I'd stopped reading comics long before they grew up in the 90's, but Batman had always been one of my favorite comic book heroes. I've been rediscovering his darker side ever since learning about Frank Miller's Dark Knight comics several years ago, and have been regularly picking up graphic novels and compilations of Batman comics since then. Some good, some not so much, they've all been fun reads.
Joker, of course, being Batman's iconic arch nemesis, fills nearly as many of these novels as the Batman does. Recently I picked up "The Joker: The Greatest Stories Ever Told", a compilation of Joker stories that span the entire existence of Batman comics, from his introduction in Batman #1 through to stories from this past decade.
One of the interesting things about this compilation is watching the way the comics mature. The earliest ones, for all their dark undertones, are rather light-hearted (and, in fact, I realized that the kitschy '60's Batman TV show wasn't far off in tone from these early Batman comics). As you read through the decades, the stories mature, as does the art style, until you get to the modern Joker and Batman stories, with all of their dark pathos.
Perhaps sadly, the one story that really sticks in my mind right now is the second one in the book, "The Joker's Comedy of Errors," from 1951. In this story, the Joker sets out to use famous blunders in history as the set pieces for his crime capers. Except they're not referred to as blunders, but "boners." The first panel of the comic opens with the immortal words "You've probably committed some boners in your time. Most everyone has…" (That's right, cue the adolescent giggles.) By the third page of the story, it's hard to go more than a couple of frames without some "boner" reference: A newspaper headline reads, "Stung By His Boner, Joker Lashes Back," and "Joker Stages Another Boner Crime" or the inimitable "I'm worried about the boner he's readying for you." Batman closes the whole thing out with an over-reaching double-boner retort (with an insinuated third!): "You committed the boner, Joker. You were so busy forcing me into a boner, you forgot you were committing one yourself!"
Yes, the socially inept, horny pre-teen hiding out in the back of my brain giggled his way through this entire story.
Joker, of course, being Batman's iconic arch nemesis, fills nearly as many of these novels as the Batman does. Recently I picked up "The Joker: The Greatest Stories Ever Told", a compilation of Joker stories that span the entire existence of Batman comics, from his introduction in Batman #1 through to stories from this past decade.
One of the interesting things about this compilation is watching the way the comics mature. The earliest ones, for all their dark undertones, are rather light-hearted (and, in fact, I realized that the kitschy '60's Batman TV show wasn't far off in tone from these early Batman comics). As you read through the decades, the stories mature, as does the art style, until you get to the modern Joker and Batman stories, with all of their dark pathos.
Perhaps sadly, the one story that really sticks in my mind right now is the second one in the book, "The Joker's Comedy of Errors," from 1951. In this story, the Joker sets out to use famous blunders in history as the set pieces for his crime capers. Except they're not referred to as blunders, but "boners." The first panel of the comic opens with the immortal words "You've probably committed some boners in your time. Most everyone has…" (That's right, cue the adolescent giggles.) By the third page of the story, it's hard to go more than a couple of frames without some "boner" reference: A newspaper headline reads, "Stung By His Boner, Joker Lashes Back," and "Joker Stages Another Boner Crime" or the inimitable "I'm worried about the boner he's readying for you." Batman closes the whole thing out with an over-reaching double-boner retort (with an insinuated third!): "You committed the boner, Joker. You were so busy forcing me into a boner, you forgot you were committing one yourself!"
Yes, the socially inept, horny pre-teen hiding out in the back of my brain giggled his way through this entire story.
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