What's wrong with the New 52: Exhibit A

[Earth 2 Chris]

Now, I've been trying to curtail my disdain for nearly all things New 52 out of deference to folks who enjoy it, but this example sticks in my crawl more than any other.

Take the most famous, recognizable villain in comics (please Dr. Doom lovers, get over it. He doesn't even come close), and mangle up his iconic visuals, put him in a mechanic's outfit, and make him a Leatherface wannabe.

The Joker is still riding a wave of popularity he's never before seen thanks to The Dark Knight film. Ledger's Joker is still seen on tons of T-shirts and other products, 5 years later. You think if DC needed to change up the comic version a bit to "refresh"things, they'd follow THAT example, which, despite the lack of perma-white disfigurement, still had all the iconic attributes of the character. Purple suit, green shirt, red lips, green hair, etc.

Not only is the visual off-putting and confusing to new readers (who they are trying to grab, I hear) it makes absolutely no sense for the character, whose incredible vanity has often been used against him, and a major plot point in many of his stories across multiple media, to ask to have his famous face CUT OFF. Yes, the man is crazy, but he's not THAT crazy.

And now we see DC is pushing this look out into merchandise. I'm sure, in a few years, SOMEONE with some sense will undo this (and probably many other *** moments in the New 52 and the years leading up to it), but for now, we're stuck with this. And I hear the big storyline was a total dud as well. Sigh.

Chris

[mvanis]

Definitely agree. Looks like a crackhead who found some finger paints.

[palitoy]

Yeah, for the most part I don't think many of the 52 costumes are terrible (OK I think Animal Man looks weird) but this just reduces the Joker to a villain from a 90s Image comic.

The Joker was a pretty original idea that other people copied, this kind of reduces him. Like you said Chris, if the redesign was more Nolan inspired I'd get that but this kind of reeks of over design.

[Figuremod73]

Someone let me know when The New 52 is over.....

[ctc]

>put him in a mechanic's outfit

I was thinkin' more like a cable guy or plumber.

>this just reduces the Joker to a villain from a 90s Image comic

Not enough pouches, he's not grimmacing, and his thighs aren't as big around as his waist.

I'm not really excited about this one. The face thing doesn't bother me; he's SUPPOSED to be crazy, and it's what you get when you take a step or two from the last movie one's scars and pseudo-Lecteresque presentation. What I don't like about this design is the same as what I didn't like about the last movie one: he's SUPPOSED to be "the clown prince of crime," not just a wacko. There's no "clown" in this. Nothing truly weird, nothing I haven't seen in a zillion movie slashers. The Joker isn't just scary, he's IRRITATING. You WANT to puch him in the throat, but you're afraid to. If you're a bad guy or superhero you just want him to go away, but somehow you can never quite make it happen....

If you REALLY need a "realistic" Joker, I'd still go with this guy:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmin5WkOuPw

That could be the Joker's theme song. Here he is with his gang and another oddly appropriate tune:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_PAHbqq-o4

Don C.

[kingdom warrior]

I liked him more when he was leather-face in the Texas chainsaw massacre..... when you have no rhyme or reason for doing something....the results sometimes are lackluster.

The Joker is a no Brainer, there is absolutely no reason to update him... absolutely none. Greg Capullo said," I will give you terror when I draw him".....LOL! Really?....putting a a distorted cut face is Terror? Last I checked it was called disgusting...Wanna understand what terror is? read about Ted Bundy, that was the true face of terror....

I wish these little fan boys who are editors and illustrators....Find better ideas to plagiarise, than steal the same boring used and reused ideas.....

[Random Axe]

This thread could go onto twenty pages or more. I think what's wrong with the new 52 is up to exhibit P by now...

[pmwasson]

If you REALLY need a "realistic" Joker, I'd still go with this guy:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmin5WkOuPw

Sorry, but I can't take that video seriously after seeing the Weird Al version! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gNbx6iF-vQI

[boss]

And don't forget this clown. ;-)

[hedrap]

It reeks of laziness.

Not the design. It's actually pretty unique.

But the failure to attach that design to a new character, because it's too much of a risk to try and build a new character up when you can just take Joker's trademark and slap it on this guy.

