The Joker Origins and Evolutions

The Joker Origins and Evolutions takes a look at the history of the character

The Clown Prince of Crime, an agent of chaos, Mr. J… the biggest bad of all comic book history has many names, but he’s just The Joker to those of us wise enough to fear him.

What makes The Joker so interesting in the grand scheme of comic book history is his longstanding ability to reshape himself as a villain with the times, not only in physical terms but in the types of crimes he commits. From simple trickster to supernatural force of evil, there’s really no stopping him.

Starting with his first appearance in Batman #1 all the way back in 1940 (with a quick trip even further back) and going through the major incarnations of the character and where we’ll be seeing him in the future, you can read our latest entry in the Origins and Evolutions series all about The Joker below!

First Appearance

The Joker made his world debut in Batman #1 in 1940. Though not the first issue to feature the Dark Knight, his nemesis was there from the beginning of his first solo volume. Created by Jerry Robinson, Bob Kane, and Bill Finger, the character's first appearance included him killing a number of notable Gotham citizens with a serum that left them with a big grin on their face.

The Man Who Laughs (1928)

The origins of The Joker go further back than his comic book debut and start with the 1928 film The Man Who Laughs, based on the Victor Hugo novel and starring Conrad Veidt as a man with a face permanently disfigured into a big smile.

The Man Behind the Red Hood

Eleven years after he first appeared, the origin of the character was finally told, revealing him to have been the leader of the Red Hood Gang before an accident transformed him into the Clown Prince of Crime, distorting not only the color of his body and hair but also his mind.

Batman The TV Series

The “Golden age” Joker tormented Batman with his crimes for many years before finally making the live-action leap where he was played by Cesar Romero in the Batman TV series, famous for not shaving his mustache and simply applying the Joker make-up over it.

Filmation Joker

The character also appeared in the 1968 Filmation animated series The Adventures of Batman where he was voiced by Larry Storch and later in the 1977 follow-up The New Adventures of Batman where Lennie Weinrib voiced the character.

The Joker's Five Way Revenge

The character would take a brief break in the mid '70s but would later return meaner than ever with the story, “The Joker's Five-Way Revenge.” It became clear that this version of The Joker was more sinister and less fun-focused than he had been, and The Joker even has the opportunity to kill Batman but decides to wait for a better moment.

The Joker: Clown Prince of Crime

Two years later, The Joker would get his own comic book series. Though it only lasted nine issues, the book would see the villain going up against other heroes and villains like Two-Face, Green Arrow and Black Canary, and even Sherlock Holmes.

Duela Dent

The next year, a mysterious new character name Duela Dent would arrive, claiming to be The Joker's daughter, though Robin would later discover she was actually the villain Two-Face's daughter. A more recent version of the character saw her wearing The Joker's severed face (more on that later) and falling deeper into the “daughter” persona.

The Laughing Fish

In 1978, The Joker would poison the Gotham City water supply, resulting in one of the most disturbing creations he would ever inadvertently make: The Joker Fish. It would later be adapted into an episode of Batman: The Animated Series.

The Porker

In the pages of Captain Carrot and His Amazing Zoo Crew, Captain Carrot's secret identity is comic book creator Roger Rabbit and one of his creations is the animal version of Batman and Robin who are tormented by a pig version of The Joker.

Bizarro Joker

First appearing in 1984's DC Comics Presents #71, Bizarro Joker is totally sane and as a result doesn't like to fight.

The Dark Knight Returns

In Frank Miller's seminal graphic novel, The Joker is revealed to have been “cured” after years of therapy but in fact he's crazier than ever and snaps his own neck as a final middle finger to Batman.

The Killing Joke

Following that, Alan Moore's premium one-shot retold the origins of the character and his psychology but also put a controversial spin on his relationship with Barbara Gordon for the foreseeable future.

A Death in the Family

In the late 1980s, DC held a poll where fans could decide whether the second Robin, Jason Todd, would live or die. The readers decided to end the life of the character which came at the hands of The Joker.

Batman (1989)

The Tim Burton film featured Jack Nicholson in the role of The Joker and altered his origin to being the man that killed the Waynes and set Bruce on his path to becoming Batman.

Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on a Serious Earth

Grant Morrison's 1989 graphic novel explored the psychosis of Batman and The Joker through the lens of the other characters in his Rogues Gallery and featured a radical version of the character.

The Return of The Joker

In 1990, the character “returned” but in fact was the first of many imposters inspired by The Joker, who died trying to recreate the accident that created his idol.

Gotham By Gaslight

This alternate version of Batman set in 19th century Gotham featured a version of The Joker who was a very bizarre serial killer that would marry women and poison them for their wealth. After being caught, he tried to kill himself with his trademark poison which left him in a twisted smile stuck on his face.

Batman: The Animated Series

One of the most famous versions of the character was voiced by Mark Hamill, which would become one of the most popular incarnations of the character. Hamill would reprise his role for the show's follow-up, The New Batman Adventures, with a slightly scarier appearance.

Superman: Speeding Bullets

In this alternate version of Superman's origin, the series saw the Wayne family raising baby Kal-El who would go on to become Batman and not Superman. Further adding to the legend, his nemesis Lex Luthor would become The Joker in this reality as well.

