American Update: Batmania Max: “Why So Serious?”- complete run of DC’s Joker from 1975/76!
*DC: DC, attempting to increase their traditional audience, tried an unprecedented launch of a comic starring a super-villain in 1975. They certainly picked the right candidate in the Batman’s arch-nemesis the Joker, but despite conscientious scripting by Denny O’Neil, the requirements of the Comics Code Authority forced each issue to end with the Joker’s defeat – and a comic book starring a persistent loser didn’t sit well with the general public! Nevertheless, the subsequent meteoric fame of the Joker in comics and other media has made his first solo forays highly desirable now, and we’re pleased to have the full 9-ssue run in mid-to-high grades for this week’s Batmania Max update, several of them cents copies, with a couple of duplications. Co-starring friends and foes of Batman such as Catwoman, Creeper, Green Arrow and Black Canary, the Royal Flush Gang, the Scarecrow, and, er, Sherlock Holmes (kind of), this is an interesting experimental cul-de-sac in the Gotham cityscape.