There are few villains in all of modern pop culture with the reach of the Joker. Created way back in 1940, the Joker has become a multimedia star. There’s something about the anarchic clown that is so compelling to audiences. The Joker is even only comic character who has earned its actors acting Academy Awards (Heath Ledger and Joaquin Phoenix both won for their portrayals), and is a huge part of the pop cultural landscape. DC Comics has one of the hottest villains of all time at their disposal, and they’ve used him in a variety of ways. There have been amazing and lackluster Jokers, but it feels like lately, the most overrated Joker is the one in the comics.
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The Joker is one of Batman’s most formidable villains, and is considered to be his greatest nemesis. This has meant that just about every comic creator who has worked on Batman wants a crack at the Joker, and that desire has driven the character further and further into more mediocre territory. While there have been some great examples of Joker comics over the years, it’s been a while since the Joker had earned his place as Batman’s greatest villain, which, in turn, makes him overused and overrated.
The Joker has Been Trapped in Diminishing Returns for Years
It’s honestly hard to think back to the last great iteration of the Joker in the comics, especially mainline books like Batman and Detective Comics. The Joker has recently appeared in Batman in a rather hyped story called “Joker: Year One” that reinforced the bonds between Batman and the Joker vis-a-vis their origins, but wasn’t spectacular for a simple reason — the Joker just doesn’t feel dangerous anymore. The last time the Joker felt dangerous and vital was ages ago. “Joker War” saw him destroy Bruce Wayne’s fortune using the IRS, but other than that, when was the last time that Joker actually felt like the Joker?
The Joker is a villain with a large body count, and is known for being extremely dangerous. However, we’ve reached a moment in Batman history where the Joker can’t really be dangerous anymore, because to go too far would make Batman look bad. The character is so overhyped that anything but nuking Gotham City isn’t going to matter. It’s very hard to raise the bar for the Joker, so creators often go in another direction with Joker, one that involves reinterpreting the villain for whatever they need in their story. Very few of these have stuck, with the latest reveal that one of Batman’s trainers actually created the Joker in a way already being pushed back into the mists of continuity until someone needs it down the road.
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This approach also has its problem. Some people are tired of every creator on Batman deciding they want to redefine the Joker for a new era. This approach has proven to be successful in the past. The Joker is a character who has had to change with the tides of the comics and pop culture. However, it’s gotten to the point where no one really knows what to do with him or who he even is as a villain. Look at something like Batman: The Killing Joke; that book has been retconned and de-retconed enough times to make your head spin.
It’s near impossible for people to get away from the Joker. Every major Batman run has some kind of Joker appearance and they haven’t been memorable in ages. The Joker has become such an important part of the Batman mythos that he’s always appearing somewhere; if he’s not in the mainline Batman books, he’s in one of the numerous out of continuity or alternate universe Batman comics. Readers never get the chance to actually want the Joker back, because they can find some version of Joker, one that is just a copy of another, better version, every where. “Hush 2” is hyped to the moon, and there is no doubt the Joker is going to show up in some capacity. That’s just the way of things: DC won’t miss a chance to further exploit a fan-favorite character, even if it makes no sense.
The Joker Needs To Go Away a While So Fans can Remember Why They Love Him
The Joker is in one of the most unique positions of any villain in pop culture. He’s a character who has become a major part of the most popular superhero of all time; the Joker might actually be the most popular supervillain of all time, and has starred in some amazing projects. However, that’s the problem. The Joker has been taken to places that have allowed him to earn the esteem of the fans, and the fans want more and more. However, in giving the fans what they wanted, DC has watered down the character. There’s always a new Joker story somewhere in some medium and if you can always find something, you never really miss it. Or appreciate it.
The only way to break the Joker out of his overrated rut is to put him away for a while. Make the Joker special again. Batman is constantly fighting the Joker on multiple Earths across DC’s line of comics, not to mention movies, TV, and video games: why are any of them special? Putting the Joker on the shelf for a time and making his comeback into a massive epic that shows off what the Joker does best would be the perfect way to go.
What do you think? Is the Joker overrated and over-used? Let us know your thoughts in our comment section!
