up like a cat. I understand.
Another rather good depiction is in
the Catwoman Year Two trilogy of comics, where the two characters first meet,
first strike up their winning relationship… Joker, Two-Face and Penguin are on
their merry way back from a failed hearing, in an Arkham Asylum transport van,
and Catty decides to hijack them, so that Batsy will be too busy dealing with
them to notice her planned robbery. Which, as it turns out, doesn’t work, but
there you go. A very nice look for The J, quite realistic in fact, but with a
touch of the demon to bring out the green (and the crazy) in his eyes.