Why so serious?

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posted by Curious Artificer at 1:15 PM on December 8, 2011

So gentlemen, that's how it is.

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posted by ersatz at 1:18 PM on December 8, 2011

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posted by jquinby at 1:19 PM on December 8, 2011

I'LL PULL THE BIGGEST BONER OF THEM ALL!

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posted by mightygodking at 1:19 PM on December 8, 2011 [8 favorites]

It's all part of the plan.

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posted by Superfrankenstein at 1:20 PM on December 8, 2011

Thanks for the greatest comic book villain ever. R.I.P. Jerry Robinson.
posted by Ron Thanagar at 1:25 PM on December 8, 2011 [1 favorite]

In my dream, the world had suffered a terrible disaster. A black haze shut out the sun, and the darkness was alive with the moans and screams of wounded people. Suddenly, a small light glowed. A candle flickered into life, symbol of hope for millions. A single tiny candle, shining in the ugly dark. I laughed and blew it out.
posted by Bunny Ultramod at 1:25 PM on December 8, 2011 [1 favorite]

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posted by Renoroc at 1:32 PM on December 8, 2011

I met Robinson at a small private party at the San Diego Con in the late 1980's. Super nice guy, loved loved to talk comics and comic history. The highlight was seeing Jerry reuniting with Charlie Paris, whom he hadn't see for like 40+ years.

A talented artist, and a hell of a nice guy.
posted by marxchivist at 1:33 PM on December 8, 2011

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posted by Thorzdad at 1:35 PM on December 8, 2011

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posted by Fuzzy Monster at 1:43 PM on December 8, 2011

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posted by rahnefan at 1:45 PM on December 8, 2011

Darn.

Apart from his role in creating the Joker and working on the early Batman stories, everybody should check out his work with Mort Meskin on series like The Black Terror or Green Lama. Some of the best art of the Golden Age of American comics, art that makes you giddy just looking at it.

The Digital Comics Museum should have a lot of his material that has entered the public domain.
posted by MartinWisse at 1:52 PM on December 8, 2011

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posted by Gelatin at 2:04 PM on December 8, 2011

RIP, Mr. Robinson. You helped make my childhood so damned enjoyable that I can't quite let the part of it that you touched go.
posted by middleclasstool at 2:10 PM on December 8, 2011

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posted by Joey Michaels at 2:37 PM on December 8, 2011

?
posted by iotic at 2:49 PM on December 8, 2011

Literally my first print encounter with Batman (I'm like 3 years old in this scenario, so whether or not I already knew the characters from Super Friends reruns or Kenner Super Powers toys is hazy at best) was also the first appearance of the Joker, a series of grisly murders reprinted in gloriously seedy Golden Age full color in a remaindered copy of Jules Feiffer's Great Comic Book Heroes. Though credited, of course, to loudmouth fraud Bob Kane, Robinson's version of events is more nuanced and plausible. I still read comic books because this man found a way to make them freak me out. RIP.
posted by Rustmouth Snakedrill at 5:11 PM on December 8, 2011

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posted by immlass at 7:11 PM on December 8, 2011

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posted by V4V at 8:08 PM on December 8, 2011