Joker

Batman is a straight male power fantasy. His daylight veneer is one of a playboy billionaire. His nighttime identity is that of a sculpted superhero all clad in black. In either take, he is a masculine bulwark against the evil in Gotham — which is why his villains are so often feminine, queer, flamboyant, and robed in bright colors. Hopefully Supergirl and National City can provide a more inclusive and subversive space for the feminine, the gender nonconforming, the queer. Kara is one of the few superheroes more often portrayed as feminine; she derives her strength equally from her own compassion as she does Earth’s yellow sun.

In honor of the caped crusaders of the convention scene, ComicsAlliance has created Best Cosplay Ever (This Week), an ongoing collection of some of the most impeccable, creative, and clever costumes that we’ve discovered and assembled into a super-showcase of pure fan-devoted talent.

Odds are you’ve probably rolled your eyes more than a few times after hearing Jared Leto’s approach to playing the Joker in the upcoming Suicide Squad. We’ve talked here before about the actor’s refusal to break character and his uncomfortable gifts to his costars; what we should also remember is that Leto’s Joker seems to be the perfect version of that character for Zack Snyder and David Ayer's vision of the DC universe. If Leto’s take on the Joker proves the quiet optimists like me right, DC Films would do well to give audiences a chance to see Ben Affleck’s Batman and Jared Leto’s Joker in action.

The DC Legion of Collectors subscription box pushed things into overdrive this month with the Suicide Squad-themed box. Though Funko has yet to put any attention on the comic book side of the DC brand (the upcoming Women of DC box should fix that), the offerings tied to the cinematic side of things haven't been a disappointment. If anything, the Legion of Collectors has been on an upward path since inception, improving upon each release with new goods and more variation than the other two sub boxes Funko currently offers. That's doubly true here as the Suicide Squad Legion of Collectors box introduced an entirely new and exclusive action figure line. Of course, the standard fare is also still included, so don't worry about missing out on that patch, pin, t-shirt and Pop. Before covering all the good inside though, it's worth mentioning that this month our box was absent the exclusive variant comic of the original Suicide Squad #1. A small oversight that in no way ruined the rest of the contents, especially given the lack of mistakes we've experienced across the rest of the company's sub boxes. Still, would have been nice to enjoy the earliest adventures of DC's most reluctant heroes.

Despite not being an actual member of the Suicide Squad, the first Hot Toys figure from the upcoming film adaptation is none other than the Joker. Sure he plays a part, but just how large nobody can say for sure. We do know he's not one of the bigger pieces in the play, but his cameos throughout the film are clearly enough to generate more interest than the rest of the actual Squad members that star in the movie. At last insofar as Hot Toys is concerned. What's most curious about this Toy Fairs exclusive (Hot Toys' series of yearly convention offerings) is how specific it is, and how limited it is. And I don't mean the availability. I mean it's a really limited figure in how it can be posed. Sure, there supposedly 30 points of articulation hidden in there, but with the straitjacket constricting him, there isn't a whole lot this Joker can do. It's a pretty good Jared Leto though, so there is that.

When it comes to an icon like Batman, creation of a true foil requires care and precision, and there is perhaps no one better to fit the bill than the Joker. Created by Bill Finger, Bob Kane and Jerry Robinson, the Joker debuted in the first issue of Batman back in 1940. Originally meant to be killed off in his debut, The Joker instead survived to become Batman’s perfect antithesis in morality, philosophy and methods. He is a criminal mastermind who has been in the spotlight in many of Bruce Wayne’s most trying of times as defender of Gotham. No doubt, it is his place high on the throne in the pantheon of Batman baddies that drives cosplayers to take up his iconic bleached skin, green hair, and sinister smile. From the toothy grin, to the flashy get-up, these cosplayers bring the Joker to life in a fashion that will leave you calling for the Caped Crusader. These are the best Joker cosplays.

Last time in Superhero Color Theory we explained why our main heroes look the way they do. Now it's time to look at the secondary colors and how they often, but not always, signal the presence of a bad guy. Obviously it makes the most sense visually, that to stand apart from a primary colored (red/blue/yellow) hero, you want a secondary colored (purple/green/orange) one. But what do these colors tell us about what type of character the heroes are encountering?

I've heard it said there are few definitives in life beyond death and taxes, but you can probably throw Funko making Pops of something in there really soon, if you haven't already. The company's reach far exceeds what I'm sure anyone expected from Funko when the Pops first appeared as Funko Force 2.0 at San Diego Comic-Con 2010. In just six years, the Pop line has multiplied exponentially, and it seems that Funko can hardly even keep up with the demand. That doesn't stop 'em from trying though, as you can hardly make it through a day without Funko announcing at least one new property joining the fold. While we did know Suicide Squad collectibles were in the works, we didn't really have an idea of just how far Funko's rabbit hole went when it came to the upcoming Warner Bros. film based on the DC Comics characters. Needless to say, if you like Harley Quinn and the Joker, as portrayed by Margot Robbie and Jared Leto respectively, then you are going to have a lot of little deformed versions of those characters to buy this year.

Recent news of Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn spinoff confirms what we already assumed: she’s the best part of Suicide Squad. But if a new rumor proves to be true, she may not be the only charismatic member of Task Force X, as Warner Bros. might be considering giving a couple of her villainous co-stars spinoffs of their very own. To be honest, a Captain Boomerang solo movie doesn’t seem like something that would ever actually happen, but WB has done wackier things in recent years.

It was a busy Season 2 finale for FOX’s Gotham, wrapping up the battle against B.D. Wong’s Hugo Strange, while introducing the Court of Owls, pitting Mr. Freeze against Firefly, and somehow managing to work a Fish Mooney-mob showdown atop the setup for Season 3. The final moments opened a pretty big can of worms for future villains as well, though at least one sounded deliberately familiar to fans.