Joker Retrospective

Lately I've found myself falling in love all over again with our beloved Mr. J. Call it the fault of The Joker Blogs on YouTube or even the flawless, original performance of the Joker by Mr. Heath Ledger of The Dark Knight film. Whatever the reason is, I'm happy to fall for the funniest clown around.

Its intriguing to me how one of the most well known and most likely beloved yet hated characters of the DC world has a very unknown background.

"Though many have been related, a definitive back-story has never been established for the Joker in the comics, and his real name has never been confirmed. He himself is confused as to what actually happened; as he says in The Killing Joke, "Sometimes I remember it one way, sometimes another... if I'm going to have a past, I prefer it to be multiple choice! Ha ha ha!" In Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth, written by Grant Morrison, it is said that the Joker may not be insane, but has some sort of "super-sanity" in which he re-creates himself each day to cope with the chaotic flow of modern urban life." - Wikipedia

The credit for creation of the Joker is disputed. Kane responded in a 1994 interview to claims that Jerry Robinson created the concept of the character:
“ Bill Finger and I created the Joker. Bill was the writer. Jerry Robinson came to me with a playing card of the Joker. That's the way I sum it up. [The Joker] looks like Conrad Veidt — you know, the actor in The Man Who Laughs, [the 1928 movie based on the novel] by Victor Hugo. [...] Bill Finger had a book with a photograph of Conrad Veidt and showed it to me and said, 'Here's the Joker'. Jerry Robinson had absolutely nothing to do with it, but he'll always say he created it till he dies. He brought in a playing card, which we used for a couple of issues for him [the Joker] to use as his playing card.”

Robinson, whose original Joker playing card was on public display in the exhibition "Masters of American Comics" at the Jewish Museum in New York City, from September 16, 2006 to January 28, 2007, and the William Breman Jewish Heritage Museum in Atlanta, Georgia from October 24, 2004 to August 28, 2005, has countered that he created the Joker to be Batman's larger-than-life nemesis when extra stories needed to be written quickly for Batman #1 and that he even received credit for the story in a college course. Regarding the Conrad Veidt similarity, Robinson said:
“In that first meeting when I showed them that sketch of the Joker, Bill said it reminded him of Conrad Veidt in The Man Who Laughs. That was the first mention of it...He can be credited and Bob himself, we all played a role in it. The concept was mine. Bill finished that first script from my outline of the persona and what should happen in the first story. He wrote the script of that, so he really was co-creator, and Bob and I did the visuals, so Bob was also.” - Wikipedia

Now the Joker like many characters have had their golden ages, their ups and downs. But I feel he's making a comeback and is becoming stronger than ever. Mostly with thanks to his latest incarnations thru Heath Ledger and The new video game Batman: Arkham Asylum

Thru the ages and medias the Joker has had his different looks:

The Joker made his first appearance in Batman #1 (Spring 1940)


In the 1960's in the Batman television series starring Adam West, Mr. Cesar Romero played our beloved villain


In 1989 we had the first and original Batman Film Starring the devil himself Jack Nicholson as the Joker. Another well done performance.


In 1992 we had the year that Batman: The Animated Series debuted. We had the ever talented Mark Hamill do the voice of the Joker and he gave just as good of a performance as Heath Ledger. But The Joker ended up with several different looks as the series went on till 1995.


In 2004 we had a relaunch of the batman animated series titled The Batman. Every character got a major makeover. (I never really watched the show and I didn't really care for the changes either. I guess since I loved Batman: The Animated series to much.)



Most recently we have two other versions of the mad man. From Heath Ledger of the 2008 film The Dark Knight



and from the new video game Batman: Arkham Asylum, which probably has one of the most dramatic changes yet. Mark Hamill returns to bring that iconic voice to Mr. J.



Of course we cant forget lego joker. He's so cute!!!


The Jokers Character is, with no pun intended, a funny one. You know hes a villain, a bad guy but yet there is something inside you that has you actually routing for him half the time. Almost wanting him to completely win over Batman.

What I love about this character is... well everything. I love that no matter how sadistic and violent he can get he still has that charm about him. Now maybe it's because I'm a girl he comes across this way but if I had no other proof we have Ms. Harleen Quinzel who becomes another beloved character Harley Quin. (who has yet to become seen in a live action format, other than cosplay or art. Minus Birds of Prey but that doesn't really count)


While most people despise and fear clowns this one is the only clown I want to be around. Twisting around jokes and comedic ideas to violent, deadly punches. Such as the classic flower spitting water gag has been turned to a flower spitting acid. The Joker was always one to love having his victims die laughing.



But don't let his 'theme' characteristics throw you off. Never underestimate The Joker. He's much smarter than he looks. Such as shown in the storyline for the Batman: Arkham Asylum game.

"The Joker attacks Gotham City's Mayor's office, but is foiled by Batman, who escorts him to Arkham Asylum for confinement. Due to a recent fire at Gotham City's Blackgate Prison, a large number of sane prisoners have been temporarily relocated to Arkham, many of whom are in the Joker's gang. As Batman escorts the guards taking the Joker inside, the asylum's security is overridden by Harley Quinn and the Joker is able to escape and take control of the facility, enlisting the Blackgate prisoners in addition to other rogue characters imprisoned at the asylum. Batman quickly realizes that this has been part of Joker's plan including the Blackgate fire, having bribed a security guard to help him escape. The Joker threatens to detonate bombs scattered around Gotham City should anyone attempt to enter Arkham, forcing Batman to work alone."

If that isn't the creativity of a mad mans brain, I don't know what is. Not to mention the kind of chemistry knowledge one would need to pull off his joker bombs, causing its victims to laugh till they die... literally.

For a character that has been around almost 70 years its fun to see the changes that have happened to him and that fact he still has a huge fanbase. Many creating artwork, dressing up with cosplay, collecting Joker memorabilia and more.

I think overall its the Jokers, mind, charm and wit that keeps your attention to him. Waiting to see the next move. He truly is Batman's opposite, yet also his equal.



The Joker is forever and always the best clown around, who will always have the last laugh.

go ahead and hotlink images for reviews. attachments are only really needed for the demotivator thread

OK, done ^_^

Posted

:happy dance:

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The series is dedicated to analyzing and eviscerating tasteless low-budged B-grade knock-offs of more popular and expensive Hollywood flicks - Mockbusters. CineMax is an amateur, yet aspiring movie critic, who makes comedic video reviews, writes insightful and analytical articles, and, occasionally just blabbers about stuff he deems important.

The review looks a little top heavy with all of the text at the top and a zillion pictures at the bottom but there isnt really any way around that unless you added some pictures of Conrad Veidt or the original Joker Card at the museum.
The review focused too much on the creation of the Joker and the different versions of the Joker that the review missed everything about his character. I dont want to see everything about the Joker but some supplemental info would have been nice.
Its good that you included your personal thoughts on the subject, but the only real meat of the review is a copy and paste from Wikipedia.
I dont want to be harsh so my constructive criticism is to write a review like a story. Introduce the subject. Build with information. Conclusion.

Frankly, methinks the title is misleading; this seems more like a retrospective than an actual review.

I think you're right. I'll change that to avoid confusion. My bad.

But to counter Alex_J: Review writing is just something that gets better with practice. The Joker RETROSPECTIVE (yeah, it sounds better) is a step in the right direction.