Sunday, March 07, 2021
Joker Fatigue
I'm experiencing Joker fatigue.
Recently, I was on Twitter and a user whose initials I'll use, "DB" proposed that "There needs to be absolutely no Joker or Joker related stories from DC for at least five years." I read that sentence and felt my heart rise a bit. My heart yearns for a DCU without a Joker in it.
I like that world, I want to be in that world. A world where a Joker appearance may actually... mean something. 
Let me get this out of the way... I don't hate The Joker. I like him. I am tired of him, though.
Lately, I find myself more tired of the things people put on him and into him. The Joker is plainly and simply, insane. That's it. There's nothing more to it than that. As I grow older, I find myself less interested in what new way he'll inflict his cruelty onto Gotham. I become less interested in which way he'll escape again to do all over again but in some new crueler way.
I'm tired.
I'm tired of folks thinking there's brilliance to be found in insanity.
The original fun in The Joker was to be found in his randomness. How he could pop up in one writer's story wanting to destroy The Justice League, only to wind up in the suburbs fleeing Big Barda and Mister Miracle's cookout. Want another cool Joker story?
My personal favorite Joker story from the pages of Batman: Legends of The Dark Knight where Batman finds The Joker close to death after crossing paths with Ra's al Ghul, must make a hard decision allow him to die or submerge in within the restorative ooze that is a Lazarus Pit so that he can bring The Joker to justice.
Batman chooses the pit. Now, here's the thing about Lazarus Pits, when one rises from the pool, they emerge violently. Feral, even.
The Joker having lived most of his life immersed in violence, emerges from The Lazarus Pit changed, racked with guilt and pain over all of the lives he's destroyed, crying for the judgement he finally knew he deserved.
To say that I was intrigued would be an understatement. That story took place twenty years ago in Batman: Legends of The Dark Knight #142-145. I haven't been given the opportunity to be surprised by The Joker since.
Lately though, stories involving The Joker don't lean into the randomness of his actions and go all in on the belief that his sadism is somehow a frequency we could never understand.
To quote Chris Rock, "Whatever happened to crazy?"
Lately, all The Joker is is just evil and nothing more than a Batman-adjacent serial killer.
Let's be real, today's Joker is less criminal mastermind and more Victor Zsasz but in purple pants.
In order to get into most any Batman story, you have to invest into that rogue's mission. With say, The Mad Hatter, you most likely will have something "hat" happen. When the "mad" is emphasized something glorious could unfold. For proof, look no further than Detective Comics #787, Brian K. Vaughan's heart-wrenching look into the Mad Hatter's mind. It moved me and now, I have a hard time watching Batman sock him in the jaw again.
I find myself in an age of mass shootings and gaslighting from all sides less able to stomach the continuing saga of a serial killer.
This month, there's a new continuing Joker series arriving on comic shop stands. I genuinely believe the creators involved are great and will find something new to say with this character.
Maybe I'll be missing out but I don't see myself reading it. As a firm believer in consequences, my head just won't allow me to go there.
Saturday, January 27, 2018
Batman: Locking Fools Up and Walking Away For Thirty Years
A pivotal scene from Batman: Ten Nights of The Beast saga circa 1988. It wrecked my brain that Batman simply just walked away. He'd done everything he needed to do and just... walked. Just left the antagonist, KGBeast (seriously) locked away. No food. No water. Well, none that we knew of anyway. When asked by Commissioner Gordon if he saw him, Batman just sort went, "Uh. Nah." For very teen aged Devon, seeing Batman go full-Marvel on a dude, kinda messed me up a bit.
A few issues later, DC Comics editorial pushed writer Jim Starlin to add in a throwaway line that explained away Batman's actions. It went sorta like, "Yeah, I called the police and they sent a guy to check on him. He was gone, though. Eh. Shit happens."
