The answer to the question ofThe Joker’sorigin should be “multiple choice,” as the supervillain himself once famously put it, but instead, fans and DC Comics alike have accepted a default “canon” backstory for the character. Yet it is fair to sayembracing the chaotic uncertainty of the Joker’s history would benefit DC on a creative level, while also opening the door to more satisfying Joker storiesfor fans.
From hardcore comic book readers, to casual superhero fans, theJoker is widely considered the greatest comic book villainof all time. Consequently, it is always worth exploring why that is; in short, Joker is a singular kind of character, falling into “often imitated, but never replicated” territory in many ways.
Among the myriad ways Joker is unlike any other character in comics is that he actually benefits from having an undefined origin story. Most heroes and villains are anchored by their origins, but Joker is weighed down, and less impactful, when readers know the “truth” of his history.
Alan Moore’s Version Of Joker’s Backstory Was Never Meant To Be Definitive, But It Stuck
The Killing Joke: Written By Alan Moore; Art By Brian Bolland; Published In 1988
For most DC fans, the accepted “reality” of the Joker’s origin was told in Alan Moore’sBatman:The Killing Joke, a 1988 one-shot which provided a backstory for the villain, narrated by Joker himself. Except this is where the legendary quote, “If I’m going to have a past, I prefer it to be multiple choice” comes from. Further, he precedes this by saying “sometimes I remember it one way, sometimes another…”, making it clear that the Joker is the definition of an unreliable narrator.
In the years sinceThe Killing Jokewas published, DC fans and DC writers alike have continued to be obsessed with the Joker’s origin.
Meaning,it is contrary to Alan Moore’s interpretation of the character to takeThe Killing Joke’sbackstory for the Joker seriously, attributing it “canon” status, because the Joker is a character that defies continuity. Beyond that, it does a disservice to the power of the Joker character to focus on the “real” origin of the character, because he is by definition a character that rejects reality. However, in the years sinceThe Killing Jokewas published, DC fans and DC writers alike have continued to be obsessed with the Joker’s origin.
Ever Since “The Killing Joke,” DC Creators And Fans Fixate Too Much On The Joker’s Backstory
To The Detriment Of Contemporary Joker Stories
Part of the novelty ofThe Killing Joke, when it was first published, came from the fact that DC had, up to that point, largely avoided establishing a concrete origin story for the joker. At the time, this was considered a fundamental aspect of the character, and was rightly recognized by the publisher as something pivotal to distinguishing him from Batman’s other rogues, and from other supervillains in general. In part, this was whyThe Killing Jokewas framed the way it was, in order to offer one possible story, without it being taken as the “true story.”
Unfortunately, this is exactly what happened in the wake of Moore’s story hitting shelves. His tale of a down-on-his-luck comedian becoming the small-time crook known as the Red Hood, and then falling into a vat of chemicals and emerging as the Joker, is still generally taken as the definitive account of his backstory. In the nearly forty years since, this has led to somememorable alternate origins for the Joker, but in the end,the core problem it created was this fixation on Joker’s backstory in the first place, a misunderstanding of the character that persists to this day.
DC’s Cinematic Jokers Highlight The Right And Wrong Approach To His Origin
WhatThe Dark KnightGot Right AndJokerGot Wrong
The problem being diagnosed with DC Comics' Joker here has its extension in the live-action versions of the Joker of the past several decades, particularly Heath Ledger’sDark KnightJoker, who stands in sharp contrast to Joaquin Phoenix’s latest take on the character. In essence,the difference between these two portrayals encapsulates the best and worst approaches to the villain’s backstory; on one hand isThe Dark Knight’sambiguity, and on the other is theJokerduology’s very purpose as an origin story, of sorts.
Both films draw evident influence from Alan Moore’sThe Killing Joke, both directly, and from the lasting impression it has made on all subsequent depictions of the character. However, where they sharply diverge is thatThe Dark Knightoffers a cinematic adaptation ofThe Killing Joke’s"multiple choice" quote, by having Joker deliver several very different origin stories for himself during the course of the movie. In retrospect, this is one of the most evocative and memorable aspects of Ledger’s Joker.
Todd Phillips’Jokermovies, by contrast, are effectively the culmination of DC’s fixation on the Joker’s origin. Even in the context of the second film’s divisive twist ending, the crux of both films was about exploring the ongoing, and increasing cultural fascination with the Joker, but by doing so through an origin story, it made the mistake of demystifying the character, rather than mythologizing him. This reflects the downside of many of DC’s contemporary Joker tales, whileThe Dark Knightis a reminder that the fix is simple.
All DC Comics Has To Do Is Restore The Chaos To The Joker’s Backstory
Make Him The DC Universe’s True Wildcard
For DC Comics, thebest approach to the Jokeris to let go of the urge to define him, to stop trying to pin down one origin story for the villain, or one goal besides the creation of chaos for his own amusement and pleasure. It can be argued that DC would be much better off allowing the Joker to just keep moving forward, shark-like, through the DC Universe, serving asa destabilizing presence, and an unpredictable malefactor, if it wants to recapture the spirit of the “formula” that made the antagonist so unforgettable in the first place.
There are certain key tenets of [the Joker] that the publisher and its authors and artists should look to as hallmarks of a defining take on the villain.
And if DC insists on offering up interpretations of the Joker’s backstory, thenat least what it should do is embrace the concept ofThe Killing Jokeand offer multiple, ambiguous possibilities for his history. In short, anything that makes the Joker more chaotic, and harder to get a handle on, for both readersand Gotham’s heroes alike, is a better creative choice for the character than those plot beats that make him easier to grasp, or better understood, or least imaginable at all, at all relatable.
Joker is rightly revered as perhaps the defining supervillain comic book history, and as one of the supreme bad guys in modern popular culture. This puts significant weight on the creators tasked with telling stories aboutThe Jokerfor DC Comics, and as such, there are certain key tenets of the character that the publisher and its authors and artists should look to as hallmarks of a defining take on the villain, with a lack of clear origin being among the most prominent dimensions of the character that should remain sacrosanct.
