Strip Joker

I. Myth Conceptions

Let's get one thing straight from the onset. In the magazine racks beside the concession stand inside the Moviehouse, we don't call the superhero comics our "modern mythology." They're comic books.

Real mythology was what ancient people created to decipher the mysteries of everyday life. The Ancient Greeks, for instance, attempted to explain where the sun goes at night and why it reappears in the morning by personifying it as Helios, a fiery-crowned god who drives a blazing chariot across the sky daily.

His nighttime counterpart, the goddess Selene, commanded her moon chariot behind a team of oxen.

And just where does winter come from? Start with the abduction of Persephone, daughter of the harvest goddess Demeter, by the king of the Underworld, Hades. Persephone was rescued from her captivity with the provision that she had to return to the Underworld during the winter months, when her mother frantically searched the earth for her, ignoring her responsibilities to the fields and grains.

Speaking of the Underworld, Greek myths teemed with platitudes extolling the virtues of maintaining a moral existence in horrific depictions of the punishment of the wicked in the deepest pit of Tartarus.

Sisyphus, a Corinthian king infamous for his greed and deceit, was punished by perpetually rolling a massive boulder up a hill, only to see it roll back down and having to repeat the action for eternity.

Tantalus, who butchered his own son, then boiled and served him in a banquet for the gods, was forced to stand in a pool of water beneath a fruit tree. When he reached for the fruit, the branches rose beyond his grasp, and when he stooped for a drink, the water receded from his lips...And that's how we got the word "tantalyze."

Ixion, a king in Thessaly, murdered his father-in-law by pushing him onto a bed of burning coals and wood, then tried to seduce Hera, the wife of the king of the gods, Zeus. For his troubles, Ixion was strapped to a flaming winged wheel that spun forever in the sky and in Tartarus.

II. Wild Cards

Mythology has nothing to do with an interplanetary orphan crash-landing in a hayseed couple's backyard, nor with a kid who witnesses the murder of his parents and develops a pathological fear of bats, nor with a high school science nerd bitten by a radioctive spider, nor with a centuries-old Amazon warrioress who pilots an invisible plane and falls for a stranded Army aviator on a secluded island.

Nevertheless, there's no denying the increasing popularity of motion pictures and television series based on superhero comic books, especially in the wake of the recent, alternately revered and reviled "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice," the second film - after 2013's "Man of Steel" - released under the banner of DC Extended Universe (which is not to be confused with the earlier DC Universe and DC Entertainment or DC Universe Animated Original Movies). Rival Marvel Comics has Marvel Cinematic Universe, which was ushered in by 2008's "Iron Man," starring Robert Downey Jr.

Superman (Henry Cavill), Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot), and Batman
(Ben Affleck) make a last stand in "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice."

The imminent onslaught of films from both comic book universes for the remainder of the year and into the next features appearances by superheroes Captain America, Iron Man, Spider-Man, Doctor Strange, X-Men, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and Justice League, which includes Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman (who will star in her own stand-alone picture in 2017), The Flash, and Aquaman.

In August, less than five months after the U.S. premiere of "Batman v Superman," DC Extended Universe will release "Suicide Squad," in which a twisted team of imprisoned death-row supervillains is recruited by a secret government agency to perform dangerous covert operations in exchange for clemency. Ben Affleck reprises his role as Batman. Among the rogues gallery are Deadshot (played by Will Smith), Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie), Boomerang (Jai Courtney), El Diablo (Jay Hernandez), Killer Croc (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje), and Enchantress (Cara Delevingne).

Margot Robbie portrays Harley Quinn in "Suicide Squad."

...And, oh, yeah, Academy Award winner Jared Leto plays Joker (pictured below), adding what the actor called a "nearly Shakespearean" perspective to a string of storied portrayals of a character long considered to be the perfect adversary for Batman and regarded as the greatest comic book villain.

Joker made his auspicious debut, along with Catwoman (referred to simply as "the Cat"), in the comic book "Batman #1," issued in the spring of 1940. Batman, who first appeared in Detective Comics #27 in 1939, was, of course, created by comic book artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger. Kane, Finger, and comic book illustrator Jerry Robinson are credited with creating Joker, however, accounts of the character's genesis predictably varied, depending on who was talking.

