Is the Joker overused?

[kcomics]

I've heard some people say that the Joker is overused, but honestly, he's one of my favorite characters. I like him about as much as Batman, and I'd be okay with it if they gave Joker his own long-running Elseworlds series. The only thing I hate is when the character isn't written well and the stories featuring him aren't good. It's like the difference between Jared Leto's Joker and Heath Ledger's or Mark Hamill's Joker. If it's a good take, I usually want to read more stories with the character. Elseworlds tend to give the characters more depth and the stories are more creative because they are not in the main continuity, so I prefer them to whatever is going on in the main series, usually.

What's your opinion? Is the Joker overused or do you want to see even more of the character?

[The True Detective]

Well this is a subjective question, isn't it? To myself and many others, yes he is but to a lot of other people such as yourself he isn't. I think Joker should be a "oh **** business has picked up" level menace and it's hard to maintain that level of threat and fear if he's around too much. If a horror movie spent too much time focusing on the villain/monster they become a little less scary and it's the same thing with Joker. I love Joker but he's definitely a less is more type of character imo.

[kcomics]

Well this is a subjective question, isn't it? To myself and many others, yes he is but to a lot of other people such as yourself he isn't. I think Joker should be a "oh **** business has picked up" level menace and it's hard to maintain that level of threat and fear if he's around too much. If a horror movie spent too much time focusing on the villain/monster they become a little less scary and it's the same thing with Joker. I love Joker but he's definitely a less is more type of character imo.

Maybe, but at this point he's more a Freddy Krueger or Jason Vorehees-type character, right? We've been past "scary" for years and more at the point of "curiosity." I mean, the comics already told us he used to be some guy with a family. The Killing Joke even implies that he became the Joker because he thought he lost them, but the Three Jokers' storyline strongly implies that his family is alive. It's like a soap opera, really, and that's interesting.

[The True Detective]

Maybe, but at this point he's more a Freddy Krueger or Jason Vorehees-type threat, right? We're past "scary" and at the point of "curiosity." I mean, the comics already told us he used to be some guy with a family. The Killing Joke even implies that he became the Joker because he thought he lost them, but the Three Jokers' storyline strongly implies that his family is alive. It's like a soap opera, really, and that's interesting.

I guess I just personally prefer him as a mysterious unknown force of nature vs him being presented as having at one point been a regular person. I don't mind Elsewhere stories giving him a humanizing background but I strongly prefer a Joker who just is the way he is. It's why I like Ledger's Joker more than Joaquin Phoenix's, making him too human takes something a way from the character to me.

[kcomics]

That makes sense. It's kind of that way to me, too. If you learn too much about a character, that makes them less interesting characters in some cases, but Elseworlds aren't canon to the main series and are just interesting alternative takes on the characters. That's what I like about the DC Comics multiverse; if you don't like the version of a favorite character in the main series, you might be able to find a version you like outside of it.

[exile001]

I definitely think Joker is overused, but then I see him as a villain and want him to be used against Batman.

Some people want him to become a protagonist in his own right but it's not for me.

DC's current use for him reminds me of a Loony Toons character. I'm pretty sure he's back to knowing he's in a comic book (as he did in the mid-00s).

[Triniking1234]

"This is a subjective question"

All you have to do is check DC media to see if Joker is used at a higher frequency compared to other regular Batman villains and the answer is...

Yes.

[JBatmanFan05]

"This is a subjective question"

All you have to do is check DC media to see if Joker is used at a higher frequency compared to other regular Batman villains and the answer is...

Yes.

Objectively used more. But that may make sense for some people, because he is Batman's archenemy and the other rogues are not. So the question of "overuse" is subjective if some think the archenemy component entitles Joker to a higher proportion of use than other rogues.

(of course in reality, entitlement has little to do with it, Joker is used more by DC and Warner because he's more commercially successful)

[marvelprince]

I would be fine with him taking a break for while. I get that he’s popular but the whole line just feels like Batman and the Joker.

[kcomics]

DC's current use for him reminds me of a Loony Toons character. I'm pretty sure he's back to knowing he's in a comic book (as he did in the mid-00s).

