The Joker Bronze Age Omnibus (2019)

Anyone who knows me or has read much on the Web site knows Christmas and Batman are symbiotic. For me, at least.

Growing up, Batman was my favorite hero. Not Adam West. Nothing against the dearly departed, but I learned to love Batman from the source material.

Batman was a grinning goof of Golden Age reprints or the soon-to-be christened Dark Knight living in the shadows of the Denny O’Neil/Neal Adams era I grew up with. Toss in some Carmine Infantino with the new look and they were my Batman.

And, who is the Batman’s greatest villain?

His rogue’s gallery is only rivaled by the Flash’s or Spider-Man’s. This is a fanboy’s dream argument; who has the best rogue’s gallery?

That’s for another time and forum.

For our purposes, let’s talk about the Joker.

Ah, yes, the Joker. That evil clown to scare children. A psychopath to scare the adults.

Plus, he’s Batman’s oldest recurring nemesis.

It just all fits.

So, to give me an omnibus of Batman’s greatest villain during the Bronze age in which I discovered both and it’s one of the best comic related Christmas presents ever.

Thank you, Jeff.

Looking at this, people are gonna ask what the Joker omnibus has to do with Christmas. It’s not a Christmas comic book nor does it contain even one holiday story.

No, it’s a Christmas gift.

Much like the Batman issue 260 I droned on about in 2018, this is a gift that will always be associated with Christmas.

When I first learned of the omnibus, I wasn’t sure if it was worth $99.99 to me. There are so many good stories, but I have all but Justice League of America (1960) 77, Wonder Woman (1942) 280-283 and the unpublished The Joker issue 10.

The unpublished issue was tempting, but I just couldn’t justify a Benjamin for that one comic book.

I do love that series. I bought several when the first hit the stands in the mid-1970s and finished the series sometime in the late 1990s.

Just looking at the other issues, included is Batman 251 with the rebirth of the killing Joker. Detective Comics issues 475 and 476 is the Laughing Fish story. Brave and the Bold (1955) 111 is one of the first Batman/Joker stories I ever read and has one of my favorite Batmobiles.

And, so many, many more stories.

This is a treasure in so many ways. I’ve loved the excuse to re-read these classics. As much as I’ve enjoyed reading the new material. My greatest pleasure, snuggled under the covers, my wife tucked beside me and cats warming my legs; has been the unpublished Joker story. It may be continued and I’ll never know the ending, but to have an unread Bronze Age Joker story is a rare treat that will probably never be repeated.

So, thank you, again Jeff, for this gem of a gift. Amid the year of Covid and lack of guests, it shone as bright as my super hero Christmas tree in 2020.