For the most part, in comic books, villains are very simplistic characters. Their usual motivations are anger, greed, or pure insanity. No other villain defies this stereotype as well as Batman’s arch-nemesis, the Joker. It would be easy to believe that the Joker is driven by pure insanity, but to dismiss it that easily would be a mistake. With immenant arrival of The Dark Knight, there is now more than ever, a spotlight is focused on the man that is the Joker.
The first authentic portrayal of the Joker’s descent into insanity was in Alan Moore’s The Killing Joke, a one shot Batman comic. Apparently, after failing to become a stand-up comic (a goal that forced him to quit his job as an engineer) the man who would become the Joker was forced to turn to petty crime. While planning his first small job, he was informed that his wife had been killed in an accident caused by a small household appliance. Overcome by grief the man tries back out of the job, but he is strong-armed into going along. Of course, the plan goes wrong and the local security guards shoot the thugs accompanying him. Batman shows up to intervene, but only makes matters worse by scaring the man into frenzy. Terrified, the man jumps into a vat of acid and emerges, laughing hysterically, as the Joker.
The origin of the Joker is only a small portion of what The Killing Joke offers. For the rest of the book, the Joker is attempting to prove his theory that one bad day is enough to drive a man into insanity. Over the course of this day the Joker is trying to drive Jim Gordon (the police commissioner and Batman’s only “friend”) insane. The most heinous of his tactics was shooting Barbara Gordon, the commissioner’s daughter in the back. He even takes pictures of her crippled body in various states of undress. “Luckily” she was only paralyzed from the waist down. These monstrosities serve not only as plot points, but as a means of delving into who the Joker is. It was one bad day that drove a simple engineer into insanity, just as it was one bad day that drove a child into becoming a symbolic vigilante. That is where the true depth of the Joker lies, in his relationship with Batman. Bruce Wayne had his butler Alfred along with billions of dollars to hold onto after his “bad day,” but who did the Joker have. The only person he cared about was dead. He had no job or social life. He was left with nothing to hold on to, and as a result he allowed the madness to take over.
At times the Joker shines through as a man who wants to become sane again. He wants to be normal, but when Batman offers to help him the he can only answer with a joke. “See, there were these two guys in a lunatic asylum... and one night... one night they decide they don’t like living in an asylum any more. They decide they’re going to escape! So like they get up on to the roof, and there, just across the narrow gap, they see the rooftops of the town, stretching away in moon light... stretching away to freedom. Now the first guy he jumps right across with no problem. But his friend, his friend daren’t make the leap. Y’see he’s afraid of falling... So then the first guy has an idea. He says “Hey! I have my flash light with me. I will shine it across the gap between the buildings. You can walk across the beam and join me.” But the second guy just shakes his head. He says... he says “What do you think I am, crazy? You would turn it off when I was half way across."(Moore) In this short story, the Jokers shows that he wants nothing more than to be “human” again, but he cannot trust the only man who offers to help him, the only man who is just like him.
(Moore)- from The Killing Joke by Alan Moore
The first authentic portrayal of the Joker’s descent into insanity was in Alan Moore’s The Killing Joke, a one shot Batman comic. Apparently, after failing to become a stand-up comic (a goal that forced him to quit his job as an engineer) the man who would become the Joker was forced to turn to petty crime. While planning his first small job, he was informed that his wife had been killed in an accident caused by a small household appliance. Overcome by grief the man tries back out of the job, but he is strong-armed into going along. Of course, the plan goes wrong and the local security guards shoot the thugs accompanying him. Batman shows up to intervene, but only makes matters worse by scaring the man into frenzy. Terrified, the man jumps into a vat of acid and emerges, laughing hysterically, as the Joker.
The origin of the Joker is only a small portion of what The Killing Joke offers. For the rest of the book, the Joker is attempting to prove his theory that one bad day is enough to drive a man into insanity. Over the course of this day the Joker is trying to drive Jim Gordon (the police commissioner and Batman’s only “friend”) insane. The most heinous of his tactics was shooting Barbara Gordon, the commissioner’s daughter in the back. He even takes pictures of her crippled body in various states of undress. “Luckily” she was only paralyzed from the waist down. These monstrosities serve not only as plot points, but as a means of delving into who the Joker is. It was one bad day that drove a simple engineer into insanity, just as it was one bad day that drove a child into becoming a symbolic vigilante. That is where the true depth of the Joker lies, in his relationship with Batman. Bruce Wayne had his butler Alfred along with billions of dollars to hold onto after his “bad day,” but who did the Joker have. The only person he cared about was dead. He had no job or social life. He was left with nothing to hold on to, and as a result he allowed the madness to take over.
At times the Joker shines through as a man who wants to become sane again. He wants to be normal, but when Batman offers to help him the he can only answer with a joke. “See, there were these two guys in a lunatic asylum... and one night... one night they decide they don’t like living in an asylum any more. They decide they’re going to escape! So like they get up on to the roof, and there, just across the narrow gap, they see the rooftops of the town, stretching away in moon light... stretching away to freedom. Now the first guy he jumps right across with no problem. But his friend, his friend daren’t make the leap. Y’see he’s afraid of falling... So then the first guy has an idea. He says “Hey! I have my flash light with me. I will shine it across the gap between the buildings. You can walk across the beam and join me.” But the second guy just shakes his head. He says... he says “What do you think I am, crazy? You would turn it off when I was half way across."(Moore) In this short story, the Jokers shows that he wants nothing more than to be “human” again, but he cannot trust the only man who offers to help him, the only man who is just like him.
(Moore)- from The Killing Joke by Alan Moore
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