The Joker #1 (May 1975)

Batman is one of DC Comics' oldest and most iconic superheroes. Naturally, considering his significance to the DC Universe, it makes sense that many of his supporting cast would also become household names, both heroic and villainous. And arguable one of Batman's most iconic villains is the Ace of Knaves, the Clown Prince of Crime, the Harlequin of Hate, the Joker.

Created by Bill Finger, Bob Kane, and Jerry Robinson (although their accounts differed on how he came to be), and first appearing in Batman #1 (Spring 1940), the Joker and the Dark Knight have been clashing since nearly the beginning. Much like Batman himself, the Joker has undergone many changes over the years, from criminal mastermind to childish prankster to crazed psycho killer.

The Joker would become one of Batman's most popular villains, and he would even face other superheroes like Superman. He and Batman are often seen as two sides of the same coin in a way, Batman seeking to create order out of a chaotic world, and the Joker wanting to turn an orderly world into a chaotic mess.

The Joker is also unique as he's one of the few American comic book villains to have never been given a definitive origin. The closest to one was provided in The Killing Joke, but considering that came from the Joker himself, it can be seen as unreliable. 

The comic we're looking at here is the first issue of his first ever on-going series. thanks to DC feeling rather experimental in the 1970s. It lasted for nine issues, with a tenth not getting published due to the series' cancellation. It would finally be published in the 2019 omnibus The Joker: The Bronze Age Omnibus. This is Joker #1!

The cover is a Dick Giordano piece. It's really cool. It depicts our man tearing a poster of Batman off the wall in front of his fellow Batman rogues, proclaiming that this magazine belongs to him, and he is Batman's number one foe! I love this cover. It fits the character of the Joker perfectly, his showmanship and his ego. 

"The Joker's Double Jeopardy!" 
Writer: Dennis O'Neil
Penciler: Irv Novick
Inker: Dick Giordano
Letterer: Unknown
Colorist: Unknown
Editor: Julius Schwartz
Executive Editor: Julius Schwartz

The story begins in Arkham Asylum, the mental hospital/jail that many of the Dark Knight's rogues gallery end up in when they're not performing their criminal activities fueled by their own madness. The Joker is there, when he spots his fellow Gotham rogue Harvey "Two-Face" Dent run by, accompanied by an accomplice of his: a man dressed like a stereotypical matador named Alvarez.

Two-Face is making his escape from Arkham, thanks to gas being slipped into the ventilation system. During the escape, the Joker asked if he could be broken out as well, but Alvarez said no. After all, he considers Two-Face a greater criminal mastermind than the Clown Prince of Crime. Having a very large, yet fragile ego, the Joker felt extremely insulted by this. The next day, the inmates are having some outside exercise time in the Asylum's courtyard. The Joker had found a way to occupy himself. 

Thing is, these aren't ordinary balloons. The Harlequin of Hate uses one to float away to freedom. One of the guards tries to shoot him down, but the Joker somehow switched out his pistol for a gag toy. The escaped criminal floats to suburban Gotham. Thanks to a newspaper, he learns Batman is in Paris at the moment. As such, he doesn't need to worry about the Dark Knight bothering him right now.

Later on, the Joker heads out to his hideout, where he meets up with a couple of his men. The Joker is still stinging over Alvarez's remark that Two-Face is a better criminal than him, and he wants to show the ex-district attorney up. 

One of the Joker's men points out that Dent and Alvarez have rented out the top two floors of a hotel, and they have gunmen posted at all the doors. And it can be assumed they would have no qualms giving the Joker a deadly lead injection. But the Joker is not worried. Heck, the man loves a challenge!

Over at the hotel, Alvarez explains why he helped free Two-Face. You see, a great treasure from his home country has been brought over to the United States. The story never quite goes into reasons why, but Alvarez wants this treasure back in his home. Two-Face isn't interested, until he learns exactly what this "treasure" is: a set of rare gold doubloons, with a face on each side. Two-faced coins. This gets the ex-DA's attention, so he lets his trademark double-sided coin decide to go through with it with a flip. Unscarred face wins, he backs out. Scarred side wins, he goes through with it.

