| “ | But, hey, that's the downside of comedy. You're always taking shots from folks who just don't get the joke. Like my dad. Or Batman. | „ |
| ~ The Joker during one of his sessions with Harleen Quinzel. |
The Joker is one of the main antagonists of the tie-in comics of the DC Animated Universe. As Paul Dini and Bruce Timm, authors of the animated saga, have stated that, with a few exceptions, many of these paper stories are not in continuity with the various animated series and films that make up the saga. This makes the Joker one of the many alternate versions of the eponymous character.
Due to the decades-long history of the DCAU, the various comics can often be inconsistent with each other due to the time period in which they were written and the various authors who have taken turns. Consequently, the Joker's story may also be inconsistent between one series and another.
Past[]
Like his counterpart in the DCAU, the Joker was a hitman affiliated with the Valestra Clan, a powerful mafia family operating in Gotham City. Of unknown name and past, after his accident he would have told several people (police, judges and the psychologist who treated him in Arkham, Dr. Harleen Quinzel - who later fell in love with him and became his lover and accomplice in the guise of the mad criminal Harley Quinn - ) that he had not had a happy childhood, painting himself as the poor victim of a society that had never understood him nor appreciated his comic talent, even if the many conflicting anecdotes - including an alcoholic and violent father, an alcoholic mother and part of his childhood spent in an orphanage from which he later escaped - make his accounts unreliable, a hypothesis reinforced by Batman himself, who claims that his stories are multiple, and that like any comedian, he uses everything that is useful to him. At some point in his life, the future Joker was commissioned by his boss, the ruthless Sal Valestra, to assassinate Carl Beaumont, his business partner, who had invested some of his own money and was seriously behind on his debt. Although Beaumont, in the hope of gaining time, fled to Europe with his young daughter Andrea, Bruce Wayne's girlfriend, in an attempt to gain time and collect the amount to repay Valestra, the criminal managed to track down his debtor and sent the future Joker to carry out the execution. The hitman would then leave the house, after crossing paths with Andrea, insensitive to his desperation at the sight of his father's corpse.
After these events, not much is known about the activities of the future Joker, whether he continued to work for the Valestra Clan or if, like his animated counterpart, he went into business for himself, nor is it known what circumstances put him on the path of Batman. In Mad Love, however, we can see a flashback almost identical to what we will see in the animated episode: after a fight with Batman, he fell into a vat of chemical waste, from which he emerged with completely bleached skin, green hair, yellow eyes and red lips. The accident had negative effects on his mind, making him completely and irrevocably insane. The Joker was born, the most insane and dangerous criminal that Gotham would ever know.
Batman Adventures[]
Batman Adventures: The Lost Years[]
Mad Love[]
Batman: Mask Of Phantasm (Comic Adaptation)[]
The story of the comic adaptation is identical to the film, except for small differences. One of the most notable is that, when Andrea finally manages to capture him, the Joker does not laugh triumphantly seeing the World of the Future Fair explode, but seems terrified and almost seems to ask Batman for help while Andrea escapes from the park taking him with her.
Batman And Robin Adventures[]
Batman Adventures Vol.2[]
Batman and Superman Adventures: World's Finest[]
Adventures In The DC Universe[]
The Joker does not appear in this series, except in a flashback in The Creeper. It is shown that, as in the cartoon, it was the Joker who transformed Jack Ryder into the creature, throwing him into a vat of chemical sludge.
Superman/Batman Magazine[]
Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures[]
Batman: Gotham Adventures[]
Batman: The Adventures Continue[]
Batman: The Adventures Continue Season 2[]
Batman: The Adventures Continue Season 3[]
Justice League Unlimited[]
Batman Beyond: Return Of The Joker (Comic Adaptation)[]
The storyline is mostly the same as its film adaption. However, the Joker's appearance in the comic adaption resembles that of his design from TNBAS with the main difference being his eye color, which are yellow and red, like in his appearance in the BTAS, instead of being black and white. The death of the Joker also refers to that of the censored version of the film (Tim Drake kills him by electrocuting him, instead of shooting him) and also the clash with Terry McGinnis is shorter, with Terry who decides to provoke him with his initiative instead of the suggestion of Bruce Wayne and who manages to land it quite quickly and then kill him (while in the film he is the Joker who landed Terry, before the latter manages to kill him).