What's not disputed is that Finger came across a picture of actor Conrad Veidt as the character Gwynplaine, an unfortunate soul whose disfigured face was cursed with a perpetual grin, in the 1928 silent movie "The Man Who Laughs," based on a novel by Victor Hugo (The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Les Miserables) and directed by German Expressionist filmmaker Paul Leni. The image of Veidt inspired Joker's grotesque visage.

According to Bob Kane, "Jerry Robinson had absolutely nothing to do with it, but he'll always say he created it till he dies. He brought in a playing card, which we used for a couple issues for (Joker) to use..."

Penguin (Burgess Meredith), Riddler (Frank Gorshin), Catwoman (Lee
Meriwether - a pale replacement for the inimitably purr-r-r-fect Julie
Newmar), and Joker (Cesar Romero) menace Gotham City in the 1966
theatrical release "Batman: The Movie." In the comics, Penguin made his
debut in Detective Comics in December 1941, while Riddler, a relative
latecomer in Batman villainy, debuted in October 1948.

From 1966 to 1968, Cesar Romero played Joker on the hit series "Batman." "When I started in motion pictures in 1934," Romero once told an interviewer, "they said I was going to be the next (Rudolph) Valentino. I was never a leading man, and very seldom got the girl."

OK, for those who don't know, "Latin Lover" Rudolph Valentino was
an enormously popular sex symbol of silent cinema in the 1920s
whose untimely death at the height of his fame at age 31 sparked
unprecedented mass hysteria among throngs of his female fans.

At 6' 3" the strikingly handsome Romero was difficult to cast and frequently found himself in supporting roles in a number of musicals and romantic comedies, frequently as a Latin lover, from the 1930s into the 1950s.

Cesar Romero and Carmen Miranda play the second leads
in "Week-End in Havana" (1941).

He did get to star as the dashing Mexican caballero, the Cisco Kid, in six quickie westerns between 1939 and 1941. "My background is Cuban," said Romero, whose maternal grandfather was Cuban revolutionary and national hero Jose Marti, "but I'm from New York City. I'm a Latin from Manhattan."

In 1942, Cesar Romero enlisted in the U.S. Coast Guard and served in the Pacific during World War II. Seeing action in the invasions of Tinian and Saipan, he was eventually promoted to chief boatswain's mate.

The TV series "Batman," which aired for three seasons, from 1966 to 1968, was originally conceived as a Saturday morning juvenile adventure program, like "The Lone Ranger." (When producers first wanted to do a TV series based on a comic book or comic strip, they also considered "Dick Tracy" and "Little Orphan Annie.") Mike Henry, an NFL linebacker-turned-actor who starred in three low-budget "Tarzan" pictures in the mid-1960s but is best known as the oafish Junior in "Smokey and the Bandit," posed for publicity photos in a Batman costume.

The project found its way to producer William Dozier and his company, Greenway Productions. In the early 1950s, Dozier was the executive producer for a live Saturday morning serial called "Rod Brown of the Rocket Rangers," starring Cliff Robertson and Jack Weston. Dozier, initially unfamiliar with comic books, read several Batman comics before concluding that the only way to make the series work would be to do it as a campy, pop art comedy.

In the comic books, Joker was introduced as a psychopath with a sadistic sense of humor. During the 1950s, the character morphed into a goofy prankster, in response to curtailing regulations by the Comics Code Authority. Mirroring contemporary comics, the 1960s "Batman" series depicted Joker as an ingenious prankster more intent on besting Batman in a war of wits than waging a violent vendetta against him.

Jose Ferrer and Gig Young were considered for the role of Joker before it went to Cesar Romero. Romero refused to shave off his trademark mustache, so the crew simply smeared his white-face makeup over it. Romero also wore his own wrist watch, a gift from the president of Mexico.

The actor's inimitable laugh as Joker came about by chance. As he waited to meet with the show's producers to discuss his role, Romero glanced at the pre-production artwork for Joker's costume. He found the pictures so absurd that he burst into almost maniacal laughter. One of the producers told him, "That's it! That's your Joker's laugh." Decades later, Romero said he had performed Joker's laugh so many times that it permanently altered his natural laugh.

Cesar Romero tied with Burgess Meredith (as Penguin) for the most frequent appearances as a villain - 22 times - on "Batman."

In 1968, comic actor Larry Storch, best known as the grimacing Corporal Agarn in the mid-1960s sitcom "F Troop" (pictured below) provided the voice of Joker on the animated series "The Adventures of Batman," which also featured the voices of Casey Kasem as Robin the Boy Wonder and Ted Knight as Commissioner Gordon.

