Adventures of Superman #40

[superfangirl1]

Will the Joker pull the trigger to the Bombs. We will find out next issue.

Comments

[razsolo]

I want to marry this art!!!

The Joker appearing as a different incarnation in every panel is freaking genius!

[pteppic]

Agreed. That's a lovely montage and a good reflection of what's probably going on inside his head.

[biod]

I like sassy Superman.

[leoboiko]

[janegray]

Motto!

[thatnickguy]

Honestly, he's always had a little bit of sass to him. He's not the big, uptight Boy Scout that most writers or people seem to think he is.

Although he does seem a little ambivalent towards the threat bomb threat.

[freezer]

Although he does seem a little ambivalent towards the threat bomb threat.

Probably because he knows, if push came to shove, he could have Joker's arm off before his hand could receive the "let go" signal.

[icon_uk]

Though he'd surely know from Batman just how dangerous it is to assume that the Joker didn't know that and planned accordingly.

[thatnickguy]

Ripping someone's arm off is NOT Superman's M.O., nor should it ever be.

[obsidianwolf]

I'd actually guess that since he keeps looking around he's actually scanning the entire city with his x-ray vision so when he has to do a super speed dash through the city he either knows where the bombs are or the places to check cause he can't see through them. So he's irritating the Joker to keep him talking so he has more time to look.

I'd imagine this is one of those times where a writer isn't going to ignore how far beyond a human opponent someone like Superman would actually be.

[lego_joker]

At which point fans immediately start baww'ing about how "unrelatable" Superman is.

In all seriousness, though, I'm really struggling to think of a reason why Gotham should be connected to the rest of the DCU - fans of the latter don't like to see Superman and the Flash jobbing to powerless psychopaths, and fans of the former (well, me, at least) don't like to see Batman and company blown up into nation/world-swaying levels of power/competence.

Recall that JLU basically ignored Gotham save for Batman, and that worked out just fine.

[obsidianwolf]

I actually share the sentiment. I've often felt that Superman is enhanced by his connections to the wider universe while Batman isn't. Batman looks either extremely incompetent or intentionally letting Gotham stay so screwed up. I mean when he's building billion dollar satellites to monitor meta humans his inability to do anything about the cardboard nature of Arkham looks really silly esp since Bruce Wayne is on the freaking board of directors and has direct input into how it is run.

I think it really shows itself in the live action adaptations. Superman only seems to work when they focus more on the Clark side of things since without the wider DC universe to draw on Superman often has to be written as dumb muscle to give the villains a shot which is a disservice to the character.

Batman on the other hand in the live action adaptations without the rest of the DCU can really shine because he's allowed to be more human most of the time. They don't have to do things like having him survive battle with clone doomsdays and such.

[yvonmukluk]

Or he's actually been moving at super-speed and disarming them so fast the Joker doesn't notice. Although that does tie into the 'keep him talking so I can find the bombs' idea.

[arilou_skiff]

Heh. I'm liking this. Makes sense that the Joker can't play games with Superman the way he can with Batsy.

[kurenai_tenka]

Seconding the love for the art. Also that they've re-used/re-created panels of him that I actually recognise. :)

[wizardru]

I don't know which is better, the fantastic homage to the various incarnations of the Joker over the years or Sassy Superman, straight up not playing into the Joker's gameplan and beating him by being NICE.

It's fantastic, really.

[zapbiffpow]

I like it. Superman's pure good overcoming Joker's pure evilness.

Also, Battle of the Jokers: who wins?

[lego_joker]

The Chuck Dixon/Graham Nolan version (sadly not represented here), of course!

[zapbiffpow]

Ah, the ponytail-wearing, filmmaker Joker. Holy crap, I'd forgotten about that! Had to do a Google Image search and everything.

Also, I'm casting my vote for DOTF!Joker. Considering how he set up all those god damn traps, I'm pretty sure he's some kind of sorcerer.

[lego_joker]

Are we counting Elseworlds ones? Because there's a whole mess of Elseworlds Jokers with actual superpowers.

One of them was a straight-up dark wizard. Another could make people's heads explode just by laughing.

[zapbiffpow]

I actually have not heard of that, unfortunately. Dark Magician Joker sounds wicked sweet! The only Elseworlds Joker I remember clearly was Luthor-Joker, from Speeding Bullets.

If we keep it within the Jokers in the scans, though, I'd go for DOTF or BTAS Joker (who'd probably get backup from his Batman and take the rest out).

