It was a bonafide horror movie hit this year, which makes the subject of comic book clowns great for a Halloween-themed List of Six! There are plenty of clowns in comics, the most famous being, obviously, the Joker!

The simpler times of clowning

But we’re not here to talk about him. Everybody and their brother blog has written about the Joker! We’re going to talk about comic book clowns who aren’t the Joker! I started this month by talking about bat-themed heroes and villains who aren’t Batman. So how about a bunch of clown-themed heroes and villains who aren’t the Joker? Trust me, it’s going to be a ton of fun!

6. Obnoxio the Clown

An inspiration to millions

Obnoxio is an odd duck of a character. He was created for Crazy magazine, one of the knock-offs of Mad and Cracked from way back in the day. Then he went on to guest star in some issues of What If…? and he even had a one-shot entitled Obnoxio the Clown vs. the X-Men, because the X-Men could help anybody make some sales! Obnoxio was exactly what he looks like: a crummy, cigar-chomping dirtbag of a clown who probably shouldn’t be let within 100 yards of a schoolyard.

5. The Clown 

Not enough villains ride unicycles

The Circus of Crime is one of those classic Marvel villain ideas that always sticks around in the background somewhere. They started out as villains of the Hulk, with the Ringmaster using his hypnotism powers to control the Green Goliath. Along with some acrobats and a snake lady, the Circus of Crime employed the Clown, a whimsical dork who used juggling and a unicycle to commit crime. Somehow, the Clown went on to lead the team for a bit, but they were always third-rate villains at best.

4. Pagliacci

He probably thinks he’s meaningful

Named for the famed opera clown, Pagliacci is a grotesque criminal and leader of the Commedia Dell’Morte, Europe’s greatest assassins. Armed with blades and hatchets, Pagliacci went after the new Power Man and Iron Fist in New York City while searching for the love of his life, who had fled the Commedia Dell’Morte. He hasn’t done much with his time as a villain, but I guess he’s probably killed a lot of people in Europe. That counts.

3. Violator

The Leguizamo likeness is uncanny!

Violator is one of the most iconic characters to come out of Spawn comics in the 90s. He’s this wickedly designed demon monster guy who messed with Spawn all the time. And when he wasn’t in his proper demon form, Violator was the Clown, a fat, squat jerkass of a guy who caused Spawn even more problems. And he was played by John Leguizamo in the movie! That’s got to count for something hilarious, right?

2. The Clown

Sad crying clown in an iron lung

In my humble opinion, Hawkeye is the best comic book of the 21st century so far. Its casual, down-to-Earth style was a breath of fresh air in the world of comics at the time. And the villain of the piece — if we don’t count the hilarious Tracksuit Mafia — was the monstrous Clown, once again taking his look from opera. The Clown was a soulless assassin from Eastern Europe who nearly killed Hawkeye and his brother, but got defeat handed to him in short order by the end.

1. Jack-in-the-Box

The only one that’s an actual hero

Jack-in-the-Box is another great character brought to us from the phenomenal comic Astro City. Jack Johnson broke the color barrier in the toy industry in the world of Astro City, only to get fired after discovering that Whamco Toys was exploiting his inventions for criminal gain. So Johnson turned his toys into a whole superhero guise and kicked their butts! But Johnson soon died in tragedy. Fortunately for his all, his son eventually grew up and took over as Jack-in-the-Box, the high-flying clown superhero!

————————