Now, if you look at the Jester without knowing anything about him, you’d probably write him off as Yet Another Bad Idea From The Golden Age (Which Is Forgivable Because It Was The Dawn Of Comics And So On). Seriously, that’s possibly the silliest, most garish superhero costume of all time. Not only does it include a fool’s cap and bells and a muscle shirt with poofy sleeves, but it has both stripes and polka-dots in an eye-popping yellow-and-black motif.
But here’s the thing: the writers, even then, knew what they were doing! See, Paul Gustavson, who created the Jester (and also the original Golden Age Marvel Comics Angel, the one with the moustache, who has shown himself to have some legs as the more-or-less official symbol of Marvel’s Golden Age – the one who isn’t Namor or Captain America), recognized that the Jester was a pretty silly idea. Probably he created him after a three-day bender, looked down at the paper, then at the bottle of whatever he had been drinking, and quietly said “fuuuuuuck…”
And then he made it work. He did so by having the Jester’s total ridiculousness be his gimmick: the criminals the Jester fought were scared of him because the Jester, so far as they were concerned, was goddamn crazy. Gustavson emphasized the Jester’s freaky-sounding high pitched laugh in the stories, which makes sense because if you were a criminal, probably the last thing you would want to hear at 2 AM in a shadowy alley would be giggling from the shadows. That would be seriously creepy.
Basically, the Jester is the Joker if the Joker were a hero rather than a villain. And also not (too) crazy.
DC got the Jester along with the rest of the Quality Comics properties, but have barely touched him. With one major exception – a guest shot in Starman #46, where James Robinson basically let the Jester do his crazyfied schtick in a teamup with Ted Knight – he’s gone more or less unused. In a way it makes sense, because the Jester doesn’t really work in a modern setting and DC isn’t doing any titles like All-Star Squadron right now where they focus on a past historical era of superheroing. But it’s still a shame nonetheless, because there’s some real storytelling meat here.
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So he’s the Golden Age Creeper.
So, tell me, MGK — how might you use him, if given the opportunity?
Supporting character (who steals every scene he’s in, of course) in a post-WW2 Golden Age mystery story featuring Firebrand II, the Invisible Hood, Zatara, and Phantom Lady.
Title: “Who Killed The Red Bee?”
And the first thing I think of is Jack-in-the-Box, one of the my personal faves from Astro City. And then I miss how Astro City used to be a must-read. Sigh.
Wasn’t he just in the Arkham mini??
See, what I like is: “Marital Status: single (at least in his recorded adventures)” – which is basically DC’s way of saying “Look, this dude’s so wacky even WE can’t say we know for sure what he’s been up to. Could have sixteen illegitimate kids in Tijuana, we don’t know!”
And he’s another one listed as “An Olympic-level athlete”. In what, exactly? I don’t think they give bronze medals for Batshit Crazy, because if so, this guy needs to be tested for performance-enhancing substances, stat.
How does he know he’s the direct descendant of a medieval jester? Wouldn’t that be slightly hard to track? Otherwise awesome…
Imagine this guy set loose in modern Gotham.
The Black Mask would fear this guy more than death, the Batman, and syphilis combined. “He left me dangling from a giant slinky with a clown nose glued to my face and a sign saying ‘Kiss Me I’m Irish’ glued to my ass, right in [Gotham’s equivalent of Times Square]!”
Oooh, I get tingly just thinking about it.
The oddest part is him winking in the background. Why?
Y’know what would be awesome? This guy pitched against the Joker. Joker would either hate his guts almost as much as he hates the Bat’s, for “stealing his schtick”, or they’d totally bond and then start an EPIC creampie fight over skyscrapers.
“How does he know he’s the direct descendant of a medieval jester? Wouldn’t that be slightly hard to track?”
LSD flashback.
See, this is exactly the kind of thing they’re supposed to test you for before you join the police.
