CharacterTshirts

DC Comics

The Joker

The Joker works because he is the exact structural opposite of Batman and nothing else. Batman is order imposed by will; the Joker is the argument that order is a joke.

Shop The Joker shirts Kids & adult sizes

DC ComicsDebut 1940comicsfilmtelevisionanimation
First appearance
Batman #1 (1940), DC Comics
Created by
Bill Finger, Bob Kane, Jerry Robinson
Also known as
The Clown Prince of Crime, The Ace of Knaves
Universe
DC Universe
Appears in
comics, film, television, animation, games

Who is The Joker?

The Joker works because he is the exact structural opposite of Batman and nothing else. Batman is order imposed by will; the Joker is the argument that order is a joke. He has no fixed origin — the character has explicitly rejected one, most famously in the line about preferring his past to be multiple choice — and no stable motive beyond proving that anyone can be reduced to his level given one bad day. That refusal to explain him is why he has survived reinvention better than almost any villain: he can be a giggling prankster in 1966, a mass murderer in 1988, a scarred anarchist in 2008, and a study in social collapse in 2019, without any of those versions cancelling the others. He is also the rare antagonist who outsells the hero on merchandise, which says something about how audiences relate to him.

“Why so serious?”The Dark Knight (2008)

The Joker: the details

First appearance
Batman #1, April 1940 — in the same issue as Catwoman
Created by
Credited to Bill Finger, Bob Kane and Jerry Robinson; which of the three contributed the core idea has been disputed for decades
Visual source
Widely traced to Conrad Veidt's appearance in the 1928 film The Man Who Laughs
Nearly killed off
He was written to die in his second appearance; an editor's late change kept him alive
Deliberately no origin
The Killing Joke (1988) offers a backstory and then has him disown it, which became the character's standing position
Comics Code era
Softened into a harmless prankster through the 1950s and 1960s, then returned to lethal form in the 1970s
Academy Awards
Two performers have won Oscars for playing him — Heath Ledger in 2009 and Joaquin Phoenix in 2020

Why The Joker endures

The most commercially successful villain in comics and the benchmark against which comic-book antagonists are judged. He is also the clearest case of a character whose appeal is aesthetic rather than moral — the merchandise sells to people who have no interest in defending anything he does.

What The Joker looks like on a shirt

Signature motif: Green hair, chalk-white skin and a red rictus grin, usually over a purple suit

The purple-and-green pairing is a deliberate colour clash and is instantly readable even in silhouette. Shirts lean heavily on the grin alone, on playing-card imagery, and on the 'HA HA HA' text treatment.

Adult sizing dominates here, and rightly so. The most common treatments are a large photographic or illustrated face print, the purple/green colour block, and card-suit graphics. Note that this character is not carried on the kids' pages.

The Joker T-shirts

See all on Amazon →
Popfunk The Dark Knight Heath Ledger Dark Joker T Shirts (Large) Purple
Popfunk
Popfunk The Dark Knight Heath Ledger Dark Joker T Shirts (Large) Purple
$19.99on amazon.com · Aug 7, 2026
View on Amazon
Batman Joker This is My Happy Face T-Shirt Small
BATMAN
Batman Joker This is My Happy Face T-Shirt Small
$19.99on amazon.com · Aug 7, 2026
View on Amazon
Batman Joker Target T-Shirt
DC Comics
Batman Joker Target T-Shirt
$19.99on amazon.com · Aug 7, 2026
View on Amazon
Popfunk Batman Logo Joker Graffiti T-Shirt, Black (Large)
Popfunk
Popfunk Batman Logo Joker Graffiti T-Shirt, Black (Large)
$19.99on amazon.com · Aug 7, 2026
View on Amazon
DC Comics Batman The Joker Tarot Card Vintage Portrait T-Shirt
DC Comics
DC Comics Batman The Joker Tarot Card Vintage Portrait T-Shirt
$19.99on amazon.com · Aug 7, 2026
View on Amazon
Batman Dark Knight Joker T-Shirt
BATMAN
Batman Dark Knight Joker T-Shirt
$19.99on amazon.com · Aug 7, 2026
View on Amazon
DC Comics Batman Joker Profile T-Shirt
DC Comics
DC Comics Batman Joker Profile T-Shirt
$19.99on amazon.com · Aug 7, 2026
View on Amazon

Buying from outside the United States? Prices shown are amazon.com in US dollars. Links redirect international readers to their local Amazon, where pricing, sizing and availability are shown in local terms.

Price and availability are taken from Amazon at the time shown and can change. The price on Amazon at the time of purchase applies.

Sizes: kids to adult

The Joker shirts are produced across the full US size range. These links run a live Amazon search filtered to each band, so they show what is genuinely in stock rather than a cached list.

BandAgesUS sizesSearch
Toddler 2–4 years 2T, 3T, 4T Search toddler sizes
Kids 4–7 years XS (4/5), S (6/7) Search kids sizes
Youth 8–14 years M (8), L (10/12), XL (14/16) Search youth sizes
Adult 15+ S–3XL Search adult sizes

US sizing shown. Cut and measurement vary between brands — see the size guide before ordering, especially for youth sizes. Base search: Joker t-shirt.

Who has played The Joker

PerformerProductionYearType
Cesar RomeroBatman1966Live action
Jack NicholsonBatman1989Live action
Heath LedgerThe Dark Knight2008Live action
Jared LetoSuicide Squad2016Live action
Joaquin PhoenixJoker2019Live action
Mark HamillBatman: The Animated Series1992Voice

The Joker T-shirts: common questions

Who created The Joker?

The Joker was created by Bill Finger and Bob Kane and Jerry Robinson, first appearing in Batman #1 in 1940 (DC Comics).

What does a The Joker T-shirt usually look like?

Green hair, chalk-white skin and a red rictus grin, usually over a purple suit. Adult sizing dominates here, and rightly so. The most common treatments are a large photographic or illustrated face print, the purple/green colour block, and card-suit graphics. Note that this character is not carried on the kids' pages.

Are The Joker T-shirts made for children?

No. The Joker comes from work made for older audiences, so we keep the character off our kids pages even where children's sizes are manufactured.

Who has played The Joker?

The Joker has been played on screen by Cesar Romero (Batman, 1966), Jack Nicholson (Batman, 1989), Heath Ledger (The Dark Knight, 2008), Jared Leto (Suicide Squad, 2016), and voiced by Mark Hamill (Batman: The Animated Series, 1992).

How much does a The Joker T-shirt cost?

The Joker shirts we currently track start from around $19.99 on amazon.com. Every price on this page is dated, because they move.

This profile was compiled from published reference material about The Joker — first appearance, creator credits and production history — and is a secondary source rather than a substitute for the original publication. Where a detail could not be corroborated it has been left out. We do not physically test garments; see how we work for what that means and what it does not.

CharacterTshirts.com is an independent guide. It is not affiliated with, authorized by, endorsed by, or connected to any character rights holder, publisher, studio or network named on this site. All character names and titles are trademarks of their respective owners and are used here only to identify the products described.