How Do You Feel About The Joker?

[Cipher]

One of the best pop-culture foils/villains of all time in terms of high-concepts. The grim, iconographic superhero at all times concerned with the sanctity of life gets a colorful, inviting-looking arch-villain who doesn't value it at all. A hero all about his origin gets a villain who doesn't have one. I'm not sure it was even intentional at the time of the Joker's creation, but he and Batman complement each other so well it's kind of genius in its simplicity.

That said, I'm not always as much a fan of him as I am in execution as I am in concept. I think it has less to do with oversaturation and much, much more to do with being overwritten when he's there. Death of the Family is just absurd; he murders whole police stations and apartment complexes in minutes. The concept of saving him for stories couched in shocking one-upsmanship is something I think has really given me a distaste for his appearances. Frankly, I'd rather he show up more often if it means he can just be a constant, lower-stakes thorn in the side again; just be present for the mirroring qualities he provides.

[son of booyah]

I'd buy the Joker a drink - anonymously and from waaaaaaay down the bar

[MajorHoy]

NOTE: While looking to see if we had a "Joker Appreciation"-type thread, I found this buried in the depths.

This thread was originally started back in October 2014 with the last posted response from that same month, and it was the same month that the "Batman: Endgame" story arc was beginning.

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With 64 votes having previously been made,

* I like The Joker = 49 votes
* I dislike The Joker = 10 votes
* I'm indifferent about The Joker = 5 votes

Wonder if 6½ years later will make a difference in the results . . .

[Spencermalley935]

I like the Joker a lot but he's been kind of ruined for me with how much DC keeps front lining him. It's gotten to a point where its created this opinion that he's the only Batman villain who actually matters and that really annoys me.

I'm honestly completely okay that he didn't come back in the Sequel to the Dark Knight.

[Batman Begins 2005]

Love the Joker. Best baddie in comic book history.

[Chickfighter]

I still mostly loathe The Joker as depicted in comics but I oddly like the movie.

[Multiverse]

Joker's always been hit-and-miss with me; while he'll always be my favorite Batman Villain and 3rd best DC Villain, my major issue is the overuse of the character over the recent years. Joker should be one of those villains that used as sparingly as possible. Don't get me wrong I did enjoy Joker War, but the last time I enjoyed him was back in Grant Morrison's run (and he wasn't even a big bad in that run, just a recurring nightmare).

And no offense to Scott Snyder, but I didn't like that bit in Zero Year with him being the villainous Red Hood One; I'd rather he was just a generic villain and that Joker was one of the lesser hoods (maybe Red Hood 40, a nod to his first appearance in 1940), and the night of the Ace Chemical attack, he shoots Red Hood One (manically laughing and saying "You would not believe the day I'm having").

My favorite Joker designs:
Joker 1.jpg
Joker 2.jpg
Joker 3.jpg

[Dr. Skeleton]

Overrated, they go way too far with him, and never liked the idea of Batman having a clown supervillian. I also don't like how he would outsmart or one up the other villains whom I feel are way better just to make him Bat's primary villain.

[JBatmanFan05]

The best comic villain in history probably. He's versatile, could be done in a lot of different ways, and most of those work. Can't say I agree with a lot of the common fan criticisms you read about him.

[Spencermalley935]

The best comic villain in history probably. He's versatile, could be done in a lot of different ways, of most of those work. Can't say I agree with a lot of the common fan criticisms you read about him.

You mean in that he's overused to the detriment of the other villains? Because I find that pretty hard to disagree with.

[prepmaster]

The best comic villain in history probably. He's versatile, could be done in a lot of different ways, of most of those work. Can't say I agree with a lot of the common fan criticisms you read about him.

Modern day Joker is not the same Joker anymore. Joker has been ruined since the new 52. Joker would never tolerate this crap that is called Batfam.

[JBatmanFan05]

You mean in that he's overused to the detriment of the other villains? Because I find that pretty hard to disagree with.

No, you're right. I can't always disagree with that particular one. Now I don't think he's always been overused to the detriment of other villains. But this Snyder/King/Tynion era actually is a good fair example of him being overused to the detriment of other villains.

I think it's ok for Joker to be used a little more than others because he's Batman arch nemesis, but I do agree that some eras/runs go beyond that and use him too much at the expense of others like Two-Face, Scarecrow, Riddler, etc. And we all know why such overuse occurs: sales/money (and sometimes too much writer desire to use Joker).

[The Darknight Detective]

Not only my favorite Bat arch enemy, but also my favorite supervillain for 53+ years.

[John Venus]

He was entertaining. Especially when played by Mark Hamill and written by Paul Dini. But now he's just bland and over used. A Joker story should never be predictable, yet here we are.

[Spencermalley935]

No, you're right. I can't always disagree with that particular one. Now I don't think he's always been overused to the detriment of other villains. But this Snyder/King/Tynion era actually is a good fair example of him being overused to the detriment of other villains.

I think it's ok for Joker to be used a little more than others because he's Batman arch nemesis, but I do agree that some eras/runs go beyond that and use him too much at the expense of others like Two-Face, Scarecrow, Riddler, etc. And we all know why such overuse occurs: sales/money (and sometimes 2) too much writer desire to use Joker).

That's completely fair and I agree. I still like the Joker a lot, it's the culture surrounding him that greatly annoys me.