COMICS • COLLECTOR GUIDES
The Joker is Batman’s most famous recurring adversary: an unpredictable criminal whose identity and origins are deliberately unstable across many versions. Film interpretations range from comic-book arch-villain to standalone character studies, so entries on this page may belong to separate continuities.
Start with the essential comics, follow the character through the movie library, then continue into related stories and live shop inventory.
The Joker's definitive past is deliberately uncertain, with different stories offering conflicting accounts of who he was before becoming Batman's most notorious enemy. A recurring version involves a criminal falling into a vat of chemicals and emerging with bleached skin, green hair and a grotesque grin. Whatever his true origin, he reinvents himself around chaos, theatrical crime and an obsessive opposition to Batman.
Important comic-book milestones for the character and why each issue or story matters.
Major key · 1940Batman #1Major key — first appearance of the Joker.Read collector guide →
Major key · 1973Batman #251Major key — landmark story restoring Joker as a lethal arch-villain.Read collector guide →
Major key · 1988Batman: The Killing JokeMajor key — influential Joker origin-focused graphic novel.Read collector guide →
Major key · 1988Batman #427Major key — pivotal Joker chapter in A Death in the Family.Read collector guide →Additional source-material touchpoints from the movie guides below. Essential character keys already shown above are not repeated here.
Isolated Arthur Fleck descends into violence and becomes a symbol of Gotham’s unrest. The film uses the comics chiefly as a foundation for its screen version of the…
Arthur faces trial and a volatile relationship with fellow patient Lee Quinzel. The film uses the comics chiefly as a foundation for its screen version of the character…
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