Possibly one of the most critically divided characters in comics, some people love him and some people just want him to die. Me personally I don't really have a love or hate view of him as personally there isn't much about the character that could get me emotionally invested enough for me to either love or hate. Before I get things going I just wanted to get something off my chest....
This is by no means a rant blog. Just my personal thoughts concerning the character. If you like The Joker then thats cool but just remember that this is my opinion of him. And that opinion is, I don't find him all that.
To be fair there was a moment when I took interest in him, that was during the Tim Burton version of The Joker. Primarily because when compared to the other versions of The Joker that version at least had a motivation. Revenge. Revenge against his former mob boss that tried to double cross him and revenge against Batman in dropping him into a vat of chemicals. Which makes him somewhat of a tragic character as Batman tried to save him but couldn't. You also had his further backstory in murdering Bruce's parents.
Personally, I liked that bakstory, it was a nice little spin on the character and it made the situation between Batman and Joker even more personal.
The primary reason why I don't care for the character because of one simple answer. He does what he does for the lulz. Thats it. Granted there are some good characters that do what they do for the lulz but usually they ended up being one note characters. For a character thats as long running as The Joker you have to change the guy up or otherwise the character ends up becoming stale. You have to give the guy something to keep on going instead of staying with the same old routine.
Take Loki for example. After so many years Marvel finally gave him something to do other than antagonizing Thor and from what I've heard it's getting a positive response. His character arc as Kid Loki even made me care for the 616 version.
No matter how DC spins the story it's still the same old Joker terrorizes Gotham, Batman tries to stop him, Joker dares Batman to kill him, Batman gives some speech why he cant, he beats him up, Joker gets locked up, Joker escapes, rinse and repeat. You know what would make an engaging story?
Have Joker actually reform. I'm serious.
Now before you guys go on about say this would hurt the character and ruin what made him popular in the first place I say hey it's not the first time DC or even Marvel has done it with their villains so why shouldn't Joker get one?
Heres how I see it. Have him struggle with his reform. Also don't have people be so quick to forgive him. I can see him having trouble with people holding a grudge against his actions during his psycho clown days. Maybe resulting in him taking a few beatings from said people giving him a hard time, with the police refusing to help him. Maybe some scenes of him trying to hold down a job, with some awkward glances from customers and fellow co-workers. You can even build up to him trying to be a hero himself. Maybe more of a Jack Sparrow esque anti-hero but still a hero
The only downside is given the crap the character has done the only way this could work is if it were an elseworlds story.
Another possibility would be to give him some semblance of a backstory. Alan Moore provided a few hints in his Graphic Novel The Killing Joke. I think what would make a interesting story is what if Joker happened to be the son of the guy that killed Batman's parents? Think about it.
I also would like to see the environment change due to Joker's actions. For instance the law enforcement is forced to become more competent and the judicial system is making things a little more difficult for the Bat Rogues and the criminal underworld to bend the law in their favor due to Gotham cracking down on crime so it would be nice to see how he operates with so many disadvantages. Especially with the possibility that he now has the rogues and the criminals after him.
Ditch Harley: I'm not talking about scrapping the character but I am talking about scrapping the twisted romance they have. For one if you're seriously considering reforming Harley then don't have her keep going back to a guy thats treating her like crap. And another thing if you had to keep them together then this goes back to my Joker reforming thing. Have the two go through a bit of a reconciliation. Otherwise I really don't see the point in pairing the two.
Know his limits: With all the villains in DC I don't buy that he's the tip top villain in that universe since there are other villains that can easily kick his ass and kill him. There is a reason why he doesn't mess around in Superman's hometown or even Flash's hometown because they don't put up with him like Batman can. There is nothing wrong with making him competent but dont Gary Stu him.
Thats just my two cents on the subject.
This is by no means a rant blog. Just my personal thoughts concerning the character. If you like The Joker then thats cool but just remember that this is my opinion of him. And that opinion is, I don't find him all that.
To be fair there was a moment when I took interest in him, that was during the Tim Burton version of The Joker. Primarily because when compared to the other versions of The Joker that version at least had a motivation. Revenge. Revenge against his former mob boss that tried to double cross him and revenge against Batman in dropping him into a vat of chemicals. Which makes him somewhat of a tragic character as Batman tried to save him but couldn't. You also had his further backstory in murdering Bruce's parents.
Personally, I liked that bakstory, it was a nice little spin on the character and it made the situation between Batman and Joker even more personal.
The primary reason why I don't care for the character because of one simple answer. He does what he does for the lulz. Thats it. Granted there are some good characters that do what they do for the lulz but usually they ended up being one note characters. For a character thats as long running as The Joker you have to change the guy up or otherwise the character ends up becoming stale. You have to give the guy something to keep on going instead of staying with the same old routine.
Take Loki for example. After so many years Marvel finally gave him something to do other than antagonizing Thor and from what I've heard it's getting a positive response. His character arc as Kid Loki even made me care for the 616 version.
No matter how DC spins the story it's still the same old Joker terrorizes Gotham, Batman tries to stop him, Joker dares Batman to kill him, Batman gives some speech why he cant, he beats him up, Joker gets locked up, Joker escapes, rinse and repeat. You know what would make an engaging story?
Have Joker actually reform. I'm serious.
Now before you guys go on about say this would hurt the character and ruin what made him popular in the first place I say hey it's not the first time DC or even Marvel has done it with their villains so why shouldn't Joker get one?
Heres how I see it. Have him struggle with his reform. Also don't have people be so quick to forgive him. I can see him having trouble with people holding a grudge against his actions during his psycho clown days. Maybe resulting in him taking a few beatings from said people giving him a hard time, with the police refusing to help him. Maybe some scenes of him trying to hold down a job, with some awkward glances from customers and fellow co-workers. You can even build up to him trying to be a hero himself. Maybe more of a Jack Sparrow esque anti-hero but still a hero
The only downside is given the crap the character has done the only way this could work is if it were an elseworlds story.
Another possibility would be to give him some semblance of a backstory. Alan Moore provided a few hints in his Graphic Novel The Killing Joke. I think what would make a interesting story is what if Joker happened to be the son of the guy that killed Batman's parents? Think about it.
I also would like to see the environment change due to Joker's actions. For instance the law enforcement is forced to become more competent and the judicial system is making things a little more difficult for the Bat Rogues and the criminal underworld to bend the law in their favor due to Gotham cracking down on crime so it would be nice to see how he operates with so many disadvantages. Especially with the possibility that he now has the rogues and the criminals after him.
Ditch Harley: I'm not talking about scrapping the character but I am talking about scrapping the twisted romance they have. For one if you're seriously considering reforming Harley then don't have her keep going back to a guy thats treating her like crap. And another thing if you had to keep them together then this goes back to my Joker reforming thing. Have the two go through a bit of a reconciliation. Otherwise I really don't see the point in pairing the two.
Know his limits: With all the villains in DC I don't buy that he's the tip top villain in that universe since there are other villains that can easily kick his ass and kill him. There is a reason why he doesn't mess around in Superman's hometown or even Flash's hometown because they don't put up with him like Batman can. There is nothing wrong with making him competent but dont Gary Stu him.
Thats just my two cents on the subject.
Thinking about it, seeing Flash troll Joker would be utterly hilarious. Fastest Man Alive, yo.
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