[Wasimhosen]

joker.jpg
My favorite Joker will always be the one from the poisoned fish story from around 1978.

[enyawd72]

I have to chime in here...I completely agree with the OP and will take his observations a step further. I think a lot of the creative meltdown we're seeing in the arts is a direct result of the current generation's positive reinforcement overload. Look at the so-called talent pools of the arts today, whether it's comics, film, television, music, whatever. This current generation was raised with the delusional belief that EVERYONE is exceptional. EVERYONE is an artist. A Writer. A Musician. An actor, or whatever it may be. The result is obvious...a whole lotta people who THINK they're much more talented than they actually are have created a sea of mediocrity in the arts. Look how much more creative and original almost every art form was 30 years ago. Animation, comics, films, music...it's all been watered down by trendy wannabes trying to cash in on their own moment of fame, while TRUE creativity is as rare as it always has been.
When you have someone like Joe Quesada producing Ultimate Spider-Man, which features live-action sequences that introduce him as Marvel "legend" and "master creator" Joe Quesada...well, there you go.

[ctc]

>Look how much more creative and original almost every art form was 30 years ago. Animation, comics, films, music...it's all been watered down by trendy wannabes

I think you're right; but I think it's cyclical. We are currently in a down period; mostly 'cos the focus is on sales and distribution over product. That's a universal; music, movies, comics.... For comics it's been like that for a while. Mid 80's or so. The problem is; "mainstream" comics didn't have the cleansing period that would have swept the old ideas to the side and presented some good, solid, ACTUAL new ones. The speculator/designer comic trend continued well into he 90's, got WAY out of hand and stamped out a lot of raw ideas. That's why you get a lot of newer superhero stories that are rendered with amazing levels of technical skill but have absolutely no ideas, concepts or innovation behind them. Leading to:

>the failure to attach that design to a new character, because it's too much of a risk to try and build a new character up when you can just take Joker's trademark and slap it on this guy

Yup. This one is trickier though. A good story is a crime of collusion between writer and reader. To that end, you need an audience that would be receptive to new ideas. A lot of the superhero fans (or readers, at least) are pretty oldschool and have an inherent resistance to new stuff. That's why they keep going back to the old; even if it's in a halfassed way. (Like the "new" Robin.) It becomes an ineffective strategy for the companies; but one they can't get out of. Recycling ideas.... which scares off potential new fans who don't understand the context.... while cheezing off old fans.... who have no interest in yet another interpretation of whoever. What DC (and Marvel) REALLY need to do is to completely sweep EVERYTHING aside.... fans be damned.... and COMPLETELY rethink EVERYTHING. For real. Not just "Superman has his panties on the inside now" rethinking. Like they did in the Silver Age. THEN they could do something that'd actually attract new readers. But that's not going to happen. The business end is WAY too entrenched to the old ways of doing things.

Eventually SOMEBODY will do something new that'll catch on, and everyone will go running after THAT ball for a while. And there is hope 'cos there's a LOT of novel, awesome comics out there. Mostly online, but it shows that somebody's still trying.

>I can't take that video seriously after seeing the Weird Al version

I can't take the original seriously.... but that's what makes it Joker-esque to me. The Joker is an annoying jerk.... like a street mime.... right until he poisons you with a squirting flower, or electrocutes you with a joy buzzer.

>" I will give you terror when I draw him".....LOL! Really?....

Yeah. That goes with my last point, and my first. What makes a character like the Joker scary isn't what he IS; it's what he DOES. Cennobiting him up doesn't make him scarier, but it DOES make him conform more to the generally accepted design aesthetic for "scary."

Don C.

[jwyblejr]

They want scary? Put the Joker in Bermuda shorts again.

[Earth 2 Chris]

^Seriously, is this new, disgusting Joker, any more frightening than Brian Bolland's take in The Killing Joke? Or Neal Adams, or Marshall Rogers, or Jim Aparo, or Dick Sprang? Heck, is it more frightening than Conrad Veidt in "The Man Who Laughs"? I don't think so.

Capullo oversold this, for one. When other artists' interpretation leaked online, he was saying how his was going to be so disturbing, scary, etc. It's laughable, and not in the proper Joker-way to me. I guess "The Joker's Utility Belt" is now what's keeping his face on.

Chris