Joker (comics)

The Joker is a fictional supervillain created by Bill Finger, Bob Kane, and Jerry Robinson that first appeared in the debut issue of the comic book Batman (April 25, 1940) published by DC Comics. Credit for the Joker's creation is disputed; Kane and Robinson claimed responsibility for the Joker's design, while acknowledging Finger's writing contribution. Although the Joker was planned to be killed off during his initial appearance, he was spared by editorial intervention, allowing the character to endure as the archenemy of the superhero Batman.

In his comic book appearances, the Joker is portrayed as a criminal mastermind. Introduced as a psychopath with a warped, sadistic sense of humor, the character became a goofy prankster in the late 1950s in response to regulation by the Comics Code Authority, before returning to his darker roots during the early 1970s. As Batman's nemesis, the Joker has been part of the superhero's defining stories, including the murder of Jason Todd—the second Robin and Batman's ward—and the paralysis of one of Batman's allies, Barbara Gordon. The Joker has had various possible origin stories during his decades of appearances. The most common story involves him falling into a tank of chemical waste which bleaches his skin white, turns his hair green, and his lips bright red; the resulting disfigurement drives him insane. The antithesis of Batman in personality and appearance, the Joker is considered by critics to be his perfect adversary.

The Joker (Six Flags Discovery Kingdom)

The Joker is an upcoming steel roller coaster at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom in Vallejo, California. The ride which will open in Spring 2016, replacing Roar, a wooden roller coaster, by putting a new steel track on top of Roar's wooden support structure. The hybrid roller coaster is themed to The Joker, a villain from DC Comics.

Joker is designed by Alan Schilke and will be built by Rocky Mountain Construction. This will be Rocky Mountain Construction's first coaster themed to a superhero or villain. The wooden Roar had been constructed by Great Coasters International and opened on May 14, 1999.

History

Six Flags Discovery Kingdom announced in July 2015, that they would be closing their wooden roller coaster, Roar, giving riders about a month to get their last ride in, before closing on August 16, 2015. On September 3, 2015 Six Flags announced that they will be revamping the wooden coaster, Roar, into a steel track coaster, to be called The Joker. The renovation would be performed by Rocky Mountain Construction and would feature the I-Box steel track on all of the original wooden coaster supports, Joker-themed trains, and three inversions including the first ever ever step-up under-flip inversion. The new ride will open for the 2016 season.

The Joker (Six Flags México)

The Joker is a Gerstlauer steel spinning roller coaster operating at Six Flags México and opened on 7 March 2013. Joker used to operate at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom as Pandemonium before relocating to México.

History

Six Flags Discovery Kingdom (2008–2012)

Joker was known as Tony Hawk's Big Spin when it first opened on May 23, 2008. The coaster offered a full "extreme sports" experience, with monitors in the queue lines displaying highlights of the history of action sports and a large spinning Tony Hawk figure crowning the ride. The coaster was named after the skateboarding trick of the same name, which is a body varial with the skateboard rotating fully once, or 360 degrees.

In late 2010, Six Flags began the process of cancelling licensed intellectual property deals they had with various brands including Tony Hawk. Tony Hawk's Big Spin at Discovery Kingdom and others like it were originally renamed to Big Spin before being renamed and rethemed to Pandemonium.

After January 1, 2012 (the end of the 2011 season at Discovery Kingdom), Pandemonium at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom was closed to be removed to make room for the park's newest coaster Superman: Ultimate Flight for the 2012 season. Days after January 1, Pandemonium started to be removed and then towards the end of January 2012, Pandemonium was completely removed from the site where the coaster was located. By March 2012, Pandemonium traveled to the Roller Coaster Museum in Plainview, Texas before being sent to Six Flags México in Mexico City before to operate in 2013.