At Home With the Joker
When you’re the artist who originated Batman’s biggest foe, you know what evil lurks in the arts of pen
TOP: PE TER YANG. BOT TOM, FROM LEF T: UNIVERSAL PIC TURES/PHOTOFES T; COURTESY JERRY ROBINSON; 20 TH
CENTURY FOX/EVERETT COLLECTION; NICHOLSON AND LEDGER: WARNER BROS./EVERETT COLLECTION
FROM THE START, the Joker
was made to be different. It was
“Batman was fighting smalltime
crooks—he needed a villain that was
really going to test him,” says Robinson,
who at 87 still pursues his craft in
New York City. “I knew from literature
that great characters have contradic-
of the late actor’s award-winning per-
formance. “You know, there’s a certain
intangible thing about a character
that makes him iconic and durable,
and if you knew the magic formula,
you could create one every week.”
Robinson has made his share
of icons. Finger suggested giving Bat-
man a sidekick, so
Robinson put this
character in a vest
and named him for
the English folk
hero Robin Hood.
Later, Finger often teased his friend
by calling Robinson “the Boy Wonder.”
Today the Joker’s father still has
the stamina of a wunderkind, going
strong as an artist, writer, curator of
exhibitions, and head of a syndicate
of more than 350 cartoonists. He has
two books coming from Dark Horse
Comics: a revision of his definitive
work, The Comics: An Illustrated His-
tory of Comic Strip Art, and a compila-
tion of his 1950s science-fiction strip,
Jet Scott. “To live, I have to create,”
says Robinson. “I have to be involved.”
He’s not finished with the denizens
of Gotham, either: “When people read
about heroes who conquer adversi-
ty—crime and evil and, from time to
time, the Joker—it gives them some
hope for the future.” So he’s writing
a graphic novel for DC Comics about
an older Clown Prince of Crime who
“has changed, as any person would,”
says Robinson, laughing, “and not nec-
essarily for the better.” —Shell Fischer
CLOWNING
ACHIEVEMENT
Robinson toasts
his 70-year-old
creation.
tions in their nature. So a villain with
a sense of humor was different. That
was the original idea.” The jester on
a playing card was the first model.
Robinson’s sketches reminded Finger
of The Man Who Laughs, a film in
which Conrad Veidt played a clown
with a permanently carved grin. Thus
Batman’s longtime nemesis was born.
Fast-forward to 2007. Robinson
was a consultant on the latest Batman
movie, The Dark Knight, but Heath
Ledger’s portrayal of the Joker, which
took the role to psychopathic depths,
caught Robinson by surprise—and
left him very impressed. “He kept the
concept and yet it was unique,” he says
1928
The Man Who
Laughs sets
the stage.
1940
Jerry Robinson’s
comic-book Joker
debuts.
1966
Cesar Romero
catches the TV
show’s camp spirit.
1989
Jack Nicholson
steals the first
Batman blockbuster.
2008
Heath Ledger
gives the role a
shivery new twist.
