DC's Definitive Joker origin

[The Joker]

From wizarduniverse.com.

Denys Cowan will be penciling it for a future Batman:Confidential storyline.

Speaking of shocking stories, Denys, in Batman Confidential, you’re penciling a story fans have been waiting for forever—the definitive origin of the Joker! How do you feel about that?

COWAN: I feel incredibly fortunate to be doing it. It’s one of those things where BET Animation is a full-time job. So I’m doing it literally in the hour that I have before I hang out with [my family] or the hour before I have to go to work or whatever, and so it’s been a long process. DC Comics has been incredibly patient with me. That being said, I think that it’s a privilege to be working on the character. Batman is one of my favorite characters and the Joker is the Joker we know. I’m working with a writer named Michael Green. Michael Green is executive producer and one of the writers of NBC’s “Heroes.” He and I got together and came up with the story, and I’m drawing it. It’s as simple as that, and I get a chance to contribute to Batman history. It’s so cool!

HUDLIN: Once again, people forget that a big part of “Batman Begins” is based on characters and foundations that Denys laid down years ago. I mean, those middle years between the death of Bruce Wayne’s parents and the time when he became Batman, those storylines came out of Denys.

COWAN: Yeah, it was a series that Sam Hamm and I did. It was Detective Comics’ 50th anniversary. So what we did was come up with the character of [Henri] Ducard, who’s played by Liam Neeson. All of that stuff with [Batman] training in the monastery and him working with ninjas and all of that stuff was Sam and I. So they got that right from those books. So, thank you very much “Batman Begins.” I was privileged to be in the right place at the right time.

Source: http://www.wizarduniverse.com/magazine/wizard/003716496.cfm


From newsarama.com

NRAMA: Are you drawing anything nowadays?

DC: I'm working on a project with [DC editor] Mike Carlin. I've made him suffer for months now. It is so late. But basically it's for Batman Confidential. It's a four issue story arc which is the origin of the Joker. I kiddingly call it Joker: Year One. It is really the origin of Joker and it is written by a writer named Michael Green who is a television writer out here in Los Angeles.

NRAMA: Is it taking anything from The Killing Joke?

DC: It really isn't. It's really about who was the Joker before he became the guy with the green hair and the white skin. What kind of person was he? What turned him into that? How did he and Batman really meet? The whole series is insane and really one of the best things I've ever read and certainly one of the best things I've ever had the pleasure of working on.

NRAMA: Who's inking that?

DC: We don't know. I'm old school; I'd like Tom Palmer or Klaus Janson to ink it. Tom inked me on Steel for about a year and I loved it. I don't know if I appreciated it as much as I should have. So I promised myself if I ever got the opportunity to work with Tom Palmer I would thank him from page one until the end of the series.

 

[Mee]

Eh, might be good I guess. Though I like Joker's background to be more of a mystery, like in Killing Joke.

 

[batman44]

Interesting, I'll keep eye on it....it better not suck.

 

[CConn]

Eh. Names like Michael Green and Denys Cowan hardly excite me. I'll wait for the trade, probably. And it has good buzz, pick it up.

 

[Mee]

Eh. Names like Michael Green and Denys Cowan hardly excite me. I'll wait for the trade, probably. And it has good buzz, pick it up.

As far as art goes, it won't be hard to top the guy who's on Confidential now.

 

[ChrisBaleBatman]

True.

 

[Motown Marvel]

denys cowan is a great penciller. but i'd strongly prefer for this story not to happen. even if its really good...it just doesnt seem right. killing joke was amazing, and thats enough. i dont think we need to know much more about the joker, since its fairly irrelevent.

 

[Arkard]

Not cool...

 

[Nepenthes]

i don't give a **** about the penciler...no story should set out to give the definitive origin of the Joker especially when it's written by some nobody. at least Moore was wise enough to make it 'multiple choice' in TKJ. screw this comic it doesn't even exist

 

[ChrisBaleBatman]

Meh.....DC will probably erase it by next year.....they do that alot.

 

[Fledermaus]

I'm split on this. It will be cool to see more of the Joker before he was the Joker, but I've always like the "multiple choice past". The sad thing is there are a million ways to f**k this story up, and only one way to get it right. I hope they get it right.

 

[CConn]

The Confidential series is really starting to seem like a dud.

