![]() Throughout his years as one of the most iconic and recognizable villains in pop culture, Batman's greatest nemesis has also underwent some significant changes in appearance, a visual evolution that includes a variety of different artistic interpretations of the character. He began as a homicidal foil to Batman in the 1940s, then transformed into a goofy and mischievous prankster in the 1950s and '60s, before finally reverting back to his original murderous and maniacal form in the 1970s. The Joker's character has gone through some significant changes in interpretation over the years. It's a testament to Miller's abilities as both a writer and artist that this drastically different Joker was somehow scarier than ever before. At the same time, he gave the Clown Prince of Crime a distinctly feminine appearance, even adding the notion that the Joker's ruby colored lips are the result of lipstick. Miller's visual take on the Joker was as starkly different as his dark and haunting conceptual approach to Batman Miller abandoned the lanky frame of previous Jokers, giving him a more muscular and bulky physique. The Joker, who remained in captivity within Arkham Asylum during Batman's retirement, also returns to his old ways, as his nemesis reappears as Gotham's defender. Miller set his story in the near future, when a crime-plagued dystopian Gotham landscape forces a fifty-something, alcoholic Bruce Wayne to return from retirement and continue his war on crime. Name of Look: The Dark Knight Returns Joker First Appearance: The Dark Knight Returns #3 (1986) The Look: In1986, Frank Miller boldly re-imagined the Batman and his world like never before in his opus, The Dark Knight Returns, arguably the most influential and celebrated Batman work of all time. The look was later adopted by legendary artist Marshall Rogers, who added a long overcoat and fedora to the Joker's wardrobe. The effect was striking and unsettling, with his trademark murderous grin taking on a far more terrifying look thanks to his new extended jaw. While Denny O'Neil abandoned the Joker's previous modus operandi of committing exceedingly goofy and mischievous crimes and began writing the character as a gruesome murderer, Adams transformed Joker's rather normal body structure into the gangly, long-boned figure we see in comics today. Name of Look: 1970's Joker First Appearance: Batman #251 (September 1973) The Look: In 1973, as legendary comic book writer Denny O'Neil and his longtime collaborating artist Neal Adams began ushering Batman stories into a new, darker age, away from the 1960's camp, the Joker likewise underwent some significant changes, in both personality and appearance. It would take years, however, until the Clown Prince of Crime would take on the lankier, awkward body structure that has become standard. Thus, the most iconic villain in all of comic book history was born. ![]() Although writer Bill Finger remains officially un-credited for his role in creating Batman (as well as the Joker and a variety of other iconic Batman villains), the story goes that he gave artist Bob Kane a picture of actor Conrad Veidt in the silent film The Man Who Laughs, based on Victor Hugo's novel, and Kane combined the actor's pale face and eerie grin with the basic look of a joker playing card. ![]() Name of Look: Golden/Silver Age Joker First Appearance: Batman #1 (1940) The Look: While the Joker's overall facial and body structures have changed since his first appearance in the debut issue of Batman (the Dark Knight had appeared exclusively in the pages of Detective Comics until then), his specific facial features – white skin, ruby red lips and green hair – have remained a trademark of the character, as has his signature purple suit.
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