I agree with HammerHeart. Jester v. Joker showdown needs to happen. Maybe Silver Age Joker, though, since he was just obnoxious and not particularly dangerous. I think that would be a good match up with the Jester.
Before reading the character history, I assumed he was a milkman. I wish I wouldn’t have read the character history.
How does he compare with quasi-villains like the Creeper or the Trickster? (I’m not really familiar with any of them, to be honest.)
Maybe he needs a Moore makeover…
“The whores and politicians will look up and shout ‘Save us!’… and I’ll look down and snicker “hee hee hee hee hee hee hee hee hee hee hee hee hee hee hee hee!” *jingle jingle*
Yeah, I love the part where he isn’t just out to catch criminals, he makes them look like chumps.
The Batman pinches you, you do some years, get your Nabbed By Batman merit badge, and get bumped up to the next level of Gotham Criminals, Inc.
This guy takes you down? You will never do another job due to being laughed out of crime.
MGK,
Thank you for your response. In my mind, I’ve bought it already — or at the least, when I dream tonight, I’m gonna peek at the copy from Lucien’s library, as I did with your LSH and Doctor Strange runs — and that critically acclaimed Rex the MF’ing Wonder dog mini you did after that. 😀
The fact I can’t remember any of it when I wake up sucks no end, though…
I have to say, MGK, this guy sounds pretty damn awesome. At least an 80%.
I like the idea of the character, but the costume seems a barrier. The Joker can be ridiculous in campy portrayals (Cesar Romero) or deliciously sociopathic (Dark Knight, Heath Ledger, etc.), but the costume doesn’t get in the way; it enhances whatever shtick, emotion or mania he has going on. The Jester seems like he’d be encumbered.
I got a lovely image of a modern one but with superpowers…maybe the full flying brick or maybe “just” superspeed. Not Superman or Flash level perhaps but enough for the new Jester to do all the superdickery that they would not. 🙂
Man, the American Olympics team must’ve been pretty lame in the Golden Age, what with most of the athletes off fighting crime and whatnot.
Oh, and here’s an idea for a cross-over for you. A modern comedian decides to dress up in a police uniform and fight crime as … The Copper!
(“After all, since I’m an Olympic-level athlete, why should I bother with police academy?”)
The criminals the Copper fights are scared of him because, as far as they are concerned, he’s going to goddam fine and arrest them.
I understand that “Olympic Level Athelete” is Whos Who/OHOTMU-speak for “he doesn’t have actual powers, but he works out”, but the question remains:
Did Roy Thomas ever address how all these 20-30-year-old men in peak physical fitness were able to dodge the draft for WW2? I have a few issues of ASS rescued from bargain bins, and the only person I can remember serving as Green Lantern (who, given the relative omnipotence of his ring, was still able to show up at meetings).
I read a Jester comic on Scans Daily once. He saved a beautiful young heiress and her domineering mother from criminals, and taught them to case off their stifled ways and have a good time. I like the idea of a superhero who battles evil and stuffy social conventions at the same time.
I like the idea that his descent from an actual court jester is important. Kind of like actor Scott Reiniger, from “Dawn of the Dead”, who found out in 2004 that he was also Prince of Ghor.
Mainly because that fact is so freaking awesome that I just have to bring it up at every opportunity now that I know it. 🙂
Well, he showed up in that costume at the recruiting office, for one…
Isn’t this pretty much the Jokester’s schtick?
Yes, but the Jokester was a doomed-to-die-idiotic-idea character created in Countdown, so the less said about his ultimately deserved death the better.
Jokester was awesome and I hope he and Duela come back.
I don’t really care what his ‘thing’ was as long as he wore pants. All the Marvel golden agers were mostly pantless and that creeps me out. Its like someone touching you in the pool. Give me my space ya freak.
With all those clashing patterns and colors, he’s obviously perfected the “Ooh, my eyes!” attack.
[…] of great and relatively underused Golden Age characters to call upon: the Crimson Avenger, the Jester, the Invisible Hood, Giovanni Zatara, G.I. […]