Finally, with my copy of JOKER A VISUAL HISTORY in hand I have the power to give you a quick walk through the book. I got the hardcover which, in addition to the retail Joker cover as a dustjacket, sports a fantastic green and purple collage of Joker moments from his golden and silver age on the inner cover (see pic). I opened the book and there they were, countless guffaws in a purple background and I knew I was in heaven. I’m an incurable Jokerholic, that is not a secret and as a Joker fan I have to say that it was about time that the best (and craziest) villain in the history of DC got a book dedicated to himself.
Art from Last Laugh
Joker is one complicated character. I’m not only referring to the chaotic nature of his psyche but to the fact that every group of writers and artists have taken their liberties with the villain, making so many stories and versions of him that the task of copiling them into one coherent story seems almost titanic. A task that does not scare the author, Daniel Wallace, who takes any available resource on the Joker from the 1940’s to the present, from Bob Kane to Grant Morrison and coalesces all the facts into one interesting read. Here is a preview of what you will find inside:
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Table of Contents |
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| 10 | Introduction |
| 18 | The Beginning |
| 32 | Spotlight on: Bob Kane and Bill Finger |
| 34 | The Batman |
| 50 | Spotlight on: Frank Miller |
| 52 | Arkham Asylum |
| 64 | Spotlight: Grant Morrison |
| 66 | Bag of Tricks |
| 80 | Partners in Crime |
| 102 | Crimes and Capers |
| 128 | Shattered Mirror |
| 140 | Mad Love |
| 166 | Spotlight on: Paul Dini and Bruce Timm |
| 168 | The Clown Prince |
| 178 | Spotlight on: Denny O’neil and Neil Adams |
| 180 | Killer Smile |
| 200 | Spotlight on: Alan Moore |
First I have to say that the introduction written by Mark Hamill was a great treat. He speaks to us in a familiar, casual way to describe he acquaintance with the character during the auditions for the Joker’s voice in BATMAN THE ANIMATED SERIES and how this helped him in the understanding of the character. One of the things that caught my attention was the part where Hamill is getting the hints on how to play the villain for the first time:
…but under the guidance of vocal director Andrea Romano (who would eventually guide me through many years of episodes and remain a dear friend to this very day) and a liberating note on page one [of the script]:
“Don’t think Nicholson” I managed to conjure up my version of the “Grim Jester”, a sort of cross between Claude Rains and the Blue Meanie from Yellow Submarine. Within days, I received a call and heard the words “Congratulation, they want you for the Joker” I was numb…
And thanks to that liberating note, Mr. Hamill was able to create a new and fresh version that has become a classic and a kind of standard when portraying the villain in animated films and video games that had made Mr. Hamill so famous.
As the book contiues, Dan weaves a nice narrative starting with an explanation of the concept origin for the character (C0nrad Veidt’s THE MAN WHO LAUGHS, a Joker card and a Coney Island Steeplechase sign that sparked the final look of the Jester). He follows this biographical construct with an analysis as to why every Batman needs a Joker and how these two characters are so tightly intertwined as well as the Jester’s intimate relationship with Arkham Asylum
The author continues his coverage, turning his attention to those characters that for good or bad had crossed the paths of the Joker, his allies and enemies (No, Harley is not covered here, but later in the book she has her own section), and following this Daniel makes a recount of the Joker’s most memorable crimes from the funny, to the most lethal. Mr. Wallace is very accurate to call these crimes “perfomances” after all, for the Joker, showmanship is everything. Daniel hits a bullseye when he says: “[that for Joker] if its not spectacularly theatrical, it is boring, [and the audience] might fail to see the humor in the horror”
Joker’s complex origin is dissected from each version from comics to movies in small steps which makes the character study easy to follow and engaging to read, including the introduction of the Joker’s “love interest” Harley Quinn and finalizes the book with a detailed account on the evolution of the character down to THE DARK KNIGHT, RIP and Bermejo’s JOKER graphic novel.
Wallace’s coverage of the character history and his interaction with the rest of the DC universe demonstrated the research done behind this book. Every aspect of the Golden, Siver and Bronze age Joker is covered in one way or another, and the sprinkled notes about the writers and artists involved in the evolution of the character make the read quite entertaining.
Art by Jim Lee
Accompanying the narrative, are literally pages and pages (a few hundred or more, some of them I don’t think have been seen for a while if ever) of images of Joker through the ages, allowing the reader to follow the character’s transformation through time into the valuable villain he is today.
I love the book and consider it a nice addition to the Joker mythos in the DC Universe along with a comprehensive guide of the character in every media. My only regret was that though there are plenty images of Joker by famed artist Brian Bolland in the book, there is no particular section dedicated to him like other artists even when the artist himself considered Joker his for a short while. I don’t think that his contribution to the character was overlooked, I just think that there is not space to cover EVERY single aspect related to the Joker, otherwise we would need several volumes. This tiny detail though, might fall in the personal preference, since it does not diminish the value of the book both in content and purpose to provide a wide view on who the Joker is in the DC Universe.
