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[RoyaleDuke]

Yeah, Gotham Central's design is extremely underrated. It helps that for the short time appears he's written great too, being a complete wild card for the police to try and handle.

Another underrated design in my opinion is the Man Who Laughs Joker.


I really like the black fingernails and yellow and green eyes really stand out.

I have the Hardcover of this story, I think besides Brian Bolland's Joker design and this one, it's hard to pick a better one and both are amazing faux origin tales(The Killing Joke and Ed Brubaker's Batman: The Man Who Laughs respectively).

 

[MrOogieBoogie]

This cosplayer did it right:

just google "ridiculously photogenic joker"

 

[Gabriel_Logan]

the dark knight joker conceptual

Michael Myers needs to eat!

 

[hobozero]

My biggest issue with Leto's joker was that it was close, but it's like he veered off in the wrong direction at the last minute. The tattoos might have been a good idea, just not so on the nose - maybe more home-made/self-inflicted. And no damaged for god sake...

And the "Phantom of the Paradise"-esque metal teeth - they might have worked with the right execution. Make them the result of viscous and constant beatdowns. Mess up the rest of his face. Shit, rip off his look from Fight Club if you have to. Would have implied the Joker is a dude who is too crazy to know when he is getting his head kicked in.

But instead we got a pretty-boy with some weird teeth and shitty tattoos.

 

[TheRedSnifit]

This cosplayer did it right:

just google "ridiculously photogenic joker"

Somebody rich needs to buy this man a tailored purple tux.

 

[Jintor]

2gud

 

[Davide]

Best by far IMO. Grungry, the worn off makeup, the greasy hair, and most of all the scars, obviously recognizable as the Joker while realistic and every element is informed by the film's unique take on him.

Jared Leto's is the worst.

I'll be honest: Ledger's joker is still a terrible design. There's a reason people balked at it when they first saw it; he sold it 100% on the strength of his performance, while the aesthetic design remained completely terrible through and through.

Not, like, Jared Leto wangsta Joker terrible, mind, but it's still low-tier design work.

This aesthetic was insanely popular in 2008. The scars alone were brilliant.

 

[Brandon F]

I haven't seen the movie, but after googling it.....

What the hell is this?

Haven't seen the movie either nor paid much attention to the Leto role. My first look close look at the tattoos and I cannot believe those managing the brand at DC would sign off on those tattoos. "Damaged? All In?" This is about as stupid a plummet as Obama to Trump.

 

[Vampfox]

Best:


Worst:

 

[PBalfredo]

Worst is basically all the ones that rely on body horror as the main gimmick

Damn that's real good

 

[Cosmic Schwung]

This cosplayer did it right:

just google "ridiculously photogenic joker"

Yeah, this guy's amazing.

 

[roflwaffles]

This guy looks incredible as Joker.

 

[cftrooper]

My reaction to Leto's joker

 

[Nordicus]

Yeah, this guy's amazing.

Oh fuck, it took me a moment to notice that this wasn't the original art

 

[Jordan117]

They literally wrote DAMAGED on his head.

How did no sane person in the production look at it and say, 'wait, this is fucking awful'?

MY MOM IS GONNA FREAK

 

[Boss Doggie]

I still don't get the hot topic look everyone had in Suicide Squad

then again I never get DC's intent on forcing Harley to look less like a harlequin

 

[Kinyou]

The whole wanna be gangster act from Leto's joker was just the worst.

 

[Supast4r]

NRS has regressed on Joker designs. From this:

Which is fine

To this:

Which is actively horrid.

I actually like Injustice 2's design

 

[Sephzilla]

Yeah, this guy's amazing.

jesus christ, thats amazing

 

[kinoki]

I think the best realised is Heath Ledger's take. You can see how he is so painstakingly aware of all the details that he does everything himself. He is so good at convincing the world he's an agent of pure chaos when he is the devil in the details. Every single thing about him, from his hand sewn cloths to how he puts his makeup is perfect. From order comes chaos. And when everyone else is panicking he is in full control.

The perfect opposite of Batman who wants to create order out of chaos. Who wants order so he can go back to normal chaotic life. His dream is to not be needed to be free.

I really only see the Joker as the opposite of Batman so my definition of a good Joker is how he relates to Batman and how well they complete each other.

 

[Wiped89]

I actually feel like I need to defend the Jared Leto Joker here a bit.

I thought SS was 'meh' but I can see why they went that way with his design. Between the hair and the tattoos, it's a more 'realistic' Joker, like a slightly wacky gangster that you can actually imagine existing in the real world.

And I might be an old fogey but I know his design is very fashionable for young people. My nieces (all 13-17) think his design is 'lit'

Spoiler

that means good

 

[Tal Shiar Agent]

Best would have to be DCAU Joker (excluding New Batman Adventures redesign).

Worst would have to be a tie between Suicide Squad, The Batman, and Dark Knight.

 

[Alienous]

The thing with Jared Leto's Joker is that it doesn't even have a clown/jester motif.

It's some dude with pale skin, green hair, with tattoos and wearing lipstick. If you were shown an image of him you'd have no reason to believe he was The Joker, and not some try-hard Joker fanboy or henchman.

It's bad. Like really bad. The fact that it got from concept art to screen is a great example of why the DCEU stumbled out of the gate - it's been gifted these characters and it shits on them.

 

[Creaking]

And I might be an old fogey but I know his design is very fashionable for young people. My nieces (all 13-17) think his design is 'lit'

Spoiler

that means good

And they're still your nieces?

 

[Palmer_v1]

I'm going to throw in an honorable mention to this kid from the Gotham tv show:

Gotham Spoilers:

Spoiler

Even though he's not really THE joker.

 

[thecosmicfly]

Jared Leto would've been right at home as a member of the Jokerz.

As the Joker though? Nah. Nah.

 

[Horse Detective]

They all look so fucking stupid, i'm spoiled for choice of which is the worst.

The video games probably had the least dumb looking designs. Favorite for the moment is probably Ledger's.

 

[Tigress]

Secret mustache.

Yeah. I always hated the original tv joker even as a kid (and I think at the time he was the only screen joker done yet). And it was mostly due to that painted over mustache. Id put him as my least favorite and TAS as my favorite and what I think of as joker when I think joker.

 

[xxracerxx]

I'm going to throw in an honorable mention to this kid from the Gotham tv show:

Gotham Spoilers:

Spoiler

Even though he's not really THE joker.

May want to keep watching.

 

[zethren]

Suicide Squad design is, without contest, the absolute worst Joker design I have ever seen in any official capacity. I loathe it.

 

[Tigress]

Fight me. The Batman's is one of my favorites.

I hated the design but the voice actor made him work.

 

[Secret Fawful]

Batman: Endgame has my favorite Joker design, but also my favorite Joker reveal.

Spoiler

This is the master criminal at work.

Spoiler

The disguise. For months.

 

[BoogieWoogie]

Not a design but man Zack Galifinakis was the worst Joker voice.

 

[Memento Mori]

Batman: Endgame has my favorite Joker design, but also my favorite Joker reveal.



This is the master criminal at work.

Spoiler

The disguise. For months.

While I did enjoy the reveal

Spoiler

I wish Eric Border had appeared more beforehand.

 

[Shake Appeal]

Man, I just remembered how the Joker defeats the Black Glove, with a classic banana skin pratfall set up much earlier.

Joker's best when you're almost, almost rooting for him.

 

[TheGreatDirector]

I really like the Joker designs where just his eyes can portray his craziness, like in Detective Comics #826.