Now the world’s attention is riveted on Joaquin Phoenix and his grandiose role in the movie “Joker”. This piece gave us something that no one previously tried to offer fans of the DC universe. A complete picture of the origin of the Joker. The film invites us to take a fresh look at the character, gives him a separate personality, and gives him his own story.
How did it happen that over the 79 years of the hero’s existence (and he made his debut in the Batman universe back in April 1940, in the Batman # 1 issue as a one-time, not a villain, even rather a nuisance)? Joker fans never received specific answers to any poll associated with this unique character? Where did he come from, what made him who he is, did he have a family, a job, a life?
The Joker is one of the most popular villains in the DC universe, and is truly known to everyone in the comic book world and beyond. However, at the same time, neither his name, nor age, nor the past is known to us. Why even the creators of the character know nothing about them. Alan Moore, one of the main authors of DC Comics, once suggested that the Joker’s story cannot be unambiguous, and illogical combinations of many past are the only option for this character.
First Appearance Of The Joker
This idea allowed the authors of the DC universe to unfold to the fullest: from release to release, the Joker expresses some facts about his past, but it is impossible to determine how true they are, and how much – the fruit of a sick fantasy.
There is, however, a version of the origin of the character, which at one time received the status of “most probable”. First mentioned in 1951, it is revealed in greater detail through the memories of the Joker himself – already in doubt – in the graphic novel The Killing Joke. An unremarkable man without a name and without age, but with a pregnant wife (who is never mentioned anywhere else in principle), signed up for a robbery, trying on a suit of the Red Cap. Batman prevented the crime, and the man, frightened, stumbled while escaping and fell into a vat of acid. From there emerged already a mad clown, cruel and fearless, breaking all the laws of his own universe and obsessed with his new enemy.
The Story Of The Joker In The Novel “The Killing Joke”
Everything we know about the Joker’s past is known either from his words or from unproven assumptions. Whether from other characters, authors, or readers. For this very reason, many refuse to try to find out the truth, not finding it necessary. Bruno Heller, the creator of the Gotham TV series about the young Batman. When asked about the introduction of the Joker into the picture. It replied that for him this is not a separate character, this is all the madness of Gotham. He does not need a story, because his personality does not exist. It is noteworthy, however, that by the end of the series. The character still manifests itself and acquires its own original story.
Indeed, the Joker storyline begins where the Joker begins. Unlike other villains of the same universe – Penguin, Poison Ivy, or Riddler. Where, only by observing the past of the characters, we understand their current motives and actions, we hate them. But we sympathize, we see in them not only villains but also people.
In the case of the Joker, this is not necessary, because he is deprived of everything human. In this sense, the new film “Joker” has become a truly unique attempt to show something personal in a crazy way. How this will affect the character in the original comic book universe or the viewer’s attitude towards him, time will tell.
