Wednesday’s BATMAN #7, gives a new perspective on the Joker’s history, so here’s a look back…
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Matt Fraction and Jorge Jimenez’s Batman #7 is out Wednesday, March 4, and it features a four-page, fold-out, center-spread that approaches the Joker’s history from his mad point of view. So, here’s a fresh look back at his oh-so-many origins from over the decades. — Dan
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By JIM BEARD
Opinions will vary, but when it comes to a definitive origin to Bat-Villain #1, the Joker, I prefer what the Mirthful Mountebank prefers — multiple choice.
A legendary criminal such as the Joker is far more fun when his origins, nay, his very existence will continue to be embroidered, enhanced, and explained for many, many years to come.
As it should be, says I.
I mean, it took a whopping 10 years after his 1940 debut for the Joker to welcome a new wrinkle into his already crazy-quilt career, namely an origin, so the guy’s never really been in any hurry to ’splain himself. That said, that final, single page of “The Man Behind the Red Hood!” in 195o’s Detective Comics #168 did sort of set something indelibly in cement that still exists today, so maybe the Hateful Harlequin can sometimes own up to something and stick to it.
Here are 13 more examples of moments in Bat-history when DC has added a little more to the Clown Prince of Crime’s background to ponder over and wonder about. There are more, but like the Joker might say, “I could tickle your funny bone all day!”
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Batman: The Killing Joke (1988) – Alan Moore, Brian Bolland. This one remains pretty significant in its embroidering of that Detective #168 origin. The story’s intact—Red Hood, escape from a crime, the chemicals—but some pathos was added in the form of the failed stand-up career, the wife, and the reluctance to commit the crime. Say what you will about Barbara Gordon’s treatment here, you can’t deny what this book did to shape the Joker’s backstory.
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Batman #450 (1990) – Marv Wolfman, Jim Aparo. The Killing Joke might’ve come across as out-of-continuity two years earlier, but this story seemed to confirm the origin from the graphic novel, kicking off the idea that DC was serious about cementing it as the Joker’s true beginnings. And from here, the enhancement and embroidery of it began.
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Batman: Black and White, Vol. 2 (2002) – Paul Dini, Alex Ross. The superstar team-up of Dini and Ross took on the Joker in an eight-page story titled “Case Study,” and might’ve been the first origin-retelling to suggest the guy wasn’t necessarily a sympathetic character before the acid bath. In addition, the tale also supposes the Clown Prince isn’t actually insane, but just fakes it. Food for thought.
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Batman: Gotham Knights #54 (2004) – A.J. Lieberman, Al Barrionuevo, Javier Pina. This was one part of a five-part story called “Pushback,” but it’s the most important for our purposes. This was when the story of Joker’s wife Jeannie began to take on new wrinkles, specifically that her death was allegedly murder and not an accident. It’s also the moment in time we learned that others, specifically the Riddler and Penguin, were aware of some details of the Joker’s past life.
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Batman: The Man Who Laughs (2005) – Ed Brubaker, Doug Mahnke. Another graphic novel one-shot, The Man Who Laughs attempted to re-tell Batman’s first encounter with the Joker, while adding a new element or two along the way, specifically concerning the “Red Hood” concept from way back in the original 1950 Joker origin. It would serve as fertile ground for future writers to take the Red Hood and run with it in their own Joker stories.
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Batman: Confidential #7-12 (2007-08) – Michael Green, Denys Cowan. Big ol’ five-issue story arc that took the origin as we knew it and really went to town—Gotham City, that is. The main beats were there, but readers were told that Batman was a bigger part of them, actually cutting the pre-Joker’s face with a Batarang, and that “Jack” really was his name. Furthermore, the story ejected Jeannie and would have us believe, like “Case Study” before it, that Jack was always a criminal, and not a reluctant one.
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The Brave and the Bold #31 (2010) – J. Michael Straczynski, Chad Hardin, Justiniano. Hold it. This might just have been a Big One. The concept itself is a whopper: The Atom goes into the Joker’s brain to save his life, affording the hero, and us the readers, unparalleled access to the criminal’s thoughts and memories, including the most extensive look at his childhood—which was pretty wretched. Was it real? Can the Joker create false memories while unconscious? It’s anybody’s guess, but it did make for a fantastic voyage.
