Mark Hamill has shared a Joker portrait he received as "payment" from DC Chief Creative Officer and Co-Publisher Jim Lee for recording a personalized phone message as the Clown Prince of Crime in 2016.The message was originally recorded for DC’s program Mark Hamill’s Pop Culture Quest, in an episode where Hamill visited the Burbank, California offices of DC, allegedly for a tour of their archives, but mostly to chat with Lee and to ask if he could see him draw.
"If you could do the Joker, and do it on my voicemail for my phone, I would gladly draw you and gift you a sketch," Lee said.
Hamill warned him that the last time he recorded a voicemail as the Joker for a DC employee, they had to disconnect it after a week and a half because people would just hang up after hearing the message. However, this didn't detract Lee.
"This whole show could just have been a ploy for me to get this one piece of art," Hamill said as he proudly held up the finished piece.
Here is the message Hamill recorded for his portion of the transaction:
So, you wanted to speak with Jim Lee? He can’t come to the phone right now, and the reason is multiple choice! Is it, a) His nine children, is it b) his notorious struggle with deadlines, or c) I’ve got him bound and gagged and hanging over a vat of acid? You’ll be the judge.
Lee was clearly a fan, as he admits he's still using the message.