The Joker. The Joker is a character that has existed for almost a hundred years at this point, but he wasn't always the Clown Prince of Crime he is today.
With how iconic the Joker is for his relationship with Batman, many people would assume that he has been there since the start, but the villain didn't actually show up for over a year after Batman was created. The Joker of today is scary, vicious, and one of the darker serial killers in comics, but it has not always been that way. Joker's multifaceted nature would be developed a lot over the years: while he started as a ruthless killer he was later turned into a harmless prankster, then back to a much darker villain.
Joker Wasn't Meant To Be A Recurring Villain
Joker first appeared on the scene in Batman's first comic, created by Bob Kane, Bill Finger, and Jerry Robinson. Joker was notable for being the first recurring villain in the Batman solo series. It is still unclear who came up with the exact design for Joker is unclear. Bill Finger once shared an image of actor Conrad Veidt from the movie "The Man Who Laughs", while Jerry Robinson claimed to have been inspired by a Joker playing card he saw.
After Joker's first appearance, the Clown Prince was meant to be killed off, because Bill Finger felt that if Batman had a villain who kept getting away it would make Batman look incompetent. Thus, Joker was intended to be killed off before editor Whitney Ellsworth overruled the decision, having an extra page added to the comic showing that Joker had faked his death. Since then, the Joker's appearance has been shockingly consistent, with his white skin, green hair, and purple clothes serial killer. This is roughly the same appearance he has today, but Joker did go through a lot of changes on a deeper level.
Joker Was Unlike Anything Else In Comics
When Joker first showed up he quickly grew to be Batman's most popular villain, and part of the reason is that he was completely unlike anything comic book readers had seen before. While Batman had recurring foes before, like Hugo Strange or Doctor Death, they were all gangsters, rogues, spies, or mad scientists. Joker came on the scene with neon green hair, a permanent smile, purple suits, and pale white skin. He was completely different from any other villain in comics and offered a stark contrast to Batman's gray and blue outfit at the time.
However, by the 1950s, readers were tired of comic book heroes and wanted something different, with interest shifting towards either romance novels or crime fiction. Comic books started trying to appeal to younger readers to avoid losing sales, and Batman #66, by Bill Finger, Bob Kane, and Lew Sayre Schwartz, is a prime example of this with the story "Joker's comedy of errors", which showed a Joker that was much more interested in stealing money as opposed to killing people, marking the first time the character was shown as a less brutal and more whimsical villain.
Joker's Origin Story Keeps Changing (On Purpose)
Detective Comics #168 by Bill Finger, Lew Sayre Schwartz, and Win Mortimer introduced one of the biggest additions to the Joker's mythos with the storyline "The Man Behind the Red Hood!". Batman reveals the one mystery he's never solved: while trying to prevent a crime at Ace Chemicals, the criminal, a man named Red Hood, jumped into a vat of chemicals to escape. Later in the story, Batman finds out that the mysterious Red Hood is none other than Joker. This marks the first time that Joker was actually given a proper origin story, but moving forward DC would entirely ignore it, and it wasn't brought up for almost thirty years.
DC continued to tone Joker down, making him more and more of a prankster as opposed to the serial killer he originally was. In the early 1970s, two new names in the comic book industry decided to write a new Joker story. With "Joker's Five Way Revenge" in Batman #251, Dennis O'Neil and Neal Adams re-invented Joker as a serial killer once more but also marked the first time Joker chose to spare Batman's life instead of killing him. Later, Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns showed Joker entering a coma during the period that Batman is retired, further establishing the idea that Joker needs to coexist alongside Batman, a trait that is now fundamental to his character.
Alan Moore Wrote The Most Important Joker Story
In 1988, what is often considered the most influential Joker story ever, The Killing Joke, was published. Alan Moore and Brian Bolland delved further into the psyche of the Joker and why he does what he does, also going back for the first time in almost 40 years to Joker's history as the Red Hood. The Killing Joke explores the idea that Joker believes everyone could become like him if they just had one bad day, which is an idea mirrored in how Bruce Wayne decided to become Batman. Ultimately, Joker is proven wrong when he is unable to drive James Gordon insane, but this story boosted the character's popularity so much that DC decided to boost his threatening nature further by allowing him to be the one to kill Jason Todd.
Overall, despite radically changing throughout the years, Joker is still very similar to what he was in his first appearance. This is not only because DC's editorial decisions first turned Joker into a prankster and then back to a killer, but it is also a testament to the enduring appeal of the character. In current DC Comics stories, the Joker is more deranged and evil than ever, having forever cemented his place as one of the most dangerous comic book serial killers in the industry, and it all started back in Batman #1.