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Batman #21-24 (2013) – Scott Snyder, James Tynion, Greg Capullo. This was another sprawling multi-part storyline that told of the “Zero Year” in Gotham’s past where it was flooded and overrun with anarchy, etc. The Joker gist of it was that a young Bruce Wayne battled not only the Red Hood, but an entire gang of them who happened to be rich dudes blackmailed by Red Hood One—who, yeah, looks like, went on to become the Joker. In the middle of the story, there was also a Batman #23.1 one-shot that explored the pre-Joker’s childhood trauma at the hands of an aunt who liked to bleach his skin and abuse him.
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Batman #35-40 (2014-15) – Scott Snyder, Greg Capullo. Okay, admittedly, this five-parter in the regular Batman title didn’t necessarily add to the Joker’s origin—or did it? It introduced the idea that the Joker keeps rejuvenating himself with something called Dionesium, and that it essentially makes him immortal. I think the suggestion was that it means our favorite lunatic might be far, far older than anyone thought, but maybe that’s just me. Opinions will vary.
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Justice League: The Darkseid War: Batman #1 (2015) – Peter Tomasi, Fernando Pasarin. All right, you’re going to have to bear with me on this one, because I’m cheating a wee little bit with it. This one-shot was mostly about Batman using the Mobius Chair to zip around and fight crime or whatever, but later we learned that he discovered two things while using it: the Joker’s real name and the fact that the Clown Prince is actually three different people. I’d call that kind of important. And no, we were not privy to the guy’s real name, just Batman.
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Batman: Three Jokers #1-3 (2020) – Geoff Johns, Jason Fabok. You knew we’d have to get to this eventually, right? Call it what you will, canon or not-canon, these three little issues caused a storm of controversy for a little while, and a lot of questions. Not only did this story delve into the Three Jokers thing, but it also revealed that Jeannie, the Joker’s wife, was still alive and living in secret with her son in Alaska. Furthermore, Batman altered what he said about knowing the Joker’s name from the Mobius Chair by saying he’s known it all along since the beginning. Heady stuff, stuff that may or may not still be true today. Continuity will vary.
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Batman #143 (2024) – Chip Zdarsky, Giuseppe Camuncoli, Andrea Sorrentino. This was part of a storyline called “The Joker: Year One,” and brought Doctor Daniel Captio into focus as an instrumental part of forging the Joker into the villain he is today. How? Well, see, the Joker went to him not long after the chemical bath and learned how to resist pain like Batman. How? Well, Captio was the one who taught Batman the technique, so… This was also the same time that the Mirthful Mountebank created his three personas, so we’re told, which changed what Three Jokers put across—I think.
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The Joker #5 (1976) – Martin Pasko, Irv Novick. No, it’s not in chronological order, but this is my article and this one is pretty special to me. In it, the Joker reveals he’s really Arthur Wilde, the great-grandson of cantankerous painter Thaddeus Wilde who doused young Arthur with experimental paint that gave the kid white skin and green hair. Later, Joker said he was lying… but the ’70s kid in me still sort of believes it. Why not? After all, it’s all multiple choice, right? Well, I choose this one. What’s your choice?
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JIM BEARD has pounded out adventure fiction since he sold a story to DC Comics in 2002. He’s gone on to write official Star Wars and Ghostbusters comics stories and contributed articles and essays to several volumes of comic book history. His prose work includes his own creations, but also licensed properties such as Planet of the Apes, X-Files, Spider-Man, Kolchak the Night Stalker and Captain Action. In addition, Jim provided regular content for Marvel.com, the official Marvel Comics website, for 17 years.
When JIM BEARD’s not editing and publishing through his two houses, Flinch Books and Becky Books, he’s pounding out adventure fiction with both original and licensed characters. In fact, he’s put words in the mouths of Luke Skywalker, Superman, Fox Mulder, Carl Kolchak, Peter Venkman and the Green Hornet… and lived to tell about it.
Check out his The Old Origin Changeth!, available here.
