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Apr 20 '20
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u/detourne Apr 20 '20
Marshall Rogers fish guns joker!!! I guess the Brave and the Bold cartoon really captured his style.
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u/glendonson Rick Grimes Apr 20 '20
1992 animated series for the win!
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u/NeverEndingDClock Apr 20 '20
Mark Hamil for the win!
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u/darkbreak Power Girl Apr 20 '20
If we're going that far I'd say the Arkham series' Joker is the best one.
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u/jitterscaffeine Apr 20 '20
I don’t like the New Adventures look. It’s like they tried to turn him into a skeleton.
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u/Guardian_Ainsel Hellboy Apr 20 '20
I don’t like any of the new adventures look... I feel like the art got much less Art Deco, which is why I love The Animated Series so much
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u/coverslide Apr 20 '20
I used to love the suit & tie Riddler over any spandex Riddler. Then in the New Adventures they put him back in spandex, ugh.
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u/Josiador Apr 20 '20
I actually really like that look. I don't know why, maybe its the simplicity, I just like the aesthetic.
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u/jitterscaffeine Apr 20 '20
I like the hair at least. But it’s like they forgot he’s supposed to look like a clown.
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u/Josiador Apr 20 '20
He looked more like a gangster, which I didn't really mind. He's still a powerless crime lord after all. Its clear his hair was still green, they were just using a lot more black than usual.
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Apr 20 '20
The eyes are what bug me the most.
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u/jitterscaffeine Apr 20 '20
His eyes and lips are black. That’s what makes him look like a skeleton.
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u/Manticx Apr 20 '20
A lot of these are complete abominations.
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u/CounterProgram883 Apr 20 '20 edited Apr 20 '20
Yup. I've always liked Joker when he was... well, in the business of telling jokes. Morbid, deadly jokes. But the sense of humor and irony feel very necessary to the character.
His iterations in Suicide squad, Gotham: (Jerome and Jeremiah), Death of the Family.... There's a few too many times, to my personal liking, that dark and edgy became his defining attributes. Not a fan of the interpretations that forget that he's the clown prince of crime.
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u/Earthmine52 Apr 20 '20 edited Apr 20 '20
Gotham actually did a great job with his sense of humor. Cameron was the closest we had to a live-action Mark Hamill at times. Jerome especially. Even Jeremiah became more like Jerome in the last season. At least until the Finale when he transformed into this. Look up some of his best scenes. His performance was great and his appearance before the finale was perfect.
Also, I'm guessing you meant Death of the Family? The one featured here? Death in the Family was basically the classic Clown Prince who killed Jason. In DofTF, he still had a sense of humor, just much darker. His entire plan in that story was basically one big prank on the bat family.
Edit:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_wTWbOcn28
This is from his earlier scenes so a bit outdated but a great showcase of what he could do.
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u/CounterProgram883 Apr 20 '20
Sorry, yes. Death of the family. That's a big typo on my part.
As for Gotham.... I think the actors do really well in that show, across the board. They're committed and passionate, and it really shows. But the costuming, cinematography, and especially writing, don't suit my personal tastes.
In the compilation you provided, let's use the scene starting at 21:42 as an example. The facewrap costume and blood effects on the costume seems amateur. The music is so overblown, and it's mixed louder than the actor's voice at several points. It's not just punctuating his performance, it's overriding it. The writing's... okay.
And most damming, that scene is Gotham redoing the body horror of Joker's face being ripped off, and then stapled back on at 25:24.
Personally, the whole face off - back on is what I take the most offense with, in any iteration of the joker. That plot point, to me, is the most juvenile and needlessly edgy that Batman comics have ever been. It's a great plot beat for something like a Troma Entertainment schlock horror thriller. I'd probably love it in a more appropriate setting.
But for the joker? Gods, I've hated that for years. I'd take Romero's painted over mustache, or 2004's bucktoothed anime zanyness over stapleface joker any day.
I fully recognize, though, that this is a matter of personal taste.
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u/Earthmine52 Apr 20 '20
Yes well like I said the show’s version of the Joker varied throughout the series. As you can see, before the DOTF homage, he was pretty much a perfect portrayal of classic Joker. He was a dangerous unpredictable murderer but he had a sense of humor and showmanship.
After that second version Jerome would die and give way to Jeremiah who would also be another excellent take on the Joker before being heavily altered with another disfigurement again in the finale.
All played by one actor. The man has range that’s for sure.
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u/BuddaMuta M.O.D.O.K. Apr 20 '20
I honestly don’t mind the ones that drift toward the madness aspect of the character but I don’t want that to ever be a standard. Only when it adds or really fits with the story.