Looks like Alvarez has his services, after all. A knock is heard at the door. Alvarez isn't worried, he just ordered a meal from room service. After all, this hotel has excellent ham. Mmm, ham...

However, it's not ham that arrives, it's the Joker. He hits Alvarez and a bodyguard with acid pies, but Two-Face manages to get away, thanks to his clocking the Joker with a bowl of pears. Get it? Pears? Pronounced the same as "pairs". It's no matter. Joker overheard them planning to get the doubloons. So, he has a new plan. 

He's going to steal them himself, humiliating Two-Face. That night, Joker breaks into the museum where the doubloons are being held. He knows Two-Face will strike tomorrow as that's the second day of the month and considering his whole "obsession with two" gimmick, that's likely when he'll go after the coins. Of course, there's also the 12th and 22nd. He would likely strike on those days, too.

Anyway, the Joker just has to wait for Harvey to show up. And when he does, POW! Right in the kisser! Thing is, Two-Face managed to outsmart the Joker.

The Joker is naturally caught off-guard. This wasn't the 2nd yet! Thing is, it technically is. Time has passed while the Joker waited, and the time is now 2 AM on the 2nd day of the month. So, yeah. Anyway, Harvey Dent ties Joker to a power saw.

He flips his coin. Good head wins, the Joker is spared. Scarred head wins, the Joker dies. The scarred head won, so Two-Face turns the saw on. The Joker wonders how this deathtrap relates to the number two. After all, that's his gimmick. The answer is simple. The saw will cut Joker in two. 

Instead of staying and making sure that the Joker does indeed get cut in half, Two-Face leaves. After all, he has a robbery to get to, and time is short.

Thing is, the Joker has tussled with the Dark Knight many times over the years. As such, he's learned one lesson from all of his brawls with the Batman:

Exactly. He uses his acid-squirting flower to free himself. Back in the museum's main hall, Commissioner Gordon is trying to assure a Mr. Kemp, presumably a higher-up at the museum, that the doubloons are perfectly safe. He has his best men guarding them. Kemp is...understandably concerned. After all, this is Gotham. Kemp's fears are seemingly realized when the lights go out. Gordon tells his men to stay alert.

The lights then come back on, and the doubloons are still there. They are safe. Or are they?

Yeah, turns out that blackout wasn't a random short circuit. Two-Face caused it so he could sneak a magnet in to lift out the real loot and leave some fake doubloons in its place so no one would be the wiser. 

Two-Face finds himself confronted by the now-free Joker. The two fight, but the Clown Prince of Crime gets the better of the former DA with some fake hair and his lapels being covered in glue. The two are found by the cops, and we get another twist: The doubloons that Two-Face stole...were also fake.

Yeah, it turns out the ex-DA's buddy Alvarez had already pulled the "steal the doubloons and leave fakes in their place trick" before they left his homeland. The Batman discovered this previously. Alvarez had been using Two-Face to cover his tracks. As for Alvarez himself? It turns out he survived the Joker's acid facial and is recovering from the burns in a jail hospital. The story ends with the Joker having a laugh about the whole thing. 

I thought this comic was...okay. The idea of a comic focusing on a supervillain is indeed an interesting one. I think it's a neat idea to see a supervillain's encounters with superheroes and other supervillains through their perspective. However, due to the Comics Code at the time, I can imagine that writing such a series would be rather difficult, as the stories had to end with the villain being caught. Not to mention having to show the villains' schemes failing all the time. But in this particular story's case, I wish that the final twist was foreshadowed more. It came completely out of nowhere. It felt like that twist was thrown in just to give Joker a "victory" that he had no hand in, and we were already stretching things with the Joker magically replacing that guard's gun when he escaped. 

There is one thing I do like about this comic is that it helps show one big thing about the Joker: His ego. The Joker's ego is massive, yet it's fragile. He cannot stand being passed over. Also, the art is pretty nifty. Irv Novick is a great artist.

If you want to read this for yourself, I recommend tracking down the 2013 trade paperback The Joker: The Clown Prince of Crime. Thanks for reading this blog entry! Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you liked it, show it off! Take care of yourselves and each other! See you next time!