Terrific Joker Covers – part 1

A couple of weeks ago, I mentioned how clever splash pages can draw skeptical readers into a comic through the use of exciting captions and inventive design. Actually, I just like those old comics and wanted to hype them… The truth is that, as effective as splashes can be, they only really work once you’ve opened the book. So at the end of the day, they just can’t compare to the power of a kick-ass cover, which is often what gets you to pick up the damn comic and flip through it in the first place. And having looked at so many covers throughout the years, I’ve come to the conclusion that few jump at me and haunt my nightmares as much as those featuring the Joker.

By itself, the disparity between the Joker’s playfulness and Batman’s no-nonsense attitude generates a lot of visual potential. The same can be said of the contrast between the former’s colorful look and the latter’s dark costume. But it’s more than that. The Joker is the Dark Knight’s arch-nemesis, his number one villain. Their antagonism has become so engrained in the public’s imagination that simply promising to pit those two against each other is enough in terms of suggesting an exciting story:

Seriously, even the covers where the Clown Prince of Crime gets his butt handed to him by the Caped Crusader are less reassuring than shit-your-pants terrifying:

The thing is, the most frightening covers are the ones that DON’T feature Batman (or where he is just hiding in the background). After all, we already know the Dark Knight can take care of the Joker… but seeing anyone else go up against that clownish bastard can still create a dramatic sense of danger:

That said, the Harlequin of Hate does occasionally meet his match…. And almost invariably, those covers are a hoot:

The Joker, of course, has become the most universally recognizable member of Batman’s rogues’ gallery and a staple of pop culture, no doubt helped by the unforgettable performances of Jack Nicholson and Heath Ledger (although true fans know the best rendition of the character was actually played by Mark Hamill). This may explain why, even in ensemble covers, the Clown Prince of Crime often ends up taking center stage over the other rogues:

The one comic villain I can think of with comparable mainstream projection is Lex Luthor. Both mad geniuses – one slightly madder, one slightly geniuser – these two have teamed up several times and produced their share of fun covers:

More importantly, the Joker’s lunacy allows storytellers to let their creativity go wild (we’re talking about a character who once committed a spree of crimes based on boners) and wild premises can bring out the best in cover artists. For one thing, the villain’s obsessive branding allows artists to amusingly jokerize all kinds of unexpected objects, from public and private transportation to a goddamn jack-in-the-box samurai warrior:

For my money, jokerized animals are particularly freaky:

In fact, the Joker’s covers can sometimes get downright surrealist…

… especially when artists strive to mirror the Clown Prince of Crime’s distorted psyche:

Talk about delirium of disorder!

So now that I’ve instilled you with irreversible coulrophobia, all that’s left is for me to thank the Grand Comics Database for the cover scans and… Just kidding, I’m only halfway through. We still have to get to the really disturbing stuff.

NEXT: The Joker tries to be funny.