The Joker’s ‘Emperor’ Costume Is the Only One That Respects His Theme

The Joker has donned so many different looks in comics and other media over the years that his true origin as a character may get lost in the shuffle. Though his purple suit and green hair have become his most popular aesthetic, there is one period of time that took The Clown Prince of Crime back to his roots visually. This change happened when he was flush with power as Emperor Joker, using his newfound omnipotence to match his physical appearance to how he was originally envisioned.

This source of unimaginable power stemmed from Joker tricking Mister Mxyzptik in Superman: Emperor Joker #1 – authored by Joe Kelly and Jeph Loeb, with art by Duncan Rouleau, Todd Nauck, Carlo Barberi, and Scott McDaniel. In a massive error in judgment, the imp decided to bestow a fraction of his power on someone outside of his dimension, selecting Joker as the recipient. But the stakes quickly escalated when Joker tricked Mxyzptik into giving up 99.99% of his power, rather than the 1% he had originally planned. This allowed him to remake the world in his image, repeatedly torturing and killing Batman and Lex Luthor, the latter of the two being made into a court jester in Joker’s court.

The world around was not the only thing remade in his image, as Joker’s own physical appearance finally matched the original inspiration of his character – a joker from a deck of playing cards. When discussing the original character’s inspiration, creators Bill Finger, Bob Kane, and Jerry Robinson often shared Robinson’s sketch of a sinister-looking joker playing card. Taking visual cues from both the joker cards and the king cards in the standard deck, Emperor Joker was an imposing trickster god with the fashion sense of medieval royalty. He had a slightly askew crown, a plush, fur-lined purple robe, and a chiseled side profile. At times, his crown showed all four suits in the deck and there were multiple scenes where he was holding court in ways that reflected the implied royal dynamics on the face cards.

There have been many iconic looks for the Clown Prince of Crime that don’t seem to acknowledge his inspiration as the joker from a deck of cards. Grant Morrison’s terrifying aesthetic for Joker meant the villain was routinely shirtless and wearing suspenders, with a forked tongue and a bullet hole in his head. Joker’s look in Death of the Family was more terrifying still, as his mundane mechanic’s uniform was a brain-rattling juxtaposition to the fact that he had his face cut off to wear it as a mask. But none really got to the root of the character’s actual origin.

Joker’s personality and appearance have been the ultimate wild card, and changes to either element of his character provide endless fodder for creators. It was refreshing to see DC pay homage to Joker’s oldest origins, with the Emperor Joker event featuring a nice throwback to the humble beginnings of this infamous Batman villain. This is made all the more noteworthy when considering Joker could have literally manifested his heart’s desires, but still chose to go back to his roots.