[skemono]

The main-universe Joker dabbled in black magic once, I remember. Tried summoning the devil (or one of them... I forget who exactly), but he screwed up and got Etrigan. And even that wasn't because he was summoned, Etrigan was just curious to see what was going on.

[lego_joker]

Also, I'm rather depressed by the fact that the panel in-between Golden Age Joker and Neal Adams Joker doesn't feature Silver Age Dick Sprang Joker. Talk about missing a genuinely iconic Joker...

[icon_uk]

Whilst I might generally agree, Cesar Romero does deserve to be there.

[lego_joker]

Eh, I dunno. As far as 1960s Batman goes, Riddler basically stole Joker's milkshake and drank it up. I'd also argue that Meredith's Penguin, Newmar's Catwoman, and even Egghead and King Tut were more iconic than Romero's Joker, who always struck me as the most generic recurring villain on the show (the others all had distinct personality traits and m.o.'s beyond "laugh a lot" and "engage in random silliness").

[icon_uk]

He's still the first ever non comic-book interpretation of the Joker (and remains the only live action TV Joker), and the syndicated show still does deserve a lot of credit for saving Batman from obscurity.

[zapbiffpow]

Off-topic, but I...I would drink a Joker milkshake.

[cainofdreaming]

It's sure to bring a smile on your lips!

[zapbiffpow]

There we go! Gross and appealing at the same time.

[flash_fan]

This issue was written by the guy who did Chronicle. I saw in an interview that he had a brilliant idea for Superman comic I hope that comes to fruition.

[filthysize]

I love how all the live-action Jokers are instantly recognizable just from the mouths. That's brilliant.

[mrstatham]

Romero!Joker even has little whiskers where you can see his moustache under the paint. That's awesome.

[damar148]

Wasn't this the tactic Terry used in the Batman Beyond movie, mocking the Joker and laughing at him, that screws with the Joker's confidence.

[althechi]

As the TVTropes page surmised so elegantly, it's be natural that the Joker's one weakness would be a heckler.

[crinos]

Yeah, I think the reason that Joker is so fixated on Batman is that he's the ultimate straight man: Always grim and serious, so Joker gets to be the funny man, like a psychotic buddy movie.

When the Joker's not the comedian of the set, he doesn't know what to do with himself.

[icon_uk]

See also "Joker's Favor" for another example of the Joker facing someone who beats him by planning on ruining the only punchline he knows the Joker REALLY wants.

[lieut_kettch]

I'm disappointed didn't mention the time Tim manages to get Joker's guard down with a Marx Brothers line. The story featured a trussed-up Robin, after all.

[icon_uk]

Ah "Slay Ride!" :)

I'd also cite the moment that Morrison added in where Dick as a fairly new Robin manages to distract the Joker from his crime by challenging him to a laughing contest (Which is either AA Milne levels of over-cute, or just downright weird as an idea)

[lego_joker]

I remember that one a bit differently. The laughing contest happened AFTER Joker got captured.

[icon_uk]

I barely remember the issue, so I bow to your greater experience.

[althechi]

I like how each panel's dialogue can roughly map to the "character" of each era's Joker, although in some cases it's more of a stretch than others.

[rainspirit]

God I love Superman's grin at, "Ha ha, ouch."

[icon_uk]

A shame the Joker hasn't been this much... well, fun, in a Batman comic in a long time.

[writeofway]

^ This. ALL of this. DOTF Joker was too much of a slasher-movie Villain Sue and there wasn't even a hint of any of the charm that made you WANT more of the Joker after each appearance. Also, and perhaps the biggest crime of all, Joker wasn't funny. And I don't mean that in a "I'm not telling jokes, this is serious" kind of way, but the attempts at "dead baby comedy" were just cringe-worthy. Freddy Kruger had better one-liners. The thing that made me like Joker, even as a villain, was that even when he was doing horrible things, his sense of humor was infectious and I couldn't help but at least chuckle. He was funny, even if it was in his own sick twisted way.

After DOTF, I almost hope Joker DOESN'T come back because I'm afraid of how much more depraved, violent, sadistic, and outright unfunny they'll make him.

[zapbiffpow]

Yeah, I sorta miss Vintage Joker. That bastard knew how to dress for crime.

Makes me wonder how the hell they'll bring him back after that little rampage of his. Maybe a one-and-done issue of Batman?

[lbd_nytetrayn]

Is this the most recent issue? And is it worth picking up beyond this scene?

[superfangirl1]

Yes, this came out Monday. I also highly recommend reading this series.

[silverzeo]

"STOP THAT! Stop... not getting overly emotional to what I say! What do you think I am? A clown?!?!"