Mark Hamill, Luke Skywalker of "Star Wars" fame, voiced Joker on "Batman the Animated Series" from 1992 to 1994 and on "The New Batman Adventures" from 1997 to 1999 (pictured below). He also performed the voice of Joker in direct-to-video spin-off films and video game adaptations. Thanks to a popular Facebook petition, fans campaigned for Hamill to reprise his characterization of Joker in the upcoming "Batman: The Killing Joke," the first movie in the DC Universe to be rated R.

For director Tim Burton's goth-noir reboot of "Batman" for the big screen in 1989 (his third motion picture following "Pee-wee's Big Adventure" and "Beetlejuice"), a number of diverse talents were considered for the part of Joker, among them Tim Curry, David Bowie, John Lithgow, and James Woods. Robin Williams avidly sought the role. Tim Burton wanted Brad Dourif (best known as the menacing voice of the homicidal doll in the "Chucky" slasher franchise), but the studio refused.

"Batman" co-producer Jon Peters had approached Jack Nicholson for the role of Joker in 1986, during the filming of "The Witches of Eastwick," while the actor had been had been executive producer Michael Uslan and Batman creator Bob Kane's choice since 1980.

"Have you ever danced with the devil in the pale moonlight?"

Marc Eliot, author of an unauthorized 2013 biography of Nicholson, told CNN that Jack was a fan of Batman comics in his youth. "Playing the Joker was not a gag for him," Eliot said. Appearing in "Batman" "was a chance to connect to his childhood." Nicholson himself said he did the movie based on "a single conversation" with Tim Burton, whom he called a "genius." "We both come from the cartoon world originally," Nicholson remarked. "We had similar ideas. Tim said (Joker) should have a humorous dark side to him."

Jack Nicholson's contract contained a singular "off-the-clock" agreement, designating the number of hours he was entitled to have off each day, from the time he left the set to when he reported back for filming, as well as time off to attend Los Angeles Lakers home basketball games. Nicholson received $6 million salary plus a hefty percentage of the box office gross, estimated between $60 million and $90 million. (According to writer Marc Eliot, Nicholson paid $20,000 to own his character's purple electric suit.)

"Batman" eventually grossed over $411 million. The picture remained the highest grossing film based on a DC comic book until "Dark Knight" in 2008. TV's Joker, Cesar Romero, could not be counted among the fans of Tim Burton's brooding vision. "What we did was the comic strip version, with jokes and laughs," Romero commented. "The new 'Batman' is a dark and dreary crisis drama. It's anything but 'Batman.'"

When Heath Ledger, an Australian-born actor whose brief, decade-long screen career already featured memorable performances in "Ten Things I Hate About You," "The Patriot," "A Knight's Tale," and "Brokeback Mountain," was cast as Joker in 2008's "The Dark Knight" (pictured above), Jack Nicholson half-jokingly confessed to being furious, declaring, "They never asked me about a sequel with the Joker. I know how to do that. Nobody ever asked me." Maybe because it was cool when Jack played Joker in 1989 at the age of 52, but now it's nearly two decades later, and the actor is 71. "Maybe it's not a mistake," he said. "Maybe it was the right thing, but to be candid, I'm furious."

Much was made of the maniacal intensity Heath Ledger brought to his portrayal of the nihilistic Joker. Almost seven months before the release of "The Dark Knight," Ledger was found unconscious in his bed. Less than an hour later, he was pronounced dead. He was 28. In a New York Times interview published November 4, 2007, Ledger said, "Last week I probably slept an average of two hours a night...I couldn't stop thinking. My body was exhausted, and my mind was still going." His former fiancee, Michelle Williams, said, "He had too much energy. His mind was turning, turning, turning - always turning."

Heath Ledger died as the result of acute intoxication caused by the combined effects of oxycodone, hydrocodone, diazepam, temazepam, alprazolam, and doxylamine. Medical examiners summarized the cause of death as the accidental abuse of prescription medications. Not one to be left out of the headlines, Jack Nicholson anted in with a comment about warning Ledger of the risks in taking on such a dark role as Joker.

Some high-falutin' types deem the anarchistic Joker a Marxist to Batman's capitalist. Regardless, Joker has been, is, and seemingly will always be regarded as Batman's perfect foe, the ideal antithesis in personality and appearance - one deliriously maniacal and clad in bright colors, the other seriously resolute and costumed in dour hues.