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Joker Help
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Started by JohnFranklin,

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JohnFranklin

JohnFranklin

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I've been a "Marvel" collector and reader pretty exclusively, probably 95% and 5% indies and some DC.  I am looking forward to the "Joker" movie coming out next month and I would like to do some reading prior to seeing the movie.  Any suggested readings would be greatly appreciated, I no very little about the Joker, I did read the Brian Azzarello "Joker" book 10+ years ago.  Thanks........

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Ken Aldred

Ken Aldred

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Batman 251

Death in the Family (Batman 426 to 429)

The Man Who Laughs one-shot

Edited by Ken Aldred
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Ken Aldred

Ken Aldred

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23 minutes ago, HouseofComics.Com said:

Get the reprint of Batman #1 and also the trade The Greatest Joker Stories Ever Told

Good suggestion. A primer for Joker stories from the Golden Age through to the 80s, unless it’s been updated since I last read it.

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bronze_rules

bronze_rules

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https://www.amazon.com/Joker-Bronze-Age-Omnibus/dp/1401293409/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=joker+bronze+age+omnibus&qid=1568182818&s=gateway&sr=8-1

If you are ok with collected editions, you are in luck. This, "The Joker: The Bronze Age Omnibus," just came out about a week or two ago.

Back cover gallery with some titles included...

 

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Martin Sinescu

Martin Sinescu

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Greatest Joker Stories Ever Told is really the best suggestion, but look for the "Stacked Deck" version which has some additions over the original release. Many of his "key" stories through the early 80's are in that volume (including the stories from Batman 251 and Detective 475/476, which are two of the best). I think having all the Golden and Silver Age stories precede those two Bronze Age gems really help you appreciate what a meaningful change the character underwent in the 70's and see how they laid the groundwork for the Joker over the next 40+ years.

Killing Joke is essential and a quick single-story read, but I'd do the Greatest Stories first as Killing Joke was released in the late 80's and will be more impactful if you have the background of the earlier stories already. Death in the Family (not "of the Family", which is more recent and a bit.....much) features one of the key moments in the character's history, but isn't a particularly good story, whereas Killing Joke is a great read and fleshes out the character's background, which had been largely left to the imagination before (yes, for nearly 50 years the Joker's origin was largely untouched, but I think Greatest Stories also features his earliest origin story in Detective 168 and Killing Joke draws from that a good deal). One note on Killing Joke is that it has become fashionable in recent years to knock this story and may or may not be considered canon. Don't bog yourself down with that, seriously. Just read the Stacked Deck volume, then read KJ and I think you'll get a great survey of 50 years of Joker.

If you read those and like them, you should dip your toe into Death in the Family, as it is one of the most significant moments in the Joker/Batman dynamic. IMO you're going to need that to go forward into anything 90's or later. I don't think there are any easily-digestible "entry level" Joker stories of more recent times because you're going to run into a few problems: the stories get bogged down with more complex plot lines involving the character that assume you have his background/relationship with Batman (the age of the arc storyline taking up multiple issues really took off at Death in the Family and beyond, so there aren't many single issue stories). Having said that, "Under the Hood" (aka "Under the Red Hood") is one of the best Batman stories of the last 30 years, but you absolutely have to have Death in the Family covered to understand it.

Some other qualms of mine are that more modern stories tend to drag the Joker in when he's really not needed because writers.... again, my opinion.... have gotten lazy and feel the only way to escalate an already "extreme" story is by randomly injecting Joker. Also, with the character in general, writers have tried to make him more "extreme" over the years which I think ties in with the rise of society's fascination with serial killers and so I find the evolution of the character to be a bit distasteful, to put it mildly. 

 

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