Trickster (DC Comics)

Trickster
Publication information
Publisher	DC Comics
First appearance	Flash (1st series) #113 (June–July 1960)
Created by	John Broome Carmine Infantino
In-story information
Alter ego	Giovanni Giuseppe
Team affiliations	Rogues Secret Society of Super Villains Black Lantern Corps
Notable aliases	James Jesse
Abilities	Above-average intelligence. Gadgets give him the ability to perform amazing tricks like walking on air. Skilled con-artist and acrobat.

The Trickster is the name of two fictional characters, DC Comics supervillains that are both enemies of the Flash. The original Trickster first appeared in Flash (1st series) #113 (June–July 1960), while the second debuted in Flash (2nd series) #183 (April 2002).

Fictional character biography

James Jesse

The original Trickster is a practical joker and conman whose favorite occupation is damaging enemies like the Flash with items such as explosive teddy bears.

His alter ego is "James Jesse", a stage name to replace his true identity, "Giovanni Giuseppe". He was a circus acrobat who decided to become a criminal just like his "reverse namesake" Jesse James. He created shoes that allowed him to walk on air and other dangerous gag gadget for his crimes. He clashed with the Flash (Barry Allen) many times.

After Barry Allen's death, the Trickster relocated from Central City to Hollywood, where he spent some time working in special effects. He attempted to steal Dan Cassidy's innovative Blue Devil suit, but was defeated. When Cassidy later became trapped in the suit, Jesse befriended him and relied on Cassidy to help with his sporadic efforts to give up supervillainy. In the miniseries Underworld Unleashed Neron tried to create Hell on Earth. When James Jesse tricked his way into Neron's domain it was only to find himself an expected visitor. Neron made vague promises to Jesse, and seemed to keep Jesse in his confidences. However, once Jesse realized he was in Hell and Neron was the Devil incarnate, Trickster realized it was up to him, win or lose, to beat the Devil. He managed to trick Neron and defeat him with Captain Marvel's help. Upon finding himself back on Earth, Trickster lamented the fact that he had engineered "the greatest sting of all time" and no one had witnessed it... and promptly decided he'd better work the side of the angels, because he didn't dare go to Hell.

He began using his con-artist skills for good, and collecting the weapons of incarcerated supervillains because such things were too dangerous to be left lying around and could fall into the wrong hands. (He was right: see Trickster II.)

When his old girlfriend Mindy Hong called on him for help, Trickster went with her to the tiny mountain kingdom of Zhutan. There, with the help of the Pied Piper and Billy Hong, a 12-year-old boy who proved to be the Majee (a special agent of the Saravistran god Meshta, sent to observe and weigh humankind's progress), he again defeated Neron. As part of the deal, Jesse told Neron to forget the Rogues, who were grudgingly grateful for being rescued from the demon's wrath. Minutes later, Jesse was flabbergasted to be told that Billy Hong was his son.

Trickster returned to the States and kept on using his skills for good. He once saved Catwoman's life by tricking her into helping him "kill" her. She was grateful, and he thought her "the most fascinating woman I've ever met," but they parted as merely friends. The FBI contacted Jesse and recruited him. He worked for them awhile and then the Top reappeared and turned the Rogues' world topsy-turvy by brainwashing several of them, causing the ROGUE WAR. Still working as an agent of the FBI, James Jesse gathered the reformed Rogues to stop Captain Cold and the other Rogues. However, the Top appeared and reverted what he did to the reformed Rogues, eventually. It took Trickster and the Pied Piper a long time to sort out their own memories from the Top's hypnotic suggestions. The other Rogues scattered and laid low.

Countdown

James Jesse appears in Countdown #51, where he arrives at fellow Rogue Heat Wave's apartment in response to Captain Cold's call for a meeting of the Rogues. Heat Wave is not pleased to see Trickster, and reprimands Jesse on the fact that he was once helping the Flash (Wally West). Trickster talks his way into the apartment, and it appears that the Top's brainwashing of Jesse has been completely undone.. Unbeknownst to the two former cellmates, as they are discussing the future of the Rogues, one of the Pied Piper's rats is spying on them. Later that evening Pied Piper rejoins the Rogues as well and resumes an uneasy friendship with Jesse. After Captain Cold, Heat Wave and Weather Wizard murder Bart Allen in Flash: The Fastest Man Alive #13, the resultant chaos sends the Trickster and the Pied Piper on the run from heroes and villains alike.

