The Complete Timeline of the Joker Since His DC Comics Debut in 1940

Ryan Arey of ScreenCrush (and his loyal dog) looked back at the remarkable 84 year history of Joker, the infamous DC Comics villain created by Bill Finger, Bob Kane, and Jerry Robinson, who became even more popular as of late with the 2019 Todd Phillips film Joker and 2024’s Joker: Folie à Deux.

Joker Definitive History Explained!

Arey starts off with the character’s appearance in the 1940 comic book Batman, noting how the character was supposed to die at the end of the issue, which is what character creator Bill Finger wanted.

Now originally, the Joker was supposed to die at the end of the first issue. Now Bill Finger didn’t want Batman to look incompetent but his editor saw potential in Joker, so the last panel revealed that he was still alive. So the Joker lived on.

And so he did.