Being a Joker fan, I get a lot of questions about the guy. The most common, and usually the first, is which Joker is my favorite. Being a nerd, this is a hard question to answer, because it requires parameters and quantification of something/someone that I love. And really, how do you rate love? As cliche as it sounds, it’s like asking which child you love more. You love them all, but they are all different. So, here is my answer:

First, a little background on the man himself. Created by Bill Finger, Bob Kane and Jerry Robinson; he is as old as the bat. In fact, his first appearance was Batman #1. This comic came out on April 25th, 1940 and was published by DC (which was called Detective Comics at the time.). He started out as a character which was pretty light hearted and mostly mischievous. A lot of his crimes were non-violent and many were even barely crimes. He had his own series, which only lasted nine issues, in the seventies. He has since had a few feature runs, but nothing that was purely his own series. But, he is always noted as Batman’s greatest nemesis.

I fell in love with him, like many, when I saw him in the Batman movie. Jack Nicholson did such a great job of embodying him and I was already interested in comics. However, being a nine year old girl in the eighties; I was told that reading comics wasn’t for me. I would sneak a peak at the Batman comics when I could and loved seeing The Joker. When I had finally gotten old enough to buy comics or borrow them from friends, I did. And I loved seeing his colorful smile. Sure, he was a villain. But, he seemed like a guy who just wanted to have fun. And if people died, that’s their problem. Once I started collecting comics, I knew that I had to have a Joker collection. But, this turned into an “everything with Joker on it” collection. It was almost like anytime I saw him I just picked him up without even thinking about it. Now, I have a ton of comics, trades, pops, figures…even a Mr. Potato Head Joker! And I love them all!

But, back to the question at hand: Who is the perfect Joker? That really depends on who you ask. A lot of comic fans who have seen the animated series will say Mark Hamil. After all, who else can get that perfect laugh and sinisterly smooth voice? Some will say that Heath Ledger was the perfect Joker, because he was so dark. Others will say Jack did it best, because he was playful but deadly. I personally think that my favorite is the original comic Joker. Whether he is just being goofy or actually causing deaths, he is the best to me. Not only because of nostalgia, but because he was just a guy looking to have fun. And whatever that was or whatever the consequence, it’s fun!

But, my favorite isn’t the perfect Joker. I’m not an expert and I think even they don’t have the authority to make that call. I honestly don’t think we’ve seen him, yet. I think that he is somewhere between the Jack Nicholson Joker and the Heath Ledger Joker. I would love for him to have the Mark Hamil voice. But, mostly I love him being a guy who just wants to have fun. That’s all he wants, people just happen to die sometimes. And if it means annoying Bats…bonus!