After attending Bart Allen's funeral in secret, Piper and the Trickster are captured by Deadshot and Multiplex and handcuffed together with cuffs that will explode if they are tampered with, separated by about five feet of equally protected chain.. They manage to escape from their captors, but unfortunately they remain shackled together as they continue their lives on the lam. They quickly make their way to Gotham where they are offered partial sanctuary by the Penguin, who contacts the FBI for the reward. The duo then escape the Suicide Squad only to have the Question and Batwoman catch up with them.

Piper and Trickster immediately begin to plead with the two heroes that they personally were not responsible for the death of Bart Allen. Batwoman is quick to ignore their pleas, and more concerned for busting the two criminals for the Flash's death. The Question however, is willing to hear them out, at which point the Trickster performs a puppet show in order to plead their case, using puppets of himself and the Flash. Batwoman becomes furious at the disrespect that Trickster shows, and punches him down, breaking his nose. The Question however, believes their story, saying that "those two couldn't kill time' and lets them go. When Batwoman demands what right she has to release them, Montoya states that her past as a police detective taught her to spot true murderers.

The two Rogues inadvertently make it to Poison Ivy's greenhouse, and are captured by her. Despite being dazed by Poison Ivy's use of pheremones, Trickster finds himself focusing on Piper once he hears the other man speak. Deathstroke decides to use the two fugitives as bait, planting a bomb on them. The situation gets even more dangerous when Deathstroke arrives. Trickster draws his attention away from Piper for the second time, and gets his nose broken a second time. Deathstroke beats up both Rogues (but does not kill them, deciding to use the two fugitives as bait by planting a bomb on them. They are found by Batman, who gets the third dose of Trickster's insolence, but resists temptation and turns the pair of them over to the Flash (Wally West). West is furious. He hauls Trickster and Piper back to Bart Allen's Grave. They explain that Deathstroke has planted subcutaneous explosive devices in their necks. West believes them and removes the devices by vibrating through their skin. He continues questioning them, and Trickster's answers make him so angry he breaks Jesse's nose for the third time. Eventually, however, he believes their story.

Wally confines the two at the Green Arrow/Black Canary wedding, despite the warnings that Deathstroke is planning an all-out assault at the occasion. The two manage to escape the wedding assault, stealing a car and inadvertently picking up Double Down as a passenger. The trio stop at a diner, only to be attacked by the Suicide Squad. Double Down is captured, but Piper and Trickster decide to follow the Squad using an invisibility field, planning to free the other captured villains, whom Trickster insists will "owe us for life." They encounter and free Two-Face, who tells them that the villains are being shipped off at a secret base, then flips a coin to decide whether or not to go along with them. The duo narrowly escape the resultant mayhem and then once again avoid capture by Deadshot.

Throughout Countdown, Trickster makes a series of less-than-funny homophobic jokes (although he has never used them in any earlier series) which keep the Piper angry and focused. But at the last, when they are riding in the freight car of a train, he is finally able to turn the joke on himself and the two crack up laughing at his awful wordplay.

Unfortunately, just at the moment when Trickster finally addresses the Piper as "Hartley" for the first time in the entire series, Jesse notices the red dot of a laser sight on Piper's forehead. Deadshot has caught up with them again. Trickster yanks the Piper out of the line of fire, saving his life, and then Trickster uncharacteristically decides to make a stand and fight. During the fray, Deadshot grabs Trickster's cape and yanks him from the train, then drags him along the tracks, wounding him. When Deadshot declares he's going to shoot the Pied Piper and takes aim, Trickster shouts, "NO! NOT HIM! NOT NOW!" and hurls himself into the hail of bullets. Jesse is killed instantly but the Piper is shielded by his body and survives and escapes on the train. Left alone with the corpse of Trickster still chained to him, Piper is forced to flee the train in the Chihuahuan desert and gets lost, dragging along his dead (but talkative) companion. Unable to destroy the cuffs, Piper eventually chops off Trickster's left hand after carrying his corpse as far as he can. While most of Trickster's body remains on Earth, the hand goes with the Piper through a mysteriously-appearing boomtube to Apokolips.

