10 Problems With The Joker Nobody Wants To Admit
10. What's With The Origin Story?
Famously, The Joker is pitched as the opposite number to Batman. Where the Caped Crusader fights for order against injustice, the Joker is a criminal who spreads chaos; the Dark Knight lurks in the shadows, whilst his arch nemesis dresses in gaudily bright outfits for his theatrical escapades. Where Bruce Wayne has one of the most famous, well-defined and very rarely diverged-from origin stories in comic books (or, heck, in any form of media), the Clown Prince Of Crime's true beginnings have forever remained a mystery.
Sometimes that's a help, sometimes it's a hindrance, but it's definitely an issue at the core of the character that's rarely addressed. Alan Moore came closest to bringing a defining origin story to The Joker in his famous graphic novel with Brian Bolland, The Killing Joke, where it's implied he was a regular dude that happened to be cracked by one bad day.
That's not been touched upon since, with his true background as vague as the mysterious Joker played by Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight film. It sort of makes out like he's some kind of elemental, mystical being, which is a little out of step with the gritty, ground-level sort of character that Batman is. Not every character needs an origin, but here it hinders the whole story.