26.
Title: [Batman #1]
Author: Bob Kane
Genre: Comics
Medium: Paperback
Acquisition: IS Primary Source
Date Completed: April 9, 2016
Rating: ****

To support my research, and to serve as a primary source, I sought out the very first introduction of The Joker, which happens to be in the 1940s Batman #1, when Batman earns his own book outside of Detective Comics.  The mystery begins when a strange voice over the radio predicts the death of a wealthy citizen, and the theft of his property; this prophecy is fulfilled to the letter, despite police presence and protection.  The mystery continues when a second ominous message is relayed, and again fulfilled, though through slightly different methods.  The perpetrator gains the attention of police and criminals alike - the police for their bafflement, and the criminal underworld for this man's usurpation of heists unofficially claimed by other thieves. Of course, Batman is needed to apprehend this unusual figure - before one gang or another is able to take him out.  The premise of this book is as the later rewriting has promised, to an extent - ominous predictions of death and theft, and even the methods of execution.  The original text, though, takes more time in the explication of the crimes, and thus offers a portrait of the Joker not as a madman bent on wreaking havoc, but as a calculating and cunning thief with an unusual calling card.  The Joker's costume is as much a performance as Batman's himself, and the two appear to be on much more even footing.  This is what strikes me most about his first appearance - the Joker is not yet the madman of modern narrative, but a stealthy (and relatively traditional) criminal whose motives are capitalistically understood.