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Monthly comic books have been and continue to be the genres womb, and theyre a fundamentally iterative medium.
And yet, it was not always thus.
Prior to its publication, the Joker was just another Bat baddie.
He appeared regularly in Batman comics, but was no more memorable than other gimmicky bad guys.
In the 1966 movie that emerged from the series, he was merely part of a coalition of villains.
But the whole gestalt of Batman began to change on a fundamental level in 1969.
But an order from Schwartz made them roll their eyes.
So what do you do with a Joker?
Adams remembers them asking themselves.
Well, we took a harder edge.
We decided that Joker was just a little crazy.
It was established from the very beginning that theirs was a harsher Joker saga than any before it.
Thunder racks the earth and lightning scars the sky and wetness streams from the clouds like tears of mourning!
It is as though nature itself were weeping!
And well it might, for there isdeathabroad this night!
Batsy is unsuccessful with the first four but just barely manages to save the fifth.
All the while, the killings become more elaborate and gruesome.
Batman and Joker strike a deal before the thug is killed; Batman will take the thugs place.
But Joker welches on the deal and pushes them both into the tank.
Dont you see thejoke?
Batman rebuts him: Yourewrong!Itisfunny to think thatyou my arch-enemy would make me grateful for …pollution!
The character has evolved greatly since 1973, but his fundamental status in the canon hasnt changed.
Sounds about right for a guy whos into jokes.