 

[Mee]

A little off topic, but how is Cooke and Sale's Superman one? Anyone reading that?

 

[Ultimate_Superman]

Superman:Confidential is okay alittle slow but still a good read if you have the time.

 

[TheDemon'sHead]

I don't know. I feel as though the Confidential line was created because the All-Star line was not what they thought it would turn out to be. What DC really needs is a complete overhaul and no more of this retconning/restructuring of existing storylines. Start fresh or make a new line that does it. Of course they'll probably write it off or retcon it a year later.

 

[Ultimate_Superman]

I don't know. I feel as though the Confidential line was created because the All-Star line was not what they thought it would turn out to be. What DC really needs is a complete overhaul and no more of this retconning/restructuring of existing storylines. Start fresh or make a new line that does it. Of course they'll probably write it off or retcon it a year later.

Which is why I say DC should bring back Superboy and then have a final crisis and after that Superman retires to be with Lois and Christopher and Batman start to train Terry (Batman Beyond) or Tim to take over for him and Cassie becomes Wonder Woman. That way you can have fresh new story lines and new villains as well as new heroes and a new JLA ,etc. Then start an Ultimate line where Superman is still Clark Kent, Bruce is Batman and Diana is Wonder Woman and start fresh with that.

 

[CConn]

Which is why I say DC should bring back Superboy and then have a final crisis and after that Superman retires to be with Lois and Christopher and Batman start to train Terry (Batman Beyond) or Tim to take over for him and Cassie becomes Wonder Woman. That way you can have fresh new story lines and new villains as well as new heroes and a new JLA ,etc. Then start an Ultimate line where Superman is still Clark Kent, Bruce is Batman and Diana is Wonder Woman and start fresh with that.

That is the second worst idea I've ever heard next to making a new holiday called Let's All Be Gay Day.

 

[Ultimate_Superman]

That is the second worst idea I've ever heard next to making a new holiday called Let's All Be Gay Day.

LOL

I still think it could work if you retire Superman, Batman, and Woman woman much like their Earth-2 Counter parts and let Conner and Tim and Cassie take over. Then start an Ultimate type of line where we start all over with Superman and Batman and Wonder Woman much like what Confidential is doing.

 

[Ibn]

I would love this idea if it had SOMETHING to do with The Killing Joke. Plus does this mean that The Man Who Laughs is worth nothing now? Still, I can't wait for this. I think I might be in the minority but I think that Joker's origin needs to be out there. For me, one of the reasons Ra's is one of my favorite villains is because I feel I know him so well and can understand him. I understand that, with the blurry past and all, Joker is kinda unique in that way. But at the same time, it makes him seem like "the bad guy" to Batman's "the good guy". He's just an archetype w/out an origin. I really can't see (if this is good) anything bad coming from a definitive Joker origin. Hell, I'd really like to know his real name. I just hope they make it cool. I'm also anticipating this b/c of the young talent their getting to write it. Having somebody like Morrisson or Loeb or somebody would have kinda felt like nothing new. I think it's time someone new proved that they know what they're doing with these characters. What better place to start.

 

[The Joker]

I would love this idea if it had SOMETHING to do with The Killing Joke.

Yep, that really put me off, too. Not taking any elements from the Killing Joke cannot be a good thing at all, IMO. It's become a foundation of sorts for Joker's mysterious background.

Re-writing his history, or possible history, is not a good idea, IMO.

 

[Mister J]

I really have mixed feelings about this. On one hand, Joker backstory is a great idea, if handled properly. On the other hand, this has definite possibilities to be incredibly bad. By ignoring TKJ, it seems as if it's an effort to blaze some new trail or be 'too original' or groundbreaking. That worries me. Besides, I like the idea of Joker's origin not being specifically defined. I'll likely be waiting for the buzz on this one.

 

[Paste Pot Pete]

Whatever his "story" is...it has to end with him meeting Batman as the Red Hood, right? Isn't that part definitely canon?

 

[Spike_x1]

Nothing is definitely canon under DC's current staff.

And they used to have such tight continuity, too.

 

[Mister J]

Your avatar frightens me.

 

[Kraven]

I'll probably wait for the trade, see if it gets some good reviews. I haven't heard of the artist or writer, so I'm not quite sure what to expect.