The history of a villain and what better villain to kick this off with than with the Clown Prince of Crime the Joker. The Joker is easily one of the most well-known and popular comic villains ever created, actually, the Joker is just one of the most popular characters in all of pop culture period. He's also one of the few comic villains that are just as well known and has loved as respected hero. The Joker was created by Jay Roberts and Bill Finger and Bob Kane. He first appeared in Batman issue 1 in the spring of 1940. Joker was influenced by actor Conrad Vendetti (in the film "The Man Who Laughs"). They also use inspiration from a Joker playing card from an ordinary deck of cards which we all know, the Joker card has become a huge part of the Joker's myths and quite literally as his calling card. In Batman Universe Joker's full origin must always stay a mystery and we don't understand what makes this mystery even more mysterious is that over the years. In multiple comics, The Joker hints that his origin is hazy even to himself and flat-out said it was and one of the most loved Joker stories of all time "The Killing Joke" said about how his origin is a mystery. But we do have a pretty good guess as to what his origin is or at least one that's widely accepted with all Batman fans though as with everything else with the Joker nothing is ever definitive but the origin we would be talking about is the origin we were given through flashback sequences throughout Allen Maura's Killing Joke the flashbacks explore a possible origin for the Joker portraying him as a failed comedian who remained nameless in the book presidents are committing a crime as the Red Hood to support his pregnant wife Batman's interference causes him to leap into a chemical tank that has figures his skin combined with the trauma of his pregnant wife earlier accidental death the mangoes insane creating the Joker. As for what the Joker's real name was before I became the Joker well, no one knows for sure but what's the most widely agreed on is his name was Jack Neighbor as that's what he's referred to in the 1989 Batman film and even in "The Batman Animated Series". It's shown and said his real name is Jack Neighbor.
Let's see about the Joker's progression through the years in his initial appearances starting with Batman issue 1 in 1940. The Joker was a straightforward homicidal maniac the character was to be killed in his second appearance in "Batman issue 1" after being stabbed in the heart. Bill Finger wanted the Joker to die as he was concerned, but the editor Whitney Ellsworth intervene and suggested the spared character for future use. After the drawn panel quickly demonstrating that the Joker was still alive was subsequently added to the comic. The Joker then went on to appear in nine of Batman's first 12 issues, what's a cool little fun fact about the Joker is that he's known as the first comic book supervillain which was even stated in the previous documentary on superheroes "A Never-Ending Battle".
The use of the character lessened by the mid-sixties when Julius Schwartz took over editorship of Batman comics in 1964 and the character remained largely absent throughout the decade until this version of the character was adapted into the 1966 television series "Batman". The show's popularity made DC want to have a similar tone with their comics but once this series had ended in 1968, Julius Schwartz was free to begin reversing the trend. The Silver Age introduced the finding character traits for the Joker-like the use of acid squirting flowers trick guns and the committing of goofy elaborate crimes and a lot of other stuff. The Joker is one of the few popular villains who continued making regular appearances in Batman comics from the Golden Age into the Silver Age of comic books, as Batman comics continued publication through the rise of mystery and romance comics. The rise of the comics code Authority in 1950 saw excessive comic violence banned and resulted in the Joker's transformation into a goofy thieving trickster with none of his homicidal menacing features from his earlier in comics.
In 1973 after a four-year disappearance the characters revised and renewed in Batman stories by writer Dennis O'Neil and artist Neal Adams starting with the Joker's five-way revenge. The Joker returns to his roots as a homicidal maniac who murders people on a desire while enjoying battles with Batman. O'Neal said my idea was to simply take it back where it started I went to the DC library and read some of the earlier stories and tried to get a sense of what Bob Kane and Bill Finger were after. In 1973 Dennis O'Neill's introduced the concept of Joker's legally defined insanity that resulted in the Joker being sent to the Arkham Asylum which was called Arkham Hospital back then. Adams also modified the character's appearance changing like average body type to look taller and leaner with an extended jaw. 1980 would bring us three of the best Batman / Joker stories ever written such as "The Dark Knight Returns", "The Killing Joke" and "A Death in the Family" that had the Joker murder Jason Todd Robin which was decided by readers who voted via phone for Todd's fate.
We couldn't talk about the Joker without at least mentioning his lady friend Harley Quinn her real name is Dr. Harleen Francis Quinzel. She was an Arkham psychiatrist who went mad and fell in love with the Joker. A mad love so to speak as that's the title of her origin story. Joker is a leader to a life of crime as Harley Quinn. She was actually created for "The Batman the Animated Series" TV show but became so popular among fans made her way into the comics that became remarkable in the DC Universe.
Good storylines in the comics for the character Joker
- Batman issue one which showcases the first time Batman squares off with the Clown Prince of Crime
- The Joker's five-way revenge in Batman 251 The Dark Knight Returns
- A death in the family
- The man who laughs
- Arkham Asylum
- Mad love
- The Laughing fish in Detective Comics issue 475 through 476
- The Killing Joke
In conclusion, the Joker is a pretty much super villain as he has no real rhyme or reason for what he does. He simply just enjoys chaos and madness but most importantly he lives to battle with Batman.
