Methods of a Madman

There have many comic book characters who's backstories have changed to fit certain angles, but among these characters there is one who's origins are as much a mystery as his own sanity. The Joker is known to be one of the most infamous antagonists in modern fiction, spanning popularity even outside the comic book circles. His most notable feature is not his appearance or his personality, but it is his ever-changing upbringing that makes him truly definable.

"Sometimes I remember it one way, sometimes another...if I'm going to have a past, I prefer it to be multiple choice!"

-Joker, The Killing Joke

The Joker's earliest origin (Detective Comics #168, 1951) shows he was once a laboratory worker who attempts to steal money from his employer. He is stopped by an early-in-his-career Batman, who accidentally knocks the lab worker into a vat of acid. That lab worker emerges as The Joker and becomes a criminal. Alan Moore's 1988 graphic novel "The Killing Joke" expands on this first origin. This story tells of a man who quits his job at a chemical plant to become a stand-up comedian, this Comedian also has a pregnant wife he struggles to support. Sadly, the Comedian fails to entertain a crowd, desperate to make the money necessary to support his family the Comedian offers his services to The Mob. The Mob gives him the job of robbing the mentioned chemical plant and even after the Comedian's wife and child die in a car crash the Mob still make him go through with this robbery. They give the Comedian a red hooded disguise and send him into the plant. This story still ends with the Comedian running from Batman, falling in chemicals and emerging as The Joker, but the added backstory makes him a more sympathetic villain, who's life became hell after one bad day. In the 2006 series "Batman Confidential" a bored criminal named Jack witnessed Batman stopping a bank robbery. Jack became so obsessed with Batman he began committing random crimes to draw the Batman out, he would then escape The Caped Crusader and observe him from a distance. Batman's frustration grew uncontrollable when Jack had killed a woman who Batman-as Bruce Wayne-had fallen in love with. In response, Batman had cut Jack's jaw with a batarang. After Jack recovers from his wounds, Batman allows the mob to kill Jack. A group of mobsters beat Jack near to death at a chemical plant and dump him into a vat of acid just as Batman comes to stop them. Batman is too late and believes Jack to be dead, unknown to him Jack rises from the chemicals as The Joker. Whatever origin The Joker may be given, a main component seems to stay: Batman's responsibility for The Joker's existence.

There are two rules to Batman stories everybody knows: Batman doesn't kill and The Joker's origin is a mystery. Most readers account "The Killing Joke" to be the quintessential source, but it is important to remember the kind of crazy The Joker is. That the novelty of having an origin is just another joke to him, often playing with reader's perception by crafting multiple histories. The Joker's past is much a play on the reader as it is to The Joker himself. By not focusing on The Joker's consistently inconsistent origin, readers can focus on the mentality of The Joker a lot easier. The Joker doesn't need a main origin, because The Joker is so much better than an identity. Thanks for reading!