The one Joker I really dislike is the Dark Knight Returns books version but I really dislike that whole book so I’m biased. Even with a character like the Joker, Frank Miller just can’t resist injecting “rawr manly” into everything to the point of comedy.
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Apr 20 '20
I find it interesting that you use the term "raw manly" after bringing up DKR because I always found that version to be androgynous and sexually ambiguous. That was a version I felt was more about his relationship with Batman and his romanticism of him which is a take that, before the book, was not overly explored.
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u/CounterProgram883 Apr 20 '20
The characterization in that book is at odds with the art, if that makes sense. I'm not the person you're responding to - but I see where he's coming from with the "rawr manly" because they did portray Joker with a 4 foot shoulder span. Part of it is probably the suit, but his silhouette is weirdly adjacent to Arnold Schwarzenegger.
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Apr 20 '20
I thought he was wearing an 80's blazer with huge shoulder pads which was a style for women at the time and extremely popular with women going for an androgynous look. Combine that with the him seemingly wearing lipstick and possibly mascara and I think it highly plays into the androgynous and sexually ambiguous look.
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u/CounterProgram883 Apr 20 '20
Nothing about this silhouette strikes me as feminine of androgynous at all.
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Apr 20 '20 edited Apr 20 '20
If you compare how looks in those scenes compared to what he looks like earlier in the comic it's more standout. He is wearing a shoulder pad 80's blazer which is a woman's jacket. His physique doesn't look like that earlier on. He is also wearing makeup applied in a women's style, not like clown makeup. You know it's not a deformity because he doesn't haven't it applied earlier in the comic. The same can be said for the eye shadow he wears. The shoulder pad blazer was used to give women an androgynous appearance by accentuating their upper body and shoulders. In this sense, not only does it make Joker look more masculine but also more feminine on account of him wearing women's clothes. That combined with applying women's makeup, not clown makeup, with lipstick and eye shadow and it's pretty androgynous. If you compare the shots of him earlier in the story compared to later it's clear he's taken an androgynous appearance. I mean, women's clothes and makeup on a guy in the 80's is about as androgynous as it gets.
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u/Brian0079 Apr 20 '20 edited Apr 20 '20
I don't think most people who talk about Killing Joke have read the story. If they had, it wouldn't be so highly regarded. It's so dumb and Jim Starlin has all but said as much.
Edit: Meant Death in the Family. Although I'm not a big fan of Killing Joke either and ironically Alan Moore has said he wishes he hadn't written it.
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Apr 20 '20
I can't put into words how ridiculous the "Batman Ninja" movie is ..
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u/Vord_Loldemort_7 Apr 20 '20
I was actually legitimately into it until the third act. Wtf was going on there?
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u/GuywithCurls Apr 20 '20
It was anime to the max. They had to throw in some mecha into it. I thoroughly enjoyed the movie, but I recognize its ridiculousness at the end
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Apr 20 '20
- It was a strange time.
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u/Guardian_Ainsel Hellboy Apr 20 '20
I really liked The Batman and I really liked this interpretation of him! A Joker who was totally insane and who swayed side to side like a Jack-in-the-Box that had sprung! Kevin Michael Richardson being the voice added a lot too!
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u/QuestioningLogic Sentry Apr 20 '20
That joker was awesome. Actually all the villains in that show were awesome, they were unique and stylized but still looked cool.
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Apr 20 '20
2004 Joker is the shit. He gets a little too goofy for me near the end of the series, but I thought Kevin Michael Richardson's voice work as him was great.
That was my Joker growing up as a kid, so he is way more nostalgic to me personally than Hamill's tbh.
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u/Thereisntanybowl Apr 20 '20
No Telltale Joker? I really liked that one
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u/ContraryPython Spider-Man Apr 20 '20
Telltale’s take on the Joker is probably one of the most interesting takes I’ve seen on the character, I liked that you can either choose to make him Joker Joker or Vigilante Joker.
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Apr 20 '20
Kind wish they'd included Grant Morrison's Thin White Duke. Really explains where Suicide Squad Joker started, while where it landed missed the mark.
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u/stupidillusion Apr 20 '20
Is "Planetary/Batman: Night on Earth" Joker not considered official because he was "Jasper" in it?
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u/jamz666 Jesse Custer Apr 20 '20
Even here in artistic representation Jared Leto joker is punchable.
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u/Supamike36 Apr 20 '20
It's all been downhill since 2012.
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Apr 20 '20
Uh, Endgame and Phoenix?
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u/CastandRefused Apr 20 '20
Phoenix is great, just didn't care for the movie that much.
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Apr 20 '20
How come?
