In the latest Comic Book Legends Revealed, see if the Comics Code prevented the Joker from killing in his 1970s ongoing series

Welcome to Comic Book Legends Revealed! This is the eight hundred and sixtieth installment where we examine three comic book legends and determine whether they are true or false. As usual, there will be three posts, one for each of the three legends.

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COMIC LEGEND:

The Comics Code wouldn't allow the Joker to kill people in his ongoing series in the 1970s.

STATUS:

False

In 1973, the Joker made a triumphant return to comic books after a four-year absence in Batman #251 (by Denny O'Neil and Neal Adams). The issue opens up with the Joker, who had recently escaped from a home from the criminally insane, having already killed one of his former crew members...

The Joker's first kill in Batman #251

As the issue continues, the Joker is established as a deadly force once more, just like he was in his first appearance in Batman #1, where the Joker outright declared that he would kill a few rich guys, and continued to do so despite the rich guys being under lock and key. Here, even as Batman goes to warn Joker's former crew members, they STILL keep on getting killed, whether it be from poisoning...

The Joker's second kill in Batman #251

or from the Joker's souped-up version of the exploding cigar...

batman-251-3

The Joker's fourth victim moronically kayoed Batman when the Dark Knight was trying to save him. Batman came out of unconsciousness to find that it was too late to save the dumb crook...

The Joker's henchmen attacks Batman stupidly

This was a whole lot of killing for a character who hadn't killed anyone in the comics in probably DECADES at this point. Amusingly, there was some dispute between Adams and O'Neil over the killing in the comic.

RELATED:How the Success of Kamandi and Demon Doomed Jack Kirby's Fourth World

WAS THE JOKER'S RETURN TO HOMICIDE A PROBLEM?

In Michael Eury and Michael Kronenberg's The Batcave Companion from TwoMorrows, they explain that Adams initially disagreed with O'Neil's plan to have the Joker return to his early homicidal roots with the story. Adams saw the Joker as more of a comic character, and not as a homicidal one, but ultimately, O'Neil was committed to the idea, so then Adams decided to commit to it, as well. As he noted, "Okay, I'm going with this Joker character. He's not a cartoon. He's insane. So let's go. Let's get nuts."

Adams put in extra attention to the killing sequences, especially as O'Neil was a bit worried about the Comics Code objecting to the content. Instead, it all went over fine, with the issue being a smash hit with the fans, and led to the Joker not only becoming a regular Batman villain again, but in just two years, the Joker even graduated to his own ongoing series!

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WAS THE JOKER NOT ALLOWED TO KILL IN HIS OWN SERIES?

In The Batcave Companion, they wrote about the Joker's then-new series and noted, "[M]aking a character known as an antagonist the protagonist of a series poised problems. The Joker had to jettison the character's recently revived homicidal tendencies, a taming made "to appease the Comics Code," the industry's standards board, according to [the book's assistant editor, Bob] Rozakis. "You could not have the main character of the book getting away with murder."

That's not quite true, though, as while the Joker's killing WAS reduced in the book, he still killed people, as shown in The Joker #5 (by Martin Pasko, Irv Novick and Tex Blaisdell), where the Joker blows a guy up early in the issue...

joker-5-1

and then later, when the Royal Flush Gang runs afoul of the Joker when they both decide to make the same nefarious scheme, the Royal Flush Gang member discovers that the Joker has murdered one of the deputies guarding the place both the Gang and the Joker planned to rob from....

joker-5-2

As I've detailed in an old Comic Book Legends Revealed, the Comics Code WAS a pain for the series, but only because the Code at the time required the Joker to receive "justice" at the end of each issue. As O'Neil noted, "The Comics Code had enough teeth left that we had to kind of follow their rules." One of those rules was that anyone shown committing a crime had to also be depicted as receiving punishment, creating a problem for O'Neil in writing the star of an ongoing series: "How are you going to manage that punishment thing and bring him back and maintain any credibility or any narrative interest in all? So we did an odd sort of hybrid, and I don't think my stories worked very well."

Yes, even after the Comics Code was relaxed around that point in time, it still included in it, "In every instance good shall triumph over evil and the criminal punished for his misdeeds.Amusingly, though, even THAT was ignored for The Joker #5, as the Joker kills a few people, but gets away in the end, having helped the good guys capture the Royal Flush Gang...

joker-5-3

So no, the Comics Code definitely WAS an issue for the people writing the comic book, but there was no ban on the Joker's then-new return to being a killer.

Thanks again, to Eury and Kronenberg's excellent The Batcave Companion

SOME OTHER ENTERTAINMENT LEGENDS!

Check out some entertainment legends from Legends Revealed:

1. Was the Joker Originally Going to Kill Vicki Vale at the End of Tim Burton’ Batman?

2. Did Heath Ledger’s Tragic Death Ruin Plans for the Joker to Appear in The Dark Knight Rises?

3. What Bob Dylan Song Was Surprisingly Inspired by Prince?

4. What is the Secret Behind Little House on the Prairie’s “Baby Battering Ram”?

PART TWO SOON!

Check back soon for part 2 of this installment's legends!

Feel free to send suggestions for future comic legends to me at either cronb01@aol.com or brianc@cbr.com