Harley Quinn

In 1994, Paul Dini and Bruce Timm would introduce the world to Harleen Quinzel, a psychiatrist that would fall in love with The Joker and become his sidekick (and some might say successor as the 'fun' Bat-villain), Harley Quinn.

Earth-43 Joker

The mini-series Batman: Bloodstorm featured vampire versions of many DC characters, and though The Joker led a whole gang of bloodsuckers, he himself wasn't a child of the night, though Batman did finally kill him and drink his blood.

Amalgam Comics

When DC Comics and Marvel decided to collaborate on the Marvel vs. DC mini-series, it also birthed the Amalgam universe, which combined the characters of both worlds into all-new characters. The Joker was combined with Harley Quinn and Victor Creed, aka Sabertooth, to become Hyena, the archenemy of Dark Claw, the combination of Batman and Wolverine.

Batman Beyond

In the animated series, The Joker is long gone, but his influence was felt in the series with the Jokerz gang. Later in the animated movie, it was revealed that The Joker had planted a chip in Tim Drake/Robin's brain with a full copy of his persona and could hjiack the boy's mind and body, making him into “Joker Junior.”

Emperor Joker

In this storyline, The Joker is given the reality-bending abilities of Mister Mxyzptlk and has remade the entire world in his image, including an endless loop of torturing and killing Batman every day.

Birds of Prey

The Joker only briefly appeared in the short-lived series with Mark Hamill reprising the voice of the character, though on camera the character was played by stuntman Roger Stoneburner.

Gotham Central

The series by Ed Brubaker and Greg Rucka featured a grounded approach to the criminals and heroes of Gotham focusing on the men and women of the GCPD with one arc focusing on The Joker's presence.

The Batman

Kevin Michael Richardson voiced this radical version of the character in the 2004 animated series.

Joker of Earth-2

This version of the character has long outlived Batman but continues his campaign of terror against the Dark Knight's successors.

The Jokester (Joker of Earth-3)

On Earth-3, the alternate versions of our superheroes are actually villains then the villains are heroes and The Joker was the heroic Jokester who goes up against the evil Owlman.

The Dark Knight

Christopher Nolan's 2008 sequel to Batman Begins featured Heath Ledger as the character, delivering one of the most memorable performances from an actor in a comic book film and earning him a posthumous Oscar for Best Supporting Actor.

JOKER

After the runaway success of Heath Ledger's Joker in The Dark Knight, this was a standalone graphic novel by Brian Azzarello and Lee Bermejo telling the story of one of his henchmen and his rise in rank with The Joker.

Batman: The Brave and the Bold

The 2008 animated series featured not only the regular Joker but also Joker-mite, Joker Jr. and even The Joker from the continuity of the Hanna-Barbera 'Scooby Doo' movies.

Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader?

The dynamic comic by Neil Gaiman sees a funeral for The Dark Knight featuring a number of eulogies from his friends and enemies, with a shocking revelation from Alfred that he himself was The Joker this whole time and orchestrated the villains with his friends to give Bruce Wayne something to do.

Arkham Video Games

All four of the “Batman: Arkham” games featured The Joker in some capacity, including Batman: Arkham Knight despite the character dying in Batman: Arkham City. Mark Hamill reprised his role as the character's voice in three of the games, with Troy Baker providing it for Batman: Arkham Origins.

The British Joker

Another Joker imposter appeared in the series Knight and Squire where a British man named Jarvis Poker was inspired by the villain and became a whimsical prankster all his own.

Flashpoint Joker

In the comic book series Flashpoint, it's revealed that on that fateful night in Crime Alley, Thomas and Martha Wayne lived and young Bruce Wayne died instead. As a result Thomas became Batman and Martha... The Joker.

The Man Who Laughs

Much like the film that originally inspired The Joker, another imposter appeared in 2011 named Norman Rotrig whose father carved away the skin around his mouth into a permanent smile.

Injustice: Gods Among Us

In the fighting game by NetherRealm Studios, The Joker killed Lois Lane in an explosion and brought forth the rage of Superman, who killed the villain with his bare hands. As a result it drove Superman to be a crazed fascist and take over the world.

Other Video Game Appearances

The Joker has appeared in a number of video games besides Injustice and Arkham including Batman: The Caped Crusader in 1988, Batman: Dark Tomorrow, DC Universe Online, and many others.

Death of the Family

When the DC Universe “rebooted” with The NEW 52 publishing initiative, The Joker made a brief appearance in Detective Comics #1 where he did a wild thing and had his face removed. Two years later he would return with his previously-removed face stabled and strapped back onto his head, with his most devious plan to destroy Batman.

Endgame

At the end of Death of the Family, The Joker would do what he always does and disappear, only to reemerge later for the Endgame storyline featuring another new-look and an even more sinister plan.

Gotham

On the pseudo-prequel series, an official version of The Joker has not yet outright appeared, but the closest we've come was the character Jerome who had a sinister laugh and similar color palate. Jerome, of course, wouldn't make it out of the second season alive though the show may find a way to bring him back...

Suicide Squad

Jared Leto become the most recent big-screen version of The Joker in Suicide Squad, featuring a controversial set of tattoos and a grill in his mouth.

The LEGO Batman Movie

The next version of The Joker that we'll see in theaters will be in The LEGO Batman Movie. Comedian Zach Galifianakis will provide the voice of the character.

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