The Joker's mother

[Paul Kersey]

I read somewhere that Joker's origin has been fleshed out since The Killing Joke, and now his origin is that, the hoods he was involved with to rob the playing card company actually kidnapped his wife and held her ransom till he helped them with the heist. Then his wife was killed (by them?). His name is Jack Napier and his mother is none other than Leslie Thompkins!

Is this true?

[Murrocko]

Everything sounds right except that Leslie Thompkins bit. I could be wrong though.

[Nick Kal]

Leslie his mother? Huh?

[infoghost]

Leslie his mom? That's the most bizarre thing I've ever heard.

As for Napier being his name, it's been mentioned once or twice since the movie, but I am not sure it's ever been 100% confirmed.

[mohammedali]

Never heard the Leslie part. In any case, you would think that it would be Jack Thompkins if she was his mother (providing Leslie didn't retake her maidern name). Sounds unlikely to be honest. Similar to the whole Anarky thing perhaps. Anyone else know about this? Any issue number?

Mohammed Ali

[Violently Apathetic]

I actually heard the Leslie thing before, but ONLY on Wikipedia (I believe) and it wasn't referenced, so it's your call on how reliable it is.

[Jaye]

Anyone read Gotham Knights?
I dropped it at the beginning of a Joker origin arc... did Leiberman cover this there?

[OverMaster]

Leslie his mom? That's the most bizarre thing I've ever heard.

As for Napier being his name, it's been mentioned once or twice since the movie, but I am not sure it's ever been 100% confirmed.

The animated Joker has been refered to as Jack Napier in a Scarecrow episode, but that name has never showed up in comics continuity AFAIK.

Leslie was revealed as Joker's mother in one of the stories in the old "Further Adventures of the Joker" prose book, but that one is completely out of continuity.

[mohammedali]

Do you know which issue? And why is it out of cont? Thanks.

Mohammed Ali

[PerfectBrak]

My friend mentioned the Joker/Leslie connection as being hinted at in the Anarky series. Don't know if it is true or not.

[Leon Thomas]

If true, I guess this makes both mother and son murderers. :evilsmile

[OverMaster]

Do you know which issue? And why is it out of cont? Thanks.

Mohammed Ali

Hmm, it is a single book, a collection of prose stories not tied to continuity.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0553285319/103-0459860-4114233?v=glance&n=283155

[AlexApprobation]

Ah, it's interesting either way.

If I had to pick I'd just stick to the Killing Joke origin.

[tomasej]

Hmm, it is a single book, a collection of prose stories not tied to continuity.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0553285319/103-0459860-4114233?v=glance&n=283155

Yeah, and there is another story in the same book that has a completely different background for him where his father killed his mother. None of this can be taken as canon.

[Panman]

Can any Joker origin be taken as canon?

[Apathy Boy]

The animated Joker has been refered to as Jack Napier in a Scarecrow episode, but that name has never showed up in comics continuity AFAIK.

Leslie was revealed as Joker's mother in one of the stories in the old "Further Adventures of the Joker" prose book, but that one is completely out of continuity.That was one of the better stories in that collection, though I wouldn't want to see it in canon.

Heh, and then there was "Dying is Easy, Comedy is Hard," a story where Bruce goes undercover as a standup comedian to flush the Joker out. The denouement of that story was fantastic.

The Further Adventures of the Batman is also worth looking for. It has one of the creepiest Joker stories I've ever read.

[Chip Whitley]

LotDK #50 had an interesting early Joker story. Joker tricked his dim-witted cousin into helping him out. The cousin thought he was ugly, and Joker promised to make him more attractive "like me". In an ironic twist, the reveal at the end showed him to be handsome after all. Been a looong time since I read that story, and it's from LotDk, so chances are it's out of continuity.

http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d137/iggywiggum/lotdk50.gif

[Violently Apathetic]

ACK! Burn it with FIRE!

That cat is the freakest thing I've seen in a while...

[SdotCopp]

i used to own that issue...i wonder what the hell happened to it

[Kirayoshi]

IIRC, there was a Batman comic, sometime after KJ, where a psychiatrist asked the Joker about his past. Joker said something like, "I like to think of my history as being multiple-choice."

[Crash-Man]

Chip, did Joker kill/disfigure his cousin in the end?

[Crash-Man]

Ah, it's interesting either way.

If I had to pick I'd just stick to the Killing Joke origin.


So would I. It's basically perfect.

What I like the best about it is that the chemicals simply disfigured him. It was the random unfortunate events of his life as "the average man" that sent him crazy.

[Violently Apathetic]

IIRC, there was a Batman comic, sometime after KJ, where a psychiatrist asked the Joker about his past. Joker said something like, "I like to think of my history as being multiple-choice."

Actually, that was in Killing Joke, he babbled that as he was running through the funhouse. Carnage from Spider-Man seems to have the same problem, his past keeps changing everytime it's told, it's like no one can decide what kind of origin would create monsters like the Joker and Carnage.

[OverMaster]

Chip, did Joker kill/disfigure his cousin in the end?

SPOILER:

In the middle of the story, while escaping Batman, the Joker and his cousin were in a car accident. Joker survived, of course, but the cousin died. Batman would later catch the Joker and give his idiot savant cousin a good burial place.

[Lester C.]

The animated Joker has been refered to as Jack Napier in a Scarecrow episode, but that name has never showed up in comics continuity AFAIK.

Leslie was revealed as Joker's mother in one of the stories in the old "Further Adventures of the Joker" prose book, but that one is completely out of continuity.


I thought I was the only that read that story. Only I read it in an anthology called The Adventures of Batman or something like that. Dc recycled a lot of those prose fiction stories so I have no doubt you read it in an anthology about the Joker.

[Chip Whitley]

Thanks OverMaster, you told it much better than I could've. Actually, I think it's probably been 10+ years since I read that last.

[Lester C.]

Can any Joker origin be taken as canon?
The Killing Joke by Alan Moore and Brian Bordland.(I'm sorry if I did not spell Brian's last name correctly.

[Crash-Man]

Brian Bolland. :p

And thanks OverMaster. I was just curious as to whether Joker would actually show compassion to a family member.

[shaxper]

Can any Joker origin be taken as canon?

The Killing Joke by Alan Moore and Brian Bordland.(I'm sorry if I did not spell Brian's last name correctly.

Have they ever actually proclaimed this to be canon? Obviously, the fate of Barbara Gordon in continuity emulated the fate she met in Killing Joke, but that doesn't necessarily make the full story part of continuity.

[Panman]

Since the story of Joker's past in TKJ is told in the form of a flashback that the Joker is having, and since the Joker admits that he prefers his past to be multiple choice, I'm not sure that origin story is very reliable.
I kind of like the Joker's origin being shrowded in mystery, so secret that it's kept even from the readers.

[Nessor Sille]

Okay, the "as it happens" events in TKJ are in continuity.

The "Joker's Flashback" portions? Maybe they are, maybe they aren't.

As the Joker himself admits, his memories of his past keep changing.

Some have tried to point out the little Easter eggs Alan Moore's script directed Bolland to draw in the Batcave (like the picture of Bat-Mite) as "proof that the story was originally intended to be out-of-continuity", but that's debatable. It had been announced in the 'Secret Origins' Batgirl issue more than a year before that the upcoming Alan Moore Joker project would drastically effect the Batgirl character.