Publisher DC Comics Format Ongoing series Number of issues 9 | Schedule Bi-monthly Publication date May 1975-October 1976 Main character(s) The Joker | |
The Joker is a comic book series published by DC Comics starring the super-villain the Joker. It ran nine issues from May 1975 until October 1976.
Contents
Publication history
Dennis O'Neil, who wrote the first issue of the series, recounted that "I stopped by Julie [Schwartz, Batman editor]’s office, and he said, ‘We’re going to do a Joker book.’ I know that alarms went off, I could sense the problems that such a thing would entail … but it was a job.” The series was launched in May 1975 by O'Neil and artist Irv Novick. In order to have him work as a protagonist, writers on the series toned down the Joker's insanity and to adhere to the Comics Code Authority, each issue would end with the Joker being apprehended, only to escape at the beginning of the next issue. Batman did not appear in the series, and the Joker was forbidden to murder anyone in the pages of his own magazine
Issues
When a villain named Senor Alvarez breaks Batman's enemy Two-Face out of Arkham Asylum and insults the Joker as "not a superior criminal", the Joker breaks out of Arkham and decides to get revenge and prove he is a "superior" criminal.
The Joker teams up with a villain called Willie the Weeper who has a habit of crying and laughing when he sees others cry to help him steal platinum after Willie the Weeper breaks him out.
After a battle with the Joker, the Creeper gets amnesia and is persuaded he is the Joker's ally.
The Joker falls in love with DC hero Green Arrow's girlfriend Dinah Lance and gives her a choice: Marry the Joker or die.
The Joker competes with Justice League foes the Royal Flush Gang for a valuable painting done by the late Thaddeus Wilde.
When the Joker hits an actor playing the famous detective Sherlock Holmes on his head with a pipe, the actor believes he is Holmes and that the Joker is Holmes's archenemy Professor Moriarty and goes "stalking" the Joker.
An experiment goes awry and switches the Joker's insanity with Superman villain Lex Luthor's genius.
When the Joker steals "Fear-Gas" from S.T.A.R. Labs, he ends up competing with fellow Batman villain The Scarecrow to see whose "fear-based" weapon is the best. The Joker wins.
The Joker and Batman "frenemy" Catwoman end up competing for a movie actor's trained feline sidekick. Catwoman's victory leads to a two-way rivalry..
Unpublished issue
The letters page of The Joker #9 (Sept.-Oct. 1976) mentions that Martin Pasko was writing a story titled "99 and 99/100 Percent Dead!" to appear in The Joker #10, which was never published. In the end notes of The Greatest Joker Stories Ever Told (1989) it is noted that The Joker editor Julius Schwartz had no recollection of this story ever being completed. A cover for issue #10 was drawn by Ernie Chan.