I dug this story so much that I wrote freaking FAN-FIC. Yes, in 1988, I wrote fan-fic where Batman doubled down on his effs to give and continued on to fight Orca, The Whalewoman. The KGBeast continued on, eating the occasional rat and sucking up whatever sewer water he could. One night, a maintenance worker, wondering why that door had been sealed up, fell into the plot device hell I made for him, unleashing The KGBeast back into the Gotham streets and into a story only a teenaged Devon could tell titled, "Return of The KGBeast."
Yeah. I named it that. By the way, I am still available to write this.
So, imagine my surprise when I see this month's Doomsday Clock #3...
My fan-fic probably wouldn't piss as many people off, though.
Tuesday, October 31, 2017
Scooby-Doo & Batman: The Brave and The Bold... with Detective Chimp!
When I was a kid, the randomness of 70's syndicated TV was in so many ways, the very best thing.
Back then, television wasn't so much curated as it was available. Episodes of shows would routinely be shown out of order. One day you'd be watching an episode of Batman from 1966 with Julie Newmar chewing up the scenery and the next, one with Eartha Kitt's Catwoman just owning every damned inch of the screen.
Back then I I didn't know why my Catwoman kept changing but when a pair of cat ears would appear, I was a happy little guy.
I pretty much had the same experience with The New Scooby-Doo Movies. In the roulette wheel that was afterschool syndicated TV, you were just as likely to see Scooby and the gang team up with awesome TV mainstays as The Addams Family as you would as you would Sandy Duncan.
Yup. Sandy Duncan.
When I was a kid, one episode of The Scooby-Doo Movies was super special. Each day, I'd sit in from my tv and hope with all of my little heart that that day's episode would feature Batman and Robin as voiced by Super Friends voice actors Olan Soule and Casey Kasem.
The days that it did were some of my favorite days in front of the tv.
That's why today, when I saw the above preview, I became a kid again. Batman and Robin and The Scooby Gang.
And Batman brought friends along: Black Canary. Plastic Man. Martian Manhunter and yes, Detective Chimp.
My love for DC Comics and it's vastness was rekindled with the Batman: The Brave and The Bold cartoon series and it only becomes better with Scooby.
I'm going to get this. I don't need it to be good. Just know that right now, I'm be as happy as a kid.
Labels: Batman
Wednesday, June 14, 2017
Thank you, Old Chum.
He was my first and in so many ways, best Batman.
His Batman/Bruce Wayne was one of the first things I remember bringing a smile to my young face.
He was my first and favorite babysitter.
Last year, I got a chance to meet Adam West along with Burt Ward and was able to tell him just how much joy his performances meant to me.
He made me want to be one of the good guys.
Thank you so much, Adam West.
Wednesday, June 17, 2015
Batman #41 Review At Bleeding Cool
Was Batman #41, the first issue taking place in the new DC You Universe a boom or a bust?
Find out in my latest Thor's Comic Column review for Bleeding Cool!
Labels: Batman, Bleeding Cool
Thursday, December 27, 2007
"Who Is She? Where Did She Come From?"
*sigh*... Yvonne Craig's Batgirl. You never forget your first crush.
Friday, August 17, 2007
The Dark Knight
Monday, June 25, 2007
The World's Greatest Detectives In: Case Closed
Taken from Robin #163.Special thanks to James (Yes, My Real Name Is) Rambo for the Photoshop help.
Labels: Batman, Robin, Spoiler
Wednesday, April 04, 2007
Throwing Stones At Glass Cases
Does this character who died due to Spoiler's over eagerness to get back in Batman's good graces deserve a glass case in the Batcave any less than Stephanie Brown?Was he any less of a plotpoint than Spoiler?
Should I write an angry letter demanding what I want?
Discuss.
Labels: Batman, Orpheus, Spoiler
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
My Random Thought Of The Day
"I'm gonna try an experiment. I'm gonna name my kid Bruce Wayne Sanders and see whether or not I raise a superhero or a serial killer."
Labels: Batman
