The Joker | |
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![]() Cover of The Joker #1 (May–June 1975), art by Dick Giordano. | |
Publication information | |
Publisher | DC Comics |
Schedule | Vol. 1: #1–9: Bi-monthly; #10: Monthly |
Format | Ongoing series |
Genre | |
Publication date | Vol. 1: May 1975 - October 1976 (unreleased issue in October 2019) Vol. 2: March 2021 - July 2022 |
No. of issues | Vol. 1: 10 Vol. 2: 16 and 1 Annual |
Main character(s) | The Joker |
Creative team | |
Created by | Bob Kane Bill Finger |
Written by | Vol. 1: Elliot S. Maggin, Dennis O'Neil, Martin Pasko Vol. 2: James Tynion IV |
Penciller(s) | Vol. 1: Ernie Chan, José Luis García-López, Irv Novick Vol. 2: Guillem March |
Inker(s) | Vol. 1: Tex Blaisdell, Vince Colletta, Dick Giordano, Frank McLaughlin |
Colorist(s) | Vol. 2: Arif Prianto |
The Joker is a comic book series published by DC Comics starring the supervillain the Joker. It ran for nine issues from May–June 1975 to September–October 1976, with a tenth previously unpublished issue released in October 2019.
In 2021, it was relaunched as part of DC's Infinite Frontier relaunch following Dark Nights: Death Metal's conclusion.
Dennis O'Neil, who wrote the first issue of the series, recounted that "I stopped by Julie [Schwartz, Batman editor]'s office, and he said, 'We're going to do a Joker book'. I know that alarms went off, I could sense the problems that such a thing would entail ...but it was a job".[1] The series was launched in May 1975 by O'Neil and artist Irv Novick.[2] In order to have him work as a protagonist, writers on the series toned down the Joker's insanity and to adhere to the Comics Code Authority, each issue would end with the Joker being apprehended, only to have escaped at the beginning of the next issue (the exceptions were issue #4, where the Joker seemingly falls to his death in a whirlpool in the ocean, only to return in the next issue as if nothing had happened and with no explanation as to how he survived; issue #5, which ends with the Joker being chased by police; issue #8, where the Joker returns to Arkham Asylum voluntarily; and issue #10, which ended on a cliffhanger that was never continued). Batman did not appear in the series.[1]
Following The Joker War and Dark Nights: Death Metal, James Tynion IV teamed up with Gulliem March to produce a new series, also titled The Joker, that debuted on March 2, 2021. The Joker series lasted a total of 15 issues, ending on July 5, 2022.[3] On October of the same year a new series titled The Joker: The Man Who Stopped Laughing debuted, this time written by Matthew Rosenberg with art by Carmine Di Giandomenico.[4]
The letters page of The Joker #9 (Sept.–Oct. 1976) mentions that Martin Pasko was writing a Joker vs. the Justice League of America story titled "99 and 99/100% Dead!" to appear in The Joker #10 as the first part of a two- or three-issue story arc, which was never published despite being listed as "on sale right now" on the Daily Planet promotional page for August 16, 1976.[15] In the end notes of The Greatest Joker Stories Ever Told (1989), it is noted that The Joker editor Julius Schwartz had no recollection of this story ever being completed; however, Pasko found xeroxed pages of the story which he sold on eBay in 2011.[16][17] A cover for issue #10 was drawn by Ernie Chan, but was not finished at the time.[18][19] The Joker #10 was published for the first time on August 14, 2019, in DC's The Joker: The Bronze Age Omnibus (which also contains The Joker #1-9 as well as other DC Comics Joker stories from the 1970s)[20][21] and as a stand-alone issue on October 3.[22]
Title | Issues Collected | Release Date | Pages | ISBN |
---|---|---|---|---|
The Greatest Joker Stories Ever Told | includes The Joker #3 with various other issues | HC: December 1988
SC: October 1997 |
288 pages | ISBN 978-0930289362 |
Stacked Deck: The Greatest Joker Stories Ever Told - Expanded Edition | includes The Joker #3 | HC (leather-bound): November 1990 | 352 pages | ISBN 978-0681410152 |
The Joker: The Clown Prince of Crime | The Joker #1–9, | SC: November 2013 | 176 pages | ISBN 978-1401242589 |
The Joker: The Bronze Age Omnibus | The Joker #1–10, | HC: August 2019, | 832 pages | ISBN 978-1401293406 |
Title | Issues Collected | Release Date | ISBN |
---|---|---|---|
The Joker Vol. 1 | The Joker (vol. 2) #1-5, Batman (vol. 3) #100, Batman: The Joker War Zone | HC: November 2021
SC: October 2022 |
ISBN 978-1779512017 |
The Joker Vol. 2 | The Joker (vol. 2) #6-9 and The Joker 2021 Annual #1 | HC: August 2022
SC: July 2023 |
ISBN 978-0681410152 |
The Joker Vol. 3 | The Joker (vol. 2) #10-15. | HC: February 2023 | ISBN 978-1401242589 |