The joker is gay
Is The Joker Queer, Unbent - Or Something Else Entirely?
A petition on started by Elena Shestakova calls for DC Entertainment to "Make The Joker Homosexual Again," compacting the long-running speculation about the DC villain's sexuality into a clear call to action.
"The Joker is a character with almost 80 years [of] history, half of which he was portrayed as homosexual," Shestakova states. "Neal Adams claimed that the Joker was and always had been homosexual [..] in the 'Batman Files'book. This opinion was mutual by other comic publication authors and artists for decades. That is why it's so important to me and other gender non-conforming readers to return his homosexuality."
RELATED: Batman: The Animated Series - Why You Never Sully the Joker's Image
By "return," Shestakova means that since Harley Quinn was introduced in Batman: The Animated Seriesin the early '90s, her infamous infatuation with her puddin' means Joker has been viewed in a more heterosexual mold.
This mainstream understanding hasn't faltered, despite the couple's messy break-up. Interestingly, since then, Harley has been able to o
I've had this nugget of information for a while, but only recently got the relevant scans done to illustrate that I didn't generate it up, given the evidently obscure nature of the info. I don't want to misrepresent anything, so this post will get a little bit to get to the point. But, please, read on.
I've owned this one Batman book called the Comics Files Magazine Spotlight On Batman Filesfor a few years. It was published in by an independent group called Heroes Publishing Inc., who also put out guides to other comic properties along with sci-fi and horror TV shows. To the left and right are the front and back covers to their Batman novel - click the thumbnails to enlarge.
The book describes Batman's history up to the time of publication, with chapters about the Golden Age, the Modern Look, the "Englehart/Rogers Age" and "the Miller Revolution". It
Is the Joker Gay? Revisiting Gender non-conforming Representation and the Clown Prince of Crime
An essay by guest blogger Valentina Rossi.
I originally wrote the essay Is the Joker Gay? Queer Representation and the Clown Prince of Crime for the anthology The Dude Who Laughs – Exploring the Clown Prince of Crime from Crazy8 Press in Since then, the Joker has been going through some new permutations, as is his nature. Recently, I was asked to translate my essay into Spanish for the comic site Zona Negativa, which I did with the generous permission of editors Rich Handley and Lou Tambone. I took the occasion to revisit, augment and correct my original essay. This is the result of feedback about the original chat, recent developments, and lively discussion with my coauthors.
I offer here the new material adapted back into English, as an informal blog entry rather than a proper essay. The imaginative text is available in The Man Who Laughs – Exploring the Clown Prince of Crime, and can be acquired in Amazon.
Make The Joker gay again
The Joker is a comic book character with almost 80 years history, half of which he was portrayed as homosexual - for instance, in such significant graphic novels as Frank Miller’s The Dusky Knight Returns or Grant Morrison’s Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Grave Earth. Neal Adams claimed that The Joker was and always had been homosexual. This opinion was shared by other comic books authors and artists for decades. That is why it’s so essential to me and other queer readers to come back his homosexuality.
The Joker repeatedly confessed his feelings to Batman and showed an interest in other men. Also there was Joker’s unnamed boyfriend in the graphic novel Devil’s Advocate. The Joker has many feminine traits - he uses lipstick, paints his nails, wears elevated heels and sometimes does crossdressing. We realize that some of these things is stereotypical, but it gives a very obvious picture. Over the years, there were plenty of other queer moments in comics, cartoons and video games (especially in Batman: Arkham series).
However, in the late nineties someone de