I've always been intrigued with the Joker. I guess a lot of people are nowadays with Heath Ledger's portrayal of the Joker in the upcoming film The Dark Knight already garnering Oscar attention...
This week, before I go to see the film, I've decided to brush up on that Clown Prince of Crime: our beloved Joker...
My first readings about the character are comprised of very early comic book appearances from the 40's and 50's. The Joker's appearance is said to be based on an actor named Conrad Veidt from his role in the film The Man Who Laughs. Take a look at these photos...
Conrad Veidt from The Man Who Laughs
alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5222551432275028162" />The Joker from his first appearance in Batman #1, 1940
Despite my thinking that the early Joker was just a silly, hyena-like criminal, he really always has been pretty murderous. He speaks of (and commits) murder in his very first appearance. I'm sure that this streak will only become more maniacal and sadistic in further studies...
Another avenue of my exploration of the Joker has involved me watching a cartoon from the early 90's called Batman: The Animated Series. The Clown Prince is equally disturbed in this representation, though maybe a bit more silly...
Another thing that I thought was pretty interesting was that Mark Hamill (that's right, Luke Skywalker) does the voice for the Joker in this series... Check out these short clips below from an episode called Christmas with The Joker.
I love the "Ho, ho, ho, isn't she jolly?" part and when Batman gets the pie in the face... Excellent stuff...
Well, that's about it for the first installment of my look at the Joker. I hope to post a lot more before going the see The Dark Knight and maybe to go more in depth...
Ta-ta for now...
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!
Art above by Bob Kane and Jerry Robinson
4 comments:
Until recently, I didn't know that at one point (in the 70s or 80s was it?) the Joker stabs Batgirl and takes her to Commissioner Gordon. I think I'm correct???? Joker is not a jolly, laughable character. He is an evil character. People are going to be set straight about who the Joker really is when they see him on the screen this weekend.
Hey Lori,
Yeah, I'm about to do another post at some point in time about how and why the Joker was percieved as just a silly kind of character...
Some time around 1956, something called the Comics Code Authority came into existence and made all depiction of violence and things kind of stiff in the comics industry... This resulted in all manner of things, including the Joker being forced to become this sort of silly guy instead of the maniacal killer he once was (really it reduced his time in the spotlight, as well)...
As things loosened up over the years, he came back around...
I'll touch upon this point more fully in the blog post...
The Joker's going to be dynamite this weekend (I hope)...
I just jumped on your page to see if you replied to this comment, so I haven't gotten to read your other Joker stuff yet.
We probably won't be going on Friday because we are going to the ballpark with Dan and Kara (Dan didn't make it to the party, but I'm sure you heard of him?)....anyway, I am doubtful that I will see it asap. When are you going?
Hey Lori,
Don't exactly know yet...
Hopefully Friday...
I'll give you my opinion if I see the film...
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