10 Problems With The Joker Nobody Wants To Admit

When a character's been around for long enough, and has been passed through multiple different writers, they start to get a little fuzzy round the edges. Sherlock Holmes has certain constants €“ the Ocam's razor approach to detective work, the arrogance, the vices, usually some sort of nod to a hat €- but there are also flaws with the character that have been there since Arthur Conan Doyle first put pen to paper with A Study in Scarlet, and have only been compounded with time, different writers, and popularity.

The same thing happens with any property that's suitably famous, old and written by multiple people. For instance, The Avengers aren't quite as perfect as everybody makes out. Even Batman has had his fair share of issues over the years, which tend to be swept under the rug. But spare a thought for the bad guys, too, since The Joker hasn't been quite as brilliant, cohesive and ingenious a villain since day one as people make out.

Sure, he's iconic. He's almost definitely the ideal foil for The Dark Knight. Plus he's a bad guy who stands up to different characterisations €“ to a degree, at least. He's a crazy person. Why wouldn't he act differently from day to day? That, too, might actually be an issue.

His whole shtick, his personality, his psychology, and all the pseudo-intellectual readings of the Clown Prince Of Crime that have reared their heads since the first fanboy decided there might be something up with Batman hanging around with young wards... all of those and more factor into the ten problems with The Joker nobody wants to admit.