The Sign of the Joker
Author | : Joel West |
Publisher | : Brill Research Perspectives in |
Total Pages | : 82 |
Release | : 2020 |
ISBN-10 | : 9004408673 |
ISBN-13 | : 9789004408678 |
Rating | : 4/5 (678 Downloads) |
Download or read book The Sign of the Joker written by Joel West and published by Brill Research Perspectives in. This book was released on 2020 with total page 82 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Joker both fascinates and repels us. From his origin in Detective Comics in 1940, he has committed obscene crimes, some of the worst the Batman universe has ever known, and, conversely, fans have made him the topic of erotic and pornographic "fan fiction." Speculation about the Joker abounds, where some fans have even claimed that the Joker is "queer coded." This work explores various popular claims about the Joker, and delves into the history of comic books, and of other popular media from a semiotic viewpoint to understand "The Clown Prince of Crime" in the contexts in which he existed to understand his evolution in the past. From his roots as a "typical hoodlum," The Joker even starred in his own eponymous comic book series and he was recently featured in a non-canonical movie. This work examines what it is about the Joker which fascinates us