This is the section dedicated to the Joker from THE BATMAN VAULT: a museum in a book featuirng rare collectibles from the Batcave, edited by Robert Greenberger and Matthew K Manning. (2009). I had posted it on my old blog and now revised and and present it here for your enjoyment.
THE JOKER
It could be just another one of his lies. He’s told his origin more times than most can remember, each version a bit more bizarre than the last. But there’s been one that’s stuck, a tale that rings a bit truer than the others.
He was a comedian wtih a pregnant wife, but he wasn’t very funny. With no money to support his growing family, he took a job with some men he shouldn’t have. He dressed up in a red helmet and a cape. Alongside the men who brought him into this new life of crime, he helped rob the Ace Chemical Processing Plant. When Batman showed up, the man in the red cape was startled by the giant bat creature and leapt into a vat of toxic chemicals. He emerged with bleached skin, green hair, and a smile on his face.
