The Joker

An awful lot of us were raised on comic books, and for that matter graphic novels are nothing more than comic books all grown up. And then there's the movies, which have drawn on comic books for inspiration since the very invention of comic books. A new book, covered in the NY Times, talks about artist Jerry Robinson and the invention of the Joker, one of the all-time great comic book villains. 'If a hero is only as good as his opponent, then the creation of the Joker cannot be underestimated. “Villains, I always thought, were more interesting,” Mr. Robinson said. He learned from his studies that some characters were built on their contradictions, so he decided that his evildoer would have a sense of humor. “I think the name came first: the Joker,” he said. “Then I thought of the playing card.”' More...