Batman Confidential featured a series of stories situated throughout various points of Batman's crimefighting career, but only one dared examine the beginnings of the Joker.
Michael Green and Denys Cowan's comic picks up early on in the Dark Knight's career, and spotlights a figure called Jack. Jack is a bank robber, and one who's seemingly disillusioned with his line of work... until he finds Batman.
Batman comes into his life to foil his crimes and suddenly Jack finds renewal. The Dark Knight gives him purpose, and soon enough Jack embarks on his own wave of terror, and starts leaving calling cards for his new obsession. He raids a charity event with the sole intention of meeting Batman, and when he murders one of the socialites in attendance, the Caped Crusader hurls a batarang in Jack's direction, slicing his mouth and disfiguring him in the process.
Desperate for results, Bruce enlists the help of the mob to track Jack down - which they do. They plan to execute him at a chemical facility, but as Jack breaks free he stumbles into one of the vats, making it through a drainage pipe and emerging with bleach-white skin and green hair.
WhatCulture's very own resident movie guy, Ewan has been working in the content creation biz for over 10 years now, having started as a freelance contributor to WhatCulture Gaming all the way back in 2015. After graduating with a First-Class Honours in History from Northumbria University in 2017 (where he won a prize for a totally killer dissertation on the Watergate years), Ewan took on the role of Comics Editor at WhatCulture and quickly developed WhatCulture Comics into one of the biggest superhero-focused channels on YouTube. He followed this with a brief hiatus at Screen Rant in 2021, where he worked across the Gaming and Film sections as a writer and editor, before returning to WhatCulture as a Senior Content Producer / Presenter in 2023. He started his own podcast, We Love Dad Movies, in 2022, and has contributed several written pieces to the Eisner-nominated comics website Shelfdust as well.
In his current role, Ewan incorporates his love of cinema, comic books, and history into written pieces and video essays for WhatCulture's Film & TV channel, as well as WhatCulture Gaming and WhatCulture Horror, with a particular focus on nineties-era Dad Movies, old school Westerns, and Golden Age Hollywood Noir. John Carpenter is his fave, and he thinks Batman Beyond should never have been cancelled. If that's your vibe, you'll probably like his stuff.