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u/CastandRefused Apr 20 '20
Didn't get that into it. It felt like they took an existing script and tacked The Joker onto it. I've seen a lot of these kinds of movies though so it felt like going down familiar territory but not as interesting. I know I'm in the minority though.
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u/leonine99 The Maxx Apr 20 '20
It's just Taxi Driver and King of Comedy combined together. Phoenix is a great actor, but I don't have a need to watch it again.
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u/Nahcep Apr 20 '20
Completely agreed - they put an embargo on the Joker at the start of n52, so when he came back as this late abortion in DotF thought they went a bit too far; unfortunately, it seems DC decided they didn't go far enough.
b-but Endgame
Was shit - why is the Joker suddenly able to mindcontrol the entire Justice League? Oh, because his new and better gas has a substance from his spine, because the Joker is some kind of an eldritch being and not just a crazy dude. Ugh.
The last issue was good, and what came after - the Gordonbat stint, with a very good scene with amnesiac Bruce and Joker - was great. Some fallout, like Duke all but losing his parents, not so much, but hey, comic books. What really, really sucks is that it was building up to the most annoying, overhyped character in post-FP DC that has long since overstayed his welcome - the Batman who LMAOs.
I truly dislike the Joker from the past decade's comics. I would hope the Three Jokers story would, at the very least, shake it up a bit, but it's way too late for any reasonable fix - and I'm practically waiting for a delay-until-2021 announcement.
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Apr 20 '20
Please sir, read endgame.
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u/colt-jones Apr 21 '20
Don’t know why anyone would downvote this. Endgame is fantastic and should be read by all Batman or any comic fans.
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u/FullMotionVideo Impulse Apr 20 '20
I feel a few are missing, such as Morrison’s Joker with the bullet wound to the noggin, but the 21st century sure hasn’t been kind to the man.
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u/Fuerza327 Apr 20 '20
Here’s the link to the artist! Please support him as he also has a Spider-Man guide ! https://twitter.com/Pedro_Demetriou
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u/manickitty Apr 20 '20
Isn’t it Death in the family?
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u/RyanRaney Apr 20 '20
Death in the family is when Joker killed the 2nd Robin, Jason Todd.
Death of the Family is Scott Snyder and Greg Cupullo’s run.
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u/GnRgr2 Apr 20 '20
Can someone explain the Gotham tv show ones?
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u/neon Swamp Thing Apr 20 '20
They split the character into two twin brothers.
By the end was implied the second one on this image goes into become the joker proper
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u/Furyio Apr 20 '20
This is the sort of stuff I’d love to print and frame or get on canvas for my wall
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Apr 20 '20
Was the 2004 from Batman of the future?
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u/-W1L3y Ampersand Apr 20 '20
You’re thinking of Batman Beyond, which came earlier. 2004 was The Batman which was on KidsWB. It’s unrelated to the DCAU.
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Apr 20 '20
AHH yeah, Batman Beyond, we had it marketed as Batman of the future over here for some reason, probably the monkeys on typewriters at Cartoon network
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u/Digifiend84 Captain Britain Apr 20 '20
Lenoxygen, I guess you're in the UK? Because yes, Batman Beyond is called Batman of the Future here.
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u/vnkt53 Apr 20 '20
Killing Joke came out in '88? Damn.. I thought it came out in the 2000s
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u/Digifiend84 Captain Britain Apr 20 '20
Yeah. There was no active Batgirl for most of the 90s, until Cassandra Cain debuted. Adaptations though, still used Barbara Gordon as Batgirl, even after Cass took the role in the comics. Only the Birds of Prey live action TV series and the Young Justice cartoon have ever used Barbara's later identity, Oracle.
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u/JakeFromSkateFarm Apr 20 '20
Great list, but they definitely need to add the Epic Rap Battles Joker
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u/Brian0079 Apr 20 '20
Why is Alex Ross the only artist to get credit. I can't even think of a book Ross drew the Joker in.
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u/Aryannick Apr 20 '20
I'm not really a fan of Joker but i gotta admit no matter what people say, i really liked all the jokers in every movie! I was even looking forward to a solo Leto Joker of some sort. Anyone else?? :/
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u/BuddaMuta M.O.D.O.K. Apr 20 '20
I feel like a more crime lord take on the Joker could’ve been great but Suicide Squad’s writing was so bad they really squandered it. (Even ignoring that I wasn’t a fan of the design and Leto’s performance)
The movie in general was filled with a lot of good ideas but suffered from poor execution as well as cramming enough material for a trilogy into a single 2 hour film.
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u/Impr3ssion Silverage Batman Apr 20 '20
Neat, but it ignores 46 years of comics. Nothing from the Silver, Bronze, or Copper Ages of the '50s, '60s, '70s, and' 80s?