Joker pic for Dark Knight

[Mouseferatu]

I'm a huge fan of Mark Hammil's voice work as the Joker in the cartoon.

And I'm immensely grateful he didn't get the part in the movie.

Mark's Joker is, while certainly evil and creepy, far too cartoony for the somewhat grimmer and more realistic world of Batman as portrayed in Batman Begins. It would be jarring, it wouldn't fit in, and it wouldn't work. Maybe back in Burton's Batman it would've worked, but not in this one.

A darker, more homicidal but less wacky and far less manic Joker--much like some of his earliest comic book appearances, which is what I understand Nolan is basing this off of--is far more appropriate for a continuation of what we've seen so far.

 

[Klaus]

That one's the best Batman and we all know it.

Oh, and Krug...forget Jack, I want Mark Hamill as Joker!

If by "best" you mean "one of the worst", then I agree 100%!

We all know the best Batman was the Alang Rant/Norm Breyfogle one from their Detective Comics/Batman/Shadow of the Bat run.

Miller shouldn't be allowed anywhere near the DC Universe ever since DK2.

 

[D.Shaffer]

Not to fond of the first Joker pic...but I like the 2nd one. I'm giving it a chance.

 

[The Serge]

I'm torn.

On the one hand, it's incredibly creepy looking. He looks deranged and very unpleasant. Cold. On the other hand, it's quite a departure from what most Batman fans expect for The Joker (and, no, I don't mean the smile). I think fans are looking for something a bit closer to the comic: if not a chemically induced red mouth, then make-up applied "well." And clearly green hair and eye-brows. Still, if this Joker is more of a true nihilist and sociopath, would he really bother to lip-stick his mouth well? And, what chemical turns the face white, but makes the lips red?

I think this look will work if it's well presented in the film. I'll have to reserve judgement until I see at least a trailer featuring The Joker, which will give me a better position... For now, I'll say it's not quite what I expected, that's it's very unsettling, but that I don't really like it.

 

[The Serge]

If by "best" you mean "one of the worst", then I agree 100%!

We all know the best Batman was the Alang Rant/Norm Breyfogle one from their Detective Comics/Batman/Shadow of the Bat run.

Miller shouldn't be allowed anywhere near the DC Universe ever since DK2.

I own most of the Alan Grant/Norm Breyfogle run. That was great stuff. Grant captured The Batman well (alas, I don't think he wrote more than two Joker stories) and Breyfogle's images were truly nightmarish (his Batman was very, very scary looking). Still... I really don't have a favorite Batman writer. Miller's Year One and DKR were both great, with Year One edging out the latter since it's continuity (mostly... I don't know how much was retconned with Infinite Crisis). I also really liked Jim Starlin's run (in spite of some of his clearly political commentary) although I never cared for Jim Aparo's later art. Max Alan Collins handled the character rather well, although his tenure was very short. Although I haven't read much in the past three years, I think that Paul Dini will do a great job... Morrison is touch and go with me. While I admire his willingness to take risks with established characters, I think he's far too willing to go way too far... As his JLA and X-Men runs and recent treatment of The Joker reveal. Loeb's a strange one... Although I liked A Long Halloween and Dark Victory (which effectively serve as "Batman Years One and Two" in my mind), his dialogue's choppy (filled with quotes from established gangster movies), and his handling of much of the rogue's gallery leaves much to be desired... I also despised his handling of the Superman/Batman comic (I'll never forgive him for bringing back Supergirl).

In any event, some of my favorite Batman stories feature him as an ass with a sardonic sense of humor (like the JLA stories by Keith Giffen and J.M. DeMatteis). I've always liked The Batman as the quintessential outsider who's difficult to get along with, respects but doesn't necessarily like Superman, and finds most of the other heroes more dangerous than helpful. I'm praying that the post-Infinite Crisis continuity doesn't bring back anymore of the Silver Age nonsense and glut to DC than we've already seen (from Supergirl to Krypto to Lex Luthor the mad scientist to Batwoman to an entire Batfamily and so forth).

 

[Klaus]

I too think that Batman works best with a certain sense of humour, like was showed in the Grant/Breyfogle run, or more recently in the B:tAS and JL/JLU cartoons.

Bringing back Supergirl isn't the bad part. They way she's been brought back is horrid. In Superman:tAS, Kara's origin took all of 3 minutes. Plus, we had already seen a perfect SUpergirl candidate in the first Superman/Aliens crossover (a surviving Kryptonian that Clark "adopts" as a sister).

 

[Vraille Darkfang]

Joan Crawford.

Mommie Dearest.

Dead Ringer.

Sorry,

While Faye Dunaway's Performance was very good (and sufficently psycho)...

If you look like a Drag Queen Impersonating Scenes from a Movie, based on a Book, based on the Life of Joan Crawford....

You just aren't that scary.

(I wish I could find a pic to link too; the resemblance is... Well, almost too close to call unintentional).

 

[Hand of Evil]

When I first saw it I thought it looked like a painted scarecrow mask.

 

[horacethegrey]

I own most of the Alan Grant/Norm Breyfogle run. That was great stuff. Grant captured The Batman well (alas, I don't think he wrote more than two Joker stories) and Breyfogle's images were truly nightmarish (his Batman was very, very scary looking). Still... I really don't have a favorite Batman writer. Miller's Year One and DKR were both great, with Year One edging out the latter since it's continuity (mostly... I don't know how much was retconned with Infinite Crisis). I also really liked Jim Starlin's run (in spite of some of his clearly political commentary) although I never cared for Jim Aparo's later art. Max Alan Collins handled the character rather well, although his tenure was very short. Although I haven't read much in the past three years, I think that Paul Dini will do a great job... Morrison is touch and go with me. While I admire his willingness to take risks with established characters, I think he's far too willing to go way too far... As his JLA and X-Men runs and recent treatment of The Joker reveal. Loeb's a strange one... Although I liked A Long Halloween and Dark Victory (which effectively serve as "Batman Years One and Two" in my mind), his dialogue's choppy (filled with quotes from established gangster movies), and his handling of much of the rogue's gallery leaves much to be desired... I also despised his handling of the Superman/Batman comic (I'll never forgive him for bringing back Supergirl).

My brother collected the Grant/Breyfogle run for quite awhile. Excellent stuff. In fact, I think it was Grant who introduced Tim Drake as the new Robin. I'll always thank him for that. Jim Starlin was decent as well, but I'm not sure I remember the political commentary you're mentioning. Then again, it's been years since I last read those issues, so the details are a bit fuzzy to me.

As for the recent writers, well I agree with your assessment on Morrison. I enjoyed the initial part of his run on New X-men, but when it came to the part with the whole Xorn/Magneto crap I turned away in disgust. Loeb however I'm not to sure of, the only thing I've read of his is Superman/Batman, and I hated it. His writing is far to preachy and condescending for me to relate to. That said though, I'm glad he brought Supergirl back, though the way he writes her leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

Among the elite writers, I have to agree that Frank Miller wrote the perfect Batman stories with DKR and Year One (that doesn't mean though I'll forgive him for the travesty that is All Star Batman and Robin). But there's one writer who doesn't get mentioned when it comes to the caped crusader, and that's Alan Moore. Sure he didn't write as much on the character as someone like Miller, but I've always liked his take on Batman.

Really, I have to agree with Klaus, if Batman isn't written with some sense of humor, he falls flat character wise. Alan Grant showed that aspect of him well.

 

[Nightfall]

That's a really great pic. I'm looking forward to seeing the Dark Knight even more now.

I mean Bale sold me on a sequel, this just seals the deal tighter.