The Joker Begins
“I mean, what is it with you? What made you what you are? Girlfriend killed by the mob, maybe? Brother carved up by some muggers? Something like that happened to me, you know. I…I’m not exactly sure what it was. Sometimes I remember it one way, sometimes another… If I’m going to have a past, I prefer it to be multiple choice! Ha ha ha!”
—Joker talking to Batman in Alan Moore’s
The Killing Joke, published by DC Comics in 1988.
I recently read Mark Millar and Peter Gross’ trade paperback, American Jesus, Book One: The Chosen after it was highly recommended to me. When I opened the book, I was surprised to find that there was a foreword by none other than Simon Pegg. Mr. Pegg, of course, is the actor/writer/director who plays the titular character of Shaun in Shaun of the Dead. As it turns out, he’s also the inspiration behind the character “Wee Hughie” in the ongoing comic book series, The Boys, written by Garth Ennis and drawn by Darick Robertson. After reading Simon Pegg’s insightful introduction, it would seem we would have to add the title of comic book philosopher to the list. Here’s what Mr. Pegg has to say on the subject of origin stories, vis á vis, comic books:
“Everyone loves an origin story. Whatever subsequent scrapes a superhero leaps, crawls or broods into, the beginnings of their tale are always the most enduring. Even those poor lost souls who aren’t fans of the comic book know something of Superman’s spaceship, or Spider-Man’s bite, or Batman’s mom and dad….”
This statement feels true. The origin stories of iconic super heroes such as Superman, Spiderman, and Batman do seem to have been indelibly burned into our collective memory. Furthermore, knowing the origins of these characters lends insight to the reader as to how these people tick; what motivates them. In other words, it answers the question: “Who are these people?” But what do we really know about Batman’s arch-nemesis, the Joker?? The answer to that is: whatever he feels like telling us… or likes making up as he goes along.
Having been around for nearly seventy years, one would imagine enough time would have passed to develop an origin story for arguably the most infamous comic book villain around. To the contrary, Joker’s origin is still shrouded in mystery and contradiction. Is this purposeful? Could this be why the Joker is still such a compelling and truly terrifying villain? After all, it is human nature to fear the unknown. And the Joker’s origin, as he once said—if you can believe the Clown Prince of Crime—has become obfuscated even to himself.
As stated earlier, the Joker’s origin is hard to nail down, but Alan Moore (of Watchmen fame) did his best to try and establish one of the more definitive and accepted origin tales in his 1988 classic, The Killing Joke. In that story, the Joker’s real name is Jack and he’s a failed comedian who gets suckered, then subsequently forced into donning a red hood and committing a heist to help his family. Batman shows up to foil the would-be crooks, and poor Jack ends up falling in a vat of toxic waste which causes his distorted features and bleached-white skin.
This is certainly not the only attempt that was made to write Joker’s origin in the pages of DC Comics, but more recently, the silver screen took a stab at reworking the Joker’s nebulous origin in the Christopher Nolan-directed sequel to Batman Begins entitled The Dark Knight. In this sequel, the Joker is very willing to supply his listeners with the obligatory origin story—only this time there is a twist: the origin story changes in each retelling.
And who can forget how jarring it was when Heath Ledger, having already supposedly given us the origin story we crave and attributing his facial scarring to his drunken father, reinvents the story at Harvey Dent’s fundraiser later on in the film—claiming now that his “Glasgow smile” was self-inflicted?? We as the audience had lost one of the few tools at our disposal for quantifying this maniac. We had collectively been denied the certainties afforded by a nice, reassuring background check. Holy #*&$, Batman!
One can’t help but wonder if it’s the Joker’s selective amnesia, if we can call it such, that draws Batman to him as his eternal foe. Could it be responsible for the bond between the two of them that they both openly acknowledge? To go back to The Killing Joke for a second, near the end of the book, Batman tries to reason with the Joker one last time:
“…we’re locked onto a suicide course. Both of us. To the death. It doesn’t have to end like that. I don’t know what it was that bent your life out of shape, but who knows? Maybe I’ve been there too.”
Batman obviously doesn’t know Joker’s origin story, and he wants to; he even thinks that Joker telling him his origin could mean the villain’s salvation. Not to mention, there’s almost a desperate plea in Batman’s words to reveal his own origin to the Joker in return. Such a revelation is not forthcoming, but the Joker does see their fates as being intertwined, nonetheless. As Heath Ledger’s Joker says, “You truly are incorruptible, aren’t you? You won’t kill me out of some misplaced sense of self-righteousness and I won’t kill you because you’re just too much fun. I think you and I are destined to do this forever.” And so the “suicide course” inexorably continues its downward spiral.
Perhaps Batman secretly envies the Joker’s ability to rewrite his past, or to obliterate it all together using the circus-sized wooden mallet of insanity. After all, Batman is inextricably tied to his past and is doomed to spend the rest of his life trying to atone for it—a past that may or may not have been brought about by the Joker (if Tim Burton’s origin story in 1989’s Batman is to be believed!) That is, one man, overwhelmingly burdened by his past, in a life and death struggle with a man unhinged from reality. Thus his own history: two foes who also add up to be perfect foils for one another.
Or maybe the questions in life are always going to be more intriguing than the answers we get. The Joker, as an entertainer, knows just how to dangle that carrot in front of us, and even seventy years later, he’s still not ready to give us the punch-line.
Article by Mr. Nittles