The Clown Prince Of Crime!

The Joker is likely the most famous villain in all of comics. Thanos got a fantastic boost from his key role in the Marvel movies, but even that doesn't counteract the fame the Joker got from his TV show appearances played by Casear Romero, his first movie appearance portrayed by Jack Nicholson, and the mesmerizing second coming presented by Heath Ledger. The Joker even has his own movie. And once upon a time, he had his own Bronze Age comic book. Let's take a walk down memory lane with the Clown Prince of Crime. 

The popularity of Batman's number one nemesis the Joker is proven when DC saw fit to give the "Clown Prince of Crime" is own ongoing series. DC already had tried Secret Society of Super-Villains and Marvel had Marvel Super-Villain Team-Up, but this time one bad guy got the top billing. In the first issue under a handsome Dick Giordano cover, the team of Denny O'Neil, Irv Novick and Giordano bring us "The Joker's Double Jeopardy" in which he and Two-Face both escape from Arkham Asylum and contend with one another to prove who is the better baddie. They both get recaptured, so I guess it's still up for grabs. 

Then the Joker is busted out by Willie the Weeper who seeks advice from the smiling villain about he can stop crying so much when he commits a crime. The two team up to steal some platinum and it's a wild scheme with a barrage of double-crosses. This one is titled "The Sad Saga of Willie Weeper" and was written by O'Neil, with art by Novick and inker Jose Luis Garcia-Lozpez. Ernie Chan's cover is a powerful one. Two Arkham guards who get fired for letting the Joker escape are in this story. They are Benny Khiss and Marvin Fargo. 

Chan steps in as artist with help from inker Garcia-Lopez for the story 'The Last Ha-Ha" in which the Joker has to contend with The Creeper. This one was written by O'Neil and features as fantastic cover by Giordano. I should mention the Joker has a regular hide-out called the Ha-Hachienda. 

In "A Gold Star for the Joker" the mirthful murderer travels to Star City where he kidnaps Dinah Lance because he's smitten with her and decides he must either marry her or kill her. Green Arrow of course gets involved in this story by Elliot Maggin featuring pencils by Garcia-Lopez and inks by Vinnie Colletta. Ernie Chan supplies the cover. Dinah never becomes Black Canary in this issue for reasons I will never understand. One would've thought seeing the Canary in the Joker's clutches would've garnered more fan interest. Why would they pass up a chance to show off those fishnets baby?

Under another Chan cover we find a convoluted story titled "The Joker Goes Wilde" by writer Marty Pasko. Irv Novick returns as penciller with Tex Blaisdell on inks. With one exception this will be the art team for the balance of the nine-issue run. The story has the Joker contending with the Royal Flush Gang to get possession of a legendary painting which supposedly points the way to riches. Venerable science fiction writer Alfred Bester is given some credit for having something to do with the story, but it's not clear what. I assume the story references in some a story Bester wrote for DC in the Golden Age, but this is never spelled out. 

Denny O'Neil and Novick and Blaisdell are back for "Sherlock Stalks the Joker" under a clever cover by Chan. When an actor named Clive Sigerson is knocked on the noggin during one of the Joker's heists, he thinks he's the real Sherlock Holmes and dedicates himself to tracking down the cackling prince of crime. The yarn is filled with puns which call back to classic stories written by Arthur Conan Doyle. It's a goofy romp, ideal for the Joker's series. 

DC was on a Sherlock Holmes thing because a few months earlier they'd put out a Sherlock Holme de facto one-shot. Maybe this story was a way to embed Holmes into the DCU, though actually that had been done decades earlier by Gardner Fox. 

Superman's arch-nemesis and former Joker partner Lex Luthor shows up in "Luthor - You're Driving Me Sane" by O'Neil, Novick and inker Frank McLaughlin. The cover is by Chan. The Joker and Lex Luthor exchange personalities when the Joker interrupts one of Lex's attempts to gain control of Green Lantern's ring. Hal Jordan makes a one-panel cameo. Needless to say, neither of them is happy though Lex does seem to use the opportunity unleash some of his darker aspects. 

Maggin, Novick and Blaisdell team up to give us "The Scarecrow's Fearsome Face-Off" in which the two Batman villains battle it out under another slick Chan cover. When the Joker impersonates the Scarecrow in a crime, the latter is annoyed and seeks vengeance. Eventually the two manipulators of emotion face off. This issue gives names to a trio of young men who have been the Joker's entourage in the latter part of the series. The are Southpaw, Tooth, and Sonny November who alas doesn't make through this issue. 

The same creative team of Maggin, Novick, Blaisdell, and Chan wrap up the series when Catwoman shows up in "The Cat and the Clown". The series wraps up as both the Catwoman and the Joker attempot to kidnap Benny Springer and his cat Hiawatha. Springer proves to be a worthy adversary for both the Bat-villains as the story rumbles along. The Joker kills a good number of folks in this series, though I don't have an exact number. For all the hijinks and general light-heartedness of the series his deadly nature is never forgotten. It's not really a spoiler to say that the Joker is back in Arkham as he was when the series started. We all know it's only a matter of time. 

And that's a wrap. Tomorrow stuff not about the Joker. Be sure to check out all three of today's posts, and I sincerely hope your April Fool's Day has been a dandy! No Foolin'!

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