Think you know everything there is to know about the Joker? This iconic character, created by Bill Finger, Bob Kane and Jerry Robinson, has always been portrayed as a menace, the instigator of chaos. He is the arch nemesis to Batman, Gotham city’s main vigilante, and is generally shown as a psychopath.
This summer I committed myself to reading more comic books, and as I read a variety of DC comics, one thing has become quite apparent. The complex character with green hair and a white face, the Joker or “Mister J," as some call him, has been grossly shown as the villain. In fact, I would go as far as to say that the poor man has been the subject of much victim blaming, some of which has instead been placed onto the insane Harley Quinn, who we will get to later.
One such story Batman: The Killing Joke released in 1988 by Alan Moore, points out, the maddening of an individual can sometimes be traced to one horrific day. Mister J was in love and married once, with a child on the way and unfortunately struggling to make ends meet. This trifecta of circumstances led to a desperation that placed our main character into a life of crime in order to make money. This caused the events of one particular day, when he was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Vigilante of Gotham City, one known as Batman, was in the middle of an altercation caused Mister J to fall into a container of chemical waste.
This mistake by Batman left Mister J mentally insane and horrifically disfigured. This terrible transformation led to him being classified as a high profile criminal, in fact, they even went as far as to give him a nickname, “The Joker," causing many to believe him to be almost subhuman. He would not only become a victim of the past or entertainment for the city of Gotham. Rather, his life almost became seemingly worse when a certain short skirted, insane female by the name of Harley Quinn entered his life.
Shown in “The Hunt For Harley Quinn” by Adam Glass, Mister J seemed content to live in confines of Arkham Asylum. Unfortunately, this peace and quiet was interrupted by psychiatrist Dr.Harleen Quinzel, “Harley Quinn.” This quiet, studious woman would often assault him with questions, trying to discover what would best “cure” him. One day, Mister J made the mistake of connecting with her with his humor. He made her laugh, causing her to become obsessed with him. Lo and behold, she began to believe that they would be together forever. They both ended up leaving Arkham Asylum, a choice he clearly would have never had made had Dr.Quinzel not been so passive and said yes to his request to escape. And before you even mention it, Mister J never believed that a little shove would be enough to push her into the vat of acid. It was all purely coincidental.
From that moment on, Dr.Harleen Quinzel, “Harley Quinn," was stuck to him. As shown in Mad Love, created in 1994 by Paul Dini and Bruce Timm, no matter what he did, she refused to leave. Now Mister J, being the gracious, emphatic soul that he was, could never just leave her alone. No, he probably felt guilty for her losing her job at Arkham Asylum, so for a while, he let her stay around. In fact, he even gave her free room and work, placing her on his team, a group devoted to inspiring the city of Gotham with their creativity.
However, after a time of being with Harley Quinn, and yes, sometimes being her pretend significant other, she began to get in his way. In fact, she even got in the way of his fulfillment of his dreams, going as far as to steal those brilliant ideas that he had crafted to capture the city’s most terrorizing vigilante, Batman, and attempting to morph them and pass them off as her own, painting herself as the hero. This caused Mister J to become so angry that he may or may not have pushed her out of a window in an attempt to be rid of her.
As you can see, at the end of the day, Mister J was never “evil” per se, rather he was blamed for everyone else’s actions. Had Batman never caused the accident disfiguring him, Mister J might have never disrupted Gotham in an attempt of revenge against Batman. Had Harley Quinn not been so enticing with her beautiful face, obsessive nature, prying questions and attempts at admiration, he might have not tried to kill her. You see, Mister J was simply a victim of many of people, with no control over his actions. His crimes and violent acts, ways that he “abused” Harley Quinn can all be chalked up to the results these individuals’ own choices, rather than his own responses.
