R.I.P. Jerry Robinson

It is with a heavy heart, that I must write these words. Jerry Robinson, legendary comic book artist, is dead. He died last night in his sleep, he was 89 years old. Gone now is a man, who left behind not only a great legacy of work, but an even greater legacy in the form of one of the comic book world's most diabolical and insane super-villains, the Joker.

Jerry was hired at a young age by Batman creator Bob Kane to work as an artist and inker on the Batman comic. At 17, Jerry went Columbia University to study journalism. He worked for DC Comics throughout the 1930's and 1940's. And it was in the time there, that he not only created the Joker. Despite much controversy over the years, many comic historians credit Jerry with creating the Joker, modeling him after actor Conrad Veidt in the 1928 film "The Man Who Laughs".

He also gave the world comic first kid sidekick, Batman's crime busting pal, Robin the Boy Wonder. And it was because of Robin, that kid sidekicks became the norm of many superheroes during the Golden Age of Comics (1940's to the 1950's).

Jerry's later career after leaving the Batman family in 1943 is one that to many may not seem all too exciting for one who helped to create the most infamous super-villain ever. He worked on the Batman comic strip for a year, then from 1944-1946, Jerry and his old pal Mort Meskin (another famed comic book artist) created a short lived comic book studio, then Jerry went on afterwards to create the famed comic strip Flubs and Fluffs, which ran during the 1960's in the New York Sunday News.

During the mid 1970's, Jerry was a key supporter in the legal battle between DC Comics and Superman creators Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. With Batman artist Neal Adams, Jerry drew much support until DC relented and granted lifetime stipends to Jerry and Joe, along with a credit in all Superman works thereafter, both broadcasted and published.

While the man himself may be dead, and we certainly mourn his passing, we may celebrate his life in the work he did during his time working with Bob Kane and Bill Finger. It is because of Jerry, that we now have the most recongizable super-villain ever, and one of the more famous kid sidekicks as well. R.I.P. Jerry, we'll miss you.