Afternoon Gothamites! Today (August 1) according to the 1976 DC Calendar, the civilian persona (real name unknown within comics) of The Joker was born! The Joker, considered Batman’s greatest enemy, was created by Bob Kane, Bill Finger and Jerry Robinson in Batman (Vol 1) 1 which hit news stands on April 25, 1940. The villain’s origin story was originally printed in February 1951’s Detective Comics (Vol 1) 168: portrayed as a gangster in Gotham’s criminal underworld, and dressed up as the Red Hood (cover art by Brian Bolland from Countdown (Vol 1) 31), the man falls into a vat of chemicals in a playing card factory and emerges with green hair, pale white skin and ruby lips highlighting a terrifying grin. To match his new look, the man decides to name him after the place that created him: Joker. The Clown Prince of Crime’s evolution over the last 77 years is illustrated in all his beautiful chaos in hundreds of stories in comics, film and television. Seen as a mirror to our celebrated hero, Batman and Joker’s relationship provides a strong representation in the war of “good vs evil”, making the Harlequin of Hate one of the most popular villains in both the DC Universe and fiction. Happy Birthday to The Joker! Thanks for following and we’ll have more History of the Batman soon! ✌🏼💜💚🃏🎉
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