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First SA appearance of Joker?

Started by ydanusas,

17 posts in this topic

ydanusas

ydanusas

Posted
Posted

So, just bought myself bat 155 and I saw on the marketplace the 1st SA appearances for scarecrow and catwoman.

 

The all mighty knowing world wide web is all over the place with the answer to this question. What would be considered Joker's first SA appearance?

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RockMyAmadeus

RockMyAmadeus

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So, just bought myself bat 155 and I saw on the marketplace the 1st SA appearances for scarecrow and catwoman.

 

The all mighty knowing world wide web is all over the place with the answer to this question. What would be considered Joker's first SA appearance?

There isn't really one. It depends on what you define as "Silver Age."

 

Joker appears regularly throughout the 50's, so the date would have to just be arbitrary.

 

Interesting note: the Penguin appears in Batman #99, a 1955 book...and then disappears for only 56 issues....but #155 is a "key." Go figure.

 

One note: the last Joker cover for the Batman title is #73....and he doesn't appear on the cover again for a whopping 8 years in an original story (#100 has a reprint of the cover of #23.)

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Gopher John

Gopher John

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Here's how I show the chronology of silver-age joker appearances:

 

Batman #73 (October 1952); Cover and story: The Joker's Utility Belt (last Original GA Joker Cover).

Batman #97 (Feb 56 - pre-Showcase 4): story: The Joker Announces Danger. (last GA Joker story)

Batman #100 (June 56 - pre-Showcase 4); cover reprinting cover of Batman #23 - no interior appearance.

World's Finest #88 (May 57): story: Superman and Batman's Greatest Foes. (First SA Joker story).

Batman #136 (Dec 60) Cover and story:The Challenge of the Joker (first SA Joker cover).

 

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ydanusas

ydanusas

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1st Silver age Catwoman is Lois Lane 70

 

I think Catwoman is in Batman #119 (October 1958)

 

edit: it is noted as "image only" as is Joker in that same issue.

 

Yeah, I thought Bat #119 as well but I'm basing the question on CGC's notes. Lois Lane 70 has 1st SA appearance for catwoman. To the WF 88 comment, that could be the earliest SA of joker to date but CGC is all over the place. All the comments would just say Joker appearance but none 1st app ... well I guess that means I have to collect them all now?? :cloud9:

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rjpb

rjpb

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1st Silver age Catwoman is Lois Lane 70

 

I think Catwoman is in Batman #119 (October 1958)

 

edit: it is noted as "image only" as is Joker in that same issue.

 

Yeah, I thought Bat #119 as well but I'm basing the question on CGC's notes. Lois Lane 70 has 1st SA appearance for catwoman. To the WF 88 comment, that could be the earliest SA of joker to date but CGC is all over the place. All the comments would just say Joker appearance but none 1st app ... well I guess that means I have to collect them all now?? :cloud9:

 

I'm guessing these images in Batman 119 are portraits or some other representation used as a rogues gallery. Interesting as 1958 was right in the middle of a period where DC pretty much ignored the classic Batman villains of the Golden Age, instead concentrating on the new supporting cast, sci-fi stories and colorful Batman variations and "secrets". I can see a lot of 10 year olds wondering who The Joker, Penguin and Catwoman are when reading that story.

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Heronext

Heronext

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Posted
1st Silver age Catwoman is Lois Lane 70

 

I think Catwoman is in Batman #119 (October 1958)

 

edit: it is noted as "image only" as is Joker in that same issue.

 

Yeah, I thought Bat #119 as well but I'm basing the question on CGC's notes. Lois Lane 70 has 1st SA appearance for catwoman. To the WF 88 comment, that could be the earliest SA of joker to date but CGC is all over the place. All the comments would just say Joker appearance but none 1st app ... well I guess that means I have to collect them all now?? :cloud9:

 

I'm guessing these images in Batman 119 are portraits or some other representation used as a rogues gallery. Interesting as 1958 was right in the middle of a period where DC pretty much ignored the classic Batman villains of the Golden Age, instead concentrating on the new supporting cast, sci-fi stories and colorful Batman variations and "secrets". I can see a lot of 10 year olds wondering who The Joker, Penguin and Catwoman are when reading that story.

 

Just a minor footnote here - but Catwoman also appears in a cereal mini-comic that pre-dates Lois Lane #70 by a few months (if memory serves, having researched this before).

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rjpb

rjpb

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As there seems to be disagreement over when Batman's SA actually begins, I can see how it would be difficult to peg the first SA appearances of his villains at times.

 

Even with the one Penguin appearance, and a few sporadic Joker appearances inside, none of Batman's better known GA foes makes a cover appearance between Sept 1954 and Dec1960. I always consider there are two Silver Age Batman eras, the first actually preceding Showcase #4 with the appearance of Bat-hound in batman #92, signifying the move into a new supporting cast that would include Bat-Woman, Bat-girl and even Bat-mite, and the second with the obvious change in tone with the "new look" in 1964, and while I havent' read either, I imagine the Joker/Penguin appearances in Batman 97 & 99 feel similar to their later pre- "new look" appearances.

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Gopher John

Gopher John

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As there seems to be disagreement over when Batman's SA actually begins, I can see how it would be difficult to peg the first SA appearances of his villains at times.

 

Even with the one Penguin appearance, and a few sporadic Joker appearances inside, none of Batman's better known GA foes makes a cover appearance between Sept 1954 and Dec1960. I always consider there are two Silver Age Batman eras, the first actually preceding Showcase #4 with the appearance of Bat-hound in batman #92, signifying the move into a new supporting cast that would include Bat-Woman, Bat-girl and even Bat-mite, and the second with the obvious change in tone with the "new look" in 1964, and while I havent' read either, I imagine the Joker/Penguin appearances in Batman 97 & 99 feel similar to their later pre- "new look" appearances.

 

I think you're right. The terms Golden age and Silver Age are pretty constraining and don't really apply to all characters quite so neatly.

 

One great example is Quality's Plastic Man. The very last issue (#56) came out after Showcase #4. Does this make that one issue the first Silver Age appearance of Plastic Man?

 

For the few superheroes characters that ran uninterupted through the 1950's(Superman, Batman & Robin, Wonder Woman, Green Arrow, Aquaman), its not like there was a sudden and dramatic change in them (or their villians) once the Flash was revived in Showcase #4.

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rjpb

rjpb

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The last issue of Plastic Man was actually #64 ( Nov. 56), a month after Showcase #4, but the last issue to have a new Plas story was #52 (Feb. 55), pre-code, so I'd say it's safe to refer to the entire run as Golden Age, or at least the later issues as Atom Age, if you don't call pre-code 50s books "Golden Age".

 

I wouldn't call the last Quality issue of Blackhawk ( #107, Dec. 56) Silver Age either, the switch to DC as publisher with the Jan. 57 issue just makes it too easy to make that the break even if the art and tone didn't change right away, and the early DC issues were probably using Quality inventory.

 

 

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rjpb

rjpb

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Interesting note: the Penguin appears in Batman #99, a 1955 book...and then disappears for only 56 issues....but #155 is a "key." Go figure.

 

 

Only? hm

 

Especially as it took 7 years to publish those 56 issues. Batman 155 is a pretty minor "key", and that it was the first cover appearance since 1950 probably has more than anything to do with it's appeal.

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