The Batman and The Joker

Hello! Recently I have come across this news article from The Washington Post, written by David Betancourt, where he interviews the legendary writer Scott Snyder. Snyder wrote the most of the modern Batman comics starting with “Death of the Family” where The Joker comes back and succeeds in murdering James Todd, Batman’s Robin at the time. After this publication, many wondered what Snyder would come up with next to intrigue the audience. As David Betancourt interviews Scott Snyder on his plan for the future of Batman comparisons become prevalent between the relationship of Batman and The Joker. Snyder responds eloquently to the question by posing his idea of changing The Joker’s attention from Batman to those he cares about. According to Snyder, “This time, [The Joker]’s coming after them individually in their ongoing books, and using everything in their lives against them” revealing The Joker’s desire to destroy Batman’s world (Betancourt). Snyder’s intrigue with The Joker leads him to be very popular with his readers, each of them enjoying his series. Snyder’s idea is to create something, “find something that scares and excites you about where they are with their lives at the moment” (Betancourt) reflect into The Joker character, committing and planning acts that scare and excite the reader. Snyder’s inspiration of The Joker brings the character to life in an entirely new way that will have all Batman readers biting their nails as they watch The Joker’s plan unfold and Batman attempting to stop his ruse.

Snyder’s intrigue in The Joker allows us to compare the similarities between him and Batman. Now, how can the Dark Knight be compared to someone as cruel and unrelatable as The Joker? As Betancourt points out to Snyder, “The Joker sneaks into police headquarters. He turns out the lights, and you pretty much know what's coming. He even goes so far as to let Commissioner Gordon now he knows where he hides his cigarettes” (Betancourt). This summarization of the comic displays The Joker’s intelligence and cunningness that makes him such a dangerous foe. However, it is the same intelligence and cunningness that makes Batman such a dangerous foe as well! These two attributes, that have directly pertained to both of them throughout their history, tie them so close together they have come to be nemeses. They have similar attributes but it’s their other differences that will rein one over the other.   

Betancourt, David. "With the Joker, Scott Snyder Giddily Deploys His Favorite Batman Villain." Washington Post 16 Nov. 2012. General OneFile. Web. 24 Sept. 2015.