The 1988 graphic novel The Killing Joke is one of the most influential works written in the last thirty years, and it’s brutality is about to be introduced to a whole new generation…
Warner Bros. Animation and DC Comics are bringing back some of the most beloved voice actors in history to tell a story long thought to graphic for animation. Kevin Conroy, Tara Strong, and Mark Hamill brought life to Batman: The Animated Series back in the 1990s, and now they are returning to those roles again.
Welcome to the final installment of Grizzlybomb’s Greatest Joker Moment’s Ever! Brian Kronner and I (Scott Fraser) took a look through our memory warehouse and compiled a list of those moments that we felt made Joker who he is today. Obviously with the New 52/DCYou reboots the Joker of today may or may not have been affected by these moments, but we will look past that to continue to celebrate the awesomeness of the Clown Prince of Crime.
Whether he’s duking it out with Batman, intimidating fellow criminals, making time with Harley Quinn, or terrorizing the Bat family he is always in the forefront of the Bat titles, and is well-regarded as the ultimate Bat-villain. No other member of Batman’s rogue gallery has caused the level of pain and suffering to the city of Gotham quite like the Joker has, and the remaining moments on our list further prove this. So enough of the chit-chat, let’s get to it.
Continue reading The Man Who Laughs: The 20 Greatest Joker Moments, Part IV
The list continues to roll on with #10 down through #6…
Continue reading The Man Who Laughs: The 20 Greatest Joker Moments, Part III
Arguably the most popular character in all of comic book lore is the Batman. For every great hero there needs to be a great villain, and for Bats, that is the Joker.
Originally created as a darker alternative to Superman, Batman’s popularity has actually come to surpass the Man of Steel over the last seven decades, and one of the biggest reasons why is the quality of villains he faces. None of those villains (or any villains anywhere) are more well-known than the Joker. He is the perfect foil for Batman. Chaos over order, insanity over logic, fear created through unpredictability rather than intimidation. Even the Joker’s vibrant purple suit clashes with Batman’s dark attire and seems to mock the Caped Crusader with its flamboyance. The sickest part of it all though, is that without Batman, the Joker would cease to be. He is a character so ingrained in the rivalry, that Batman’s absence often increases Joker’s boredom, and he simply stops playing the game. It does give the Dark Knight’s quest a real sense of hopelessness when you consider he might do just as much good by simply hanging it up as it would likely mean his greatest foe would do the same.
Continue reading The Man Who Laughs: The 20 Greatest Joker Moments, Part I
Veteran actor Mark Hamill will be lending his trademark vocals to Batman’s arch-nemesis for the animated adaptation of The Killing Joke, one of the most revered Batman stories of all time.
Continue reading Mark Hamill To Return As The Joker In Batman: The Killing Joke Animated Film
As you may know, Kevin Smith is a huge Batman fan and weekly presents a podcast called Fatman on Batman as part of his SModcast empire. Each week Kevin Smith invites a creator who is involved (sometime tenuously) with Batman. This week Smith was again joined by famed writer and spiritualist, Grant Morrison for issue #44. Morrison was invited to discuss his favorite Batman stories, and as part of the podcast discussed Alan Moore and Brian Bolland’s seminal Batman story The Killing Joke.
Continue reading Kevin Smith and Grant Morrison Discuss The Killing Joke: Does the Joker Die?
The following is a list consisting of what I feel to be the 10 Best Graphic Novels or Trades, featuring the Batman of today. This is a collection of books that can be bought stand alone. For this reason I’ve avoided stories like Knightfall, where you would need to buy 3 volumes to get through the read. Or No Man’s Land, which I love, but it has 5 volumes, and even if you were to purchase all 5 of them, that still covers only 40 of the 80 original issues.
The books on this list though are must-reads for anyone who is a fan of the Bat…
And in a complete and utter shock to absolutely NO-ONE, The Joker tops my list. Sorry for the lack of surprise here gang, but there is a reason he’s the obvious choice. He is, plain and simple, Batman’s nemesis.
Grizzly Bomb 