There, Desaad breaks away the cuffs, freeing Piper and consigning Trickster's hand to the foul depths of Apokolips. Desaad then explains that he has been manipulating events and both Rogues all along, because he believes the Piper can express the Anti-life Equation through his music. Realizing this fiend murdered Trickster, the Piper lets Desaad have what he wants-- "voicing" the Anti-life Equation with his music until Desaad's head explodes. Then, alone and mourning his murdered friend, the Piper plays a swan song for Trickster, and his music is so furious and powerful that the entire planet explodes.

Once returned to Earth via another boomtube he created, the Pied Piper recovers from his nightmare journey and resumes his efforts to take down the Rogues for good. In Final Crisis: Rogues' Revenge he steals Jesse's Last Will & Testament from the authorities. While on the run, Jesse had told him how the document conceals another written in invisible ink, which turns out to be instructions and diagrams showing how to bring down the Rogues. Unfortunately, Piper's efforts to carry out Jesse's plans are unsuccessful: he is wounded and then unwillingly involved in the killing of Inertia.

In Blackest Night: The Flash James Jesse was reanimated as a Black Lantern.

Axel Walker

Trickster
File:TricksterII.jpg
Publication information
Publisher	DC Comics
First appearance	Flash (2nd series) #183 (April 2002)
Created by	Geoff Johns Scott Kolins
In-story information
Alter ego	Axel Walker
Team affiliations	Rogues
Abilities	gadgets give him the ability to perform amazing tricks like walking on air.

While the first Trickster was working for the FBI, teenager Axel Walker stole all of Jesse's gadgets and shoes and became the new Trickster. He joined Blacksmith's Network and destroyed files from Goldface and Hunter Zolomon for her. He was also given new "toys" in addition to Jesse's originals. After the defeat of Blacksmith, he was invited to join the new Rogues led by Captain Cold, and accepted. He remained with the new Rogues until the "reformed" Rogues attempted to stop Cold. While the two Tricksters were fighting, the Top gave Jesse's memory back. The original Trickster then defeated his successor and told him never to become the Trickster again.

After some time, Axel escaped from prison and returned to Keystone City. However, he was quickly defeated by the Flash.

Axel's next appearance since then was in Helmet of Fate: Detective Chimp, where he answered an ad from four college students asking for an experienced superhero to train them. He had dinner with them and then killed all four of them. His crime was discovered when Detective Chimp used his remarkable deductive powers to help deduce who the murderer was. Axel was then arrested.

With the "reformed" Trickster dead, Axel returned as The Trickster in Final Crisis: Rogues' Revenge mini-seires.

Powers and abilities

The Trickster has a number of trick items that he employs. This includes itching powder, potato head bombs, exploding rubber chickens, exploding yo-yos, sharpened jacks, hard shell candy, and various other joke themed weapons.

The Trickster wears a pair of shoes that allow him to fly for up to 10 hours.

Other media

The Flash TV series

File:Prank and Trickster.jpg

The Trickster, played by Mark Hamill, with his sidekick Prank in The Flash.

In the live action television series The Flash (1990–1991), the Trickster was played by Mark Hamill, who would later voice the Joker in 1992's Batman: The Animated Series. In the episode "The Trickster", private investigator Megan Lockhart (played by Joyce Hyser) attempts to capture a wanted criminal psychopath named James Jesse. His full name is James Montgomery Jesse, and has committed mass killings in various states according to his dossier. During the pursuit, Jesse gets the upper hand and captures Lockhart, but not before she is able to call her friend Barry Allen (played by John Wesley Shipp), whom she had learned was the Flash in an earlier episode. The Flash saves Megan, and Jesse is arrested. As a result, both The Flash and Megan Lockhart become James Jesse's new fixation. After escaping from police custody, he takes on the costumed identity of The Trickster. He has psychotic delusions that Lockhart had been his true love, a costumed sidekick named Prank. He believes that Prank has been kidnapped and brainwashed by the "evil" Flash, and coerce Lockhart into wearing the Prank costume and serving as his sidekick after delivering a death threat to Barry Allen. Barry manages to escape from a drowning stunt, changes into his Flash costume, and sends the Trickster back behind bars, thanks to Lockhart's "betrayal".

