Who Is the Joker?
There was a lot of great
things coming out of WonderCon this weekend
but none more curious then DC’s
announcement to reveal the
identity of the
Joker… Yes I’ll allow that to sink in for a moment. The.
Identity. Of. The.
Joker.
The reveal will be coming in the Geoff Johns written
Justice
League #50 later this
year. The Joker’s identity has always been
something of comic book
lore and many fans, myself
included, feel that it’s not
important to the character. What makes the
Joker scary is the fact that he
could
be anyone. Someone who was corrupted and broken by the world around
him, and I
believe giving him a
face takes away that ambiguity and some of that fear. The
Joker works so
well because he is the opposite
symbol of the Batman, chaos and
terror. Yes, as comic book readers we know
the identity of Batman but the
citizens of Gotham don’t, and I would argue if they were to find out it
would
diminish him as a symbol.
There is potential that giving the Joker’s identity
could do just that to
comic book readers. To reveal a
name and give an actual
face to this demon takes away some of that
mystic.
It seems that Batman
already has the knowledge though. In Justice League #42, Batman
sits in
the Mobius Chair giving
him access to pretty much all the answers. Something I
don’t think Batman
would ever abuse because… he’s
freakin’ Batman that’s
why. Anyway Batman in all his trusting glory asks
the chair a simple question to
base whether or not it’s telling the truth, the question is who killed his
parents, and the chair
provides the correct answer. With the test out of the way
Bats then asks who
the Joker is, and is given an
answer only he can hear.
Needless to say Batman is a bit thrown by the
answer.
Here is my
problem with this. Something this important seems like it should be saved
for
the pages of the Batman
monthly series. Revealing it in Justice
League also helps
diminish the importance the reveal
has to the character
of Batman. I don’t know Geeklings, I’m not really
about this one. The Joker is
one
of those characters who is actually more interesting because we don’t know
who he is. I worry that giving a
face to the symbol could ruin everything that
makes the Joker such a
tremendous villain. I prefer him living
behind the
curtain not in front.
What do
you think
Geeklings? Are you
excited to finally find out who the Prince of Crime is? Do
you have any
theories? Sound off in the
comments.
Images from
DC
Kevin Carey is an
unapologetic geek who strongly
believes his mind works much like an episode of
Community. Has a strong love for pop culture that focuses on
TV, comics, movies,
and books. Kevin also enjoys writing fiction and has self published a short
story to
Amazon. While awaiting his Hogwarts acceptance letter, Kevin lives on
Long Island with his cat and extensive
Pop Vinyl collection. You can find him here on Fan Fest, at his blog I Am Geek, or the I Am Geek Podcast spreading geekiness to all.
