Jerry Robinson and the creation of The Joker

[cabrera1234]

RIP Jerry Robinson

[cha5]

R.I.P. Mr Robinson, I remember he was kind enough to sign several Golden Age Batman & Detective Comics for me ten or twelve years ago at Comic-Con Int, there was a whole line of people going to a Neil Gaiman signing and Mr Robinson was seated right close by with just about nobody at his table, (I remember being really annoyed and ashamed that one of the key comicbook artists who created a large chunk of the Batman mythos didn't have a Neil Gaiman length signing line) He was always a gentleman.

[RowdyRodimus]

@cha5 I had almost the same experience with Mart Nodell and Todd McFarlane. I ended up spending almost the entire day with Mart (even helping at his booth while his wife took a nap at their room). He was almost 100% blind at the time and did paintings, before the end of the con, he and his wife gave me a painting he did of GA Green Lantern, Cpt. America and the Human Torch. Even told me stories involving Jerry here and Bob Kane lol

[cha5]

@RowdyRodimus I remember Mart Nodell at Comic-Con, a remarkable man.

The last time I saw Jerry was at last October's New York Comic-Con.

I wish I could have stopped by his table just to say hi. I don't think I'll ever sell any of the Golden Age back issues I had him sign, I've had alot of back issues signed by different creators, Eisner, Stan Lee, Joe Simon, Gil Kane, and others but for me Jerry Robinson was the the most accessable and the nicest.

[RowdyRodimus]

@cha5 People don't seem to appreciate the people that laid the groundwork for the industry today. I remember Mart's wife giving me a huge hug and telling me how proud Mart felt that someone appreciated his work. It kind of hurt when I thought about the single digit line to meet him and the line to meet McFarlane circling the room.

Would have loved to have met Jerry. I did meet Sal Buscema and he was awesome, too. Not Golden Age, but had their character.

[cha5]

@RowdyRodimus I remember the second time I saw him at Comic-Con Int I asked him a bit about The Joker and asked if the Coney Island Funny Face Barker was at all an influence on the creation of The Joker, but he explained that the Conrad Viedt film The Man Who Laughs and the playing card joker out of a deck of cards were the two main influences not the Coney Island Funny Face. The only connection he saw between The Joker & the CI funny face was that they both had a grin and laughed.

[carnage247mayhem]

Rip Jerry Robinson

[xtrishiebabyx]

RIP Jerry Robinson

[evelz6]

I don't care. This man is responsible for creating The Joker. Plain and simple. He planted the idea, he did the first sketch, the rest is left to everyone who has ever written for The Joker, r drawn him. Bill Finger is as much the creator of The Joker as Grant Morrison is. Add to the myth all you want, but this man is the root of it all.

[jjmegaman90]

i believe bob kane hated this guy i saw an interview with stan lee and bob kane and kane brought him up and was basicly making him look like a liar

[AcctNo4]

0:41- "I created in 40 or 41." He doesn't even know precisely because Bob Kane and Bill Finger created him.

[JOKAWILD26]

@AcctNo4 bob kane didnt even really create batman,,, bill finger is actually the real creator of batman,, the one that thought of his alter ego Bruce Wayne name,, the one that created and named gotham city, gotham city, he also created bruce wayne and batman's personality, and designed his look,, true story

[AcctNo4]

@JOKAWILD26

Bob Kane came up with the inital idea of Batman, and Bill Finger greatly refined the costume to what we know Batman to look like today. But a 'Batman'- a costumed crimefighter to complement Superman- was Kane's initial idea. Jerry Robinson was so angry at Kane for him not giving credit to Bill Finger and allowing him to die 'poor' that he conspired to get revenge by taking SOLE credit for creating The Joker. But Bill Finger had the idea of Joker after watching 'The Man who Laughs'.

[JOKAWILD26]

@AcctNo4 bill finger didnt just creat the look and costume,, he also created all the mytho's of batman,, he created the NAME bruce wayne, the whole alter ego,, he also created the city of GOTHAM, he also created the story of his parents being killed, and much of batman's personality,, bob kane came up with the name BATMAN, but that is all he ever really did,, as for joker, was created by bill finger & jerry robinson, kane had nothin to do with it, but jerry said him self that ALL 3 helped

[AcctNo4]

@JOKAWILD26

I'll let you have the last word; just remember that statements have to be backed up by facts, so any more opinions you may give should be cited accordingly. That's the scientific way.

[Beltzer0072]

@JOKAWILD26 This is the way I see it. Kane came up with Batman and did create the character plain and simple. Finger came up with what you said. To me Jerry really is the creator of The Joker but you can back me up with saying Bill Finger helped create him.

[JOKAWILD26]

@JOKAWILD26 bill finger didnt just creat the look and costume,, he also created all the mytho's of batman,, he created the NAME bruce wayne, the whole alter ego,, he also created the city of GOTHAM, he also created the story of his parents being killed, and much of batman's personality,, bob kane came up with the name BATMAN, but that is all he ever really did,, as for joker, was created by bill finger & jerry robinson, kane had nothin to do with it, but jerry said him self that ALL 3 helped

[RowdyRodimus]

@JOKAWILD26 A fun little fact, in an interview Bill Finger said he came up with the name Bruce Wayne as a play on Bob Kane since both were lazy, rich guys lol

[JOKAWILD26]

@RowdyRodimus when Bill Finger came up and wrote the mythos of batman,, bob kane wasnt rich yet,, and bill finger didnt know that bob kane was going to throw him under the bus like he did, and take sol credit for the creation of BATMAN, even tho bill finger created pritty much the whole concept of batman , dark look and mythos of his life and parents himself,, poor guy RIP, to bill finger and jerry robinson, who both got screwed by bob kane

[KardKid1996]

this guy is really nice! met him today at the NYC comic con. i got 2 signitures from him.

[ChazBoyRose]

nice to see this! cause the idiots who run Big Apple Comic Con...didn't have Jerry there the first day...and when I asked about him, they acted like he was nobody.