by Joshua H. Stulman

The Joker movie debuted this week. There’s alot of articles out there that focus on famous Joker stories, like the Killing Joke and Death In the Family. Instead of discussing these famous and often reprinted stories, we’ve scoured our vintage comics to highlight 5 great Joker stories from the 80’s and 90’s that you may not have heard before. The Joker has been around for a healthy 79 years, so there’s plenty of stories to discover!

Here’s BrooklynComicShop Top 5 Joker Stories You’ve Never Heard Of: 

5. Going Sane

Going Sane (Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight # 65-68) by J.M. DeMatteis and Joe Staton revisit the moments leading up to the Joker’s first fateful meeting with the Batman. The story is told in flashback sequences exploring Joseph Kerr’s failure as a comedian and his attempt to create a family. Going Sane is the proto-origin of the Joker and a quasi prequel to Batman: the Killing Joke. It is part of the major inspiration for the Joker Movie.

4. The Amazing Spiderman/Batman

Joker is nowhere to be seen on the cover, but if you think a Joker and Carnage team-up is cool, that’s exactly what you get in this rare Marvel and D.C. Crossover. Written by J.M. DeMatteis and art by Mark Bagley, the story centers around Dr. Kafka’s belief that she can cure the Joker and Carnage’s insanity with a small cerebral implant. It doesn’t work and what follows is a fantastic team up between both Marvel and DC’s greatest heroes and villains!

3. Detective comics #569-570

Alan Davis’s short run on Detective Comics is well known for its classic revamp of the Batman and Robin team sans all the 1960’s campiness. In Detective Comics # 569-570 by writer Mike W. Barr and artist Alan Davis, the Joker hatches a plot to use Catwoman to humiliate and defeat Batman. The story has a great retro-vibe and excellent artwork.

2. Superman # 9

One of my top 10 favorite Joker covers. The Joker comes to Metropolis for the first time in this Post-Crisis Superman story by comic legend, John Byrne. Complete with robots, Joker gas, and the prerequisite kidnapping of Lois, Jimmy, and Perry white. This story is a great take on all the fun classic motifs of comics!

1. Detective Comics # 617

It’s been months since the murder of Jason Todd, the second Robin, at the hands of the Joker. Batman is desperate to know if the Joker is even alive. So he turns to the magic  of a fortune card reader. This great one story comic examines the tangled history of the Batman/ Joker relationship. It also features amazing artwork by Norm Breyfogle and writer Alan Grant, who redesigned Batman for the 1990’s.

To Check Out Some of this Great Joker Stories In Stock: CLICK HERE

Joshua H. Stulman

Owner, Brooklyn Comic Shop