Here is the latest in our year-long look at one cool comic (whether it be a self-contained work, an ongoing comic or a run on a long-running title that featured multiple creative teams on it over the years) a day (in no particular order whatsoever)! Here's the archive of the moments posted so far!

Today we take a look at a story that made the Greatest Joker Stories Ever Told list, the first appearance of the Joker in Batman #1, by Bill Finger, Bob Kane and Jerry Robinson!

Enjoy!

While I'm sure that there are better examples, Batman #1 is still a pretty damned amazing entrance for a new villain. Check it out...







How effectively spooky and scary was that?

I love that Batman isn't interested yet.

Eventually, Batman DOES get interested, and Finger and Kane are very blunt with their take on the Joker...





he IS the toughest foe Batman had yet faced!

It's nice to see that the Joker is ultimately caught through detective work, even if it is as simple as "follow anyone who leaves"...



Love the infrared lights.

The actual capturing of the Joker comes from Robin remembering something Joker said, which kind of cheesy, but the fact that he was there to HEAR what the Joker was saying was at least due to detective work, so I think it all balances out in the end.

A great introduction for a great villain! And to think that they were planning on killing him off in the second story in the book! It's not like they didn't know that Batman was a hit by this time, it was the debut issue of his own solo title! They knew he was popular, so you'd think that they'd want to keep around a character that THEY even said was a great foe for Batman.

Ah well, thank goodness for editorial interference, I suppose!