In the final episode of the series, "Trial Of The Trickster", James Jesse escapes from his criminal trial with the unexpected help of a fake court stenographer (played by Corinne Bohrer) named Zoey Clark, the wealthy owner of Clarx Toys. She is a huge fan of the Trickster and would do anything to get her hands on him. As they arrive safely at her toy store, Clark admits that she finds a kindred spirit in the Trickster and wants to be his fantasy sidekick Prank. She takes her clothes off to reveal the Prank costume underneath and seduces the Trickster into thinking that "she" is the Prank of his delusions.

After a brief "reunion", both the Trickster and the new Prank kidnap the Flash and brainwash him into becoming evil. The fastest man alive becomes the Trickster's new partner, causing Prank to become jealous over being replaced. She complains to the Trickster, only to end up restrained inside her toy store for being a nuisance.

Meanwhile, the Trickster plans to put Central City into trial but fails after the Flash regains his memories. He hurriedly escapes from the court and is rescued again by Prank, who manages to break free from her binds and is still in love with him. The Trickster shows his gratitude by pushing Prank out of the getaway car and runs off solo, leaving Prank behind again. In the end, the Trickster loses the battle with the Flash and gets arrested along with Prank. The Trickster is incarcerated into a high-restricted prison cell, isolating him away from anyone else.

In 1995, the two episodes were edited together into a movie and released on video as The Flash II: Revenge of the Trickster.

Justice League Unlimited

File:Trickster jlu.jpg

Trickster in Justice League Unlimited

In the Justice League Unlimited episode "Flash and Substance", Mark Hamill reprises his role as the James Jesse version of the Trickster. The Trickster aids three other Flash villains (Captain Cold, Captain Boomerang, and Mirror Master) in their vendetta against the Flash, but his plan (involving four hundred cases of greased, fake dog vomit, a wall of metal spikes, and plenty of explosives) is rejected. He is next seen at the bar where Flash's enemies hang out, disgruntled at his rejection. When Flash, Batman, and Orion arrive at the bar in search of Flash's would-be assassins, Orion tries to muscle the Trickster into revealing the other villains' plans. Flash intervenes and speaks to him in a friendly manner, noting that James has not been taking his medication (James was apparently unaware that he was even wearing his costume again until the Flash pointed it out). Trickster informs the heroes of the plan to ambush Flash at the museum opening, and agrees to turn himself in after finishing his drink. The animated Trickster is apparently not a total villain, aware of his psychosis, and does seek treatment if encouraged.

Video games

The James Jesse version of the Trickster appeared in the 1991 The Flash video game.

Trickster is set to appear in the upcoming video game DC Universe Online.

Trivia

Following Mark Hamill's appearance on the TV show, an occasional in-joke appeared in the comics, where the Trickster, while using his flying shoes, often quipped that he was "doing his Luke Skywalker imitation."

External links

• The Trickster Bio
• The Trickster II Bio
• Alan Kistler's profile on the Flash - A detailed analysis of the history of the Flash by comic book historian Kistler. Covers information all the way from Jay Garrick to Barry Allen to today, as well as discussions on the various villains and rogues who fought the Flash. Various art scans.
• Counting Down to Countdown V: Mary Marvel, Trickster, Pied Piper
• Crimson Lightning - An online index to the comic book adventures of the Flash.

Sources

Countdown # 51 Dini, Paul (w), Saiz, Jesus (p), Palmiotti, Jimmy (i). "Look to the skies!" Countdown to Final Crisis, vol. 1, no. 51 (May 9, 2007). DC Comics.