That's pretty much the comic book Joker, though; he's like a cartoon in real life, kind of like the Mask, and he could be played by Jim Carrey (as long as he does the Mark Hamill voice or something similar). If you don't believe me, look at how he played the Riddler in Batman Forever. Recent live-action Batman movies have not featured the comic book version of the Joker but instead an Elseworlds version adapted to the universe where the story takes place. I guess this was done because it's difficult to adapt the comic book Joker to the modern dark and gritty Batman movies. I have no complaints, really, as long as he shows up in the animated movies and comics.

I definitely think Joker is overused, but then I see him as a villain and want him to be used against Batman.

Some people want him to become a protagonist in his own right but it's not for me.

Yeah, I like him used as something besides the villain. It isn't difficult to do in Elseworlds; they've given us some good stories where the Joker was not the main villain. White Knight--he was mild-mannered criminal mastermind Jack Napier for most of the comic; Last Knight on Earth--he was the new Batman's sidekick; Countdown--he was an anti-hero fighting an evil version of Batman (well, Owlman), and there are other examples that I don't quite remember the titles of. That's mostly the way I like to see the Joker, unless he has a really good scheme for the main series.

[Morgoth]

Yeah, but, he's one of the most popular villains in the world. It's not surprising Joker is overused, at this point he's not just a villain, he's a brand, a huge brand. It's something that inevitably puts him above absolutely any villain in DC. And above many characters in general, let's be honest.

[Felipe Silveira]

Yes, it's used a lot and mostly in bad stories, Joker War and Three Jokers came out almost together and both are horrible. Snyder also used it very badly, especially when he started getting the Joker working alongside Batman. And I have no hope this Rosenberg series will be any good.

Meanwhile, other Batman villains have been relegated or thrown into dark corners.

[kcomics]

Yes, it's used a lot and mostly in bad stories, Joker War and Three Jokers came out almost together and both are horrible. Snyder also used it very badly, especially when he started getting the Joker working alongside Batman. And I have no hope this Rosenberg series will be any good.

Meanwhile, other Batman villains have been relegated or thrown into dark corners.

Joker working with Batman isn't a regular occurrence, and it's usually refreshing when he does it in Elseworlds. It's also not out of character for him to work with Batman, either.

I'd be okay with them letting Joker rest in the main series and appear only in Elseworlds as someone besides the main villain. That might free up space in the main series as well as allow the writers to make more creative choices with Joker's character, since Elseworlds isn't canon to the main series.

[PurpleGlovez]

He has absolutely and unequivocally outlived any functional narrative purpose he once had (though I'd probably say that about the entire DC Universe at this point) and this is compounded by the problem that nobody's been able to write him worth a damn for over a decade. Never thought I'd be one of "those people" but they unironically just need to kill him and be done with it. His continued presence in the Bat-universe is one of the many things that has destroyed the franchise for me and led to my total disinterest in all things Batman lately.

[JBatmanFan05]

He has absolutely and unequivocally outlived any functional narrative purpose he once had (though I'd probably say that about the entire DC Universe at this point) and this is compounded by the problem that nobody's been able to write him worth a damn for over a decade. Never thought I'd be one of "those people" but they unironically just need to kill him and be done with it. His continued presence in the Bat-universe is one of the many things that has destroyed the franchise for me and led to my total disinterest in all things Batman lately.

Uncharacteristically dark take from you, though it seems to belie a much wider discontent with DC more than anything (even Joker).

The way I see it, over the past 5 or 10 years, it's been the more things the change the more things stay the same.....Joker is being used differently by various writers...just as happened from 1940 to say 2012. The Joker once got an ongoing in 1975, and got another in 2021. His purpose has been to entertain readers and audiences and sell comics as a rogue and Joker has thrived at both.

I've conceded prior that Scott Snyder (on the big stage in Batman) probably used Joker too much (too quickly) with Death of the Family followed too soon by Endgame, but besides that clear instance, it's hard for me to say Joker is overused relative to his archenemy status and constant popularity.