Jarvis Poker, The British Joker was a jovial enemy of the Knight.
History
There is a tradition amongst the heroes and villains of Great Britain of modeling themselves after well known figures in the American superhero community. Jarvis Poker modeled himself after the original Joker. Jarvis was never as violent as the original Joker, and was never perceived as serious villain such as Death Dinosaur or Stone Cold Luke. He was more of a whimsical figure playing the merry prankster.
Jarvis has been active in Britain's meta-human community for many years, regularly participating in the Time in a Bottle's monthly meeting of heroes and villains. He'd become friends with the Knight and the two often shared a drink together. When Faceoff started a massive brawl at the pub, Jarvis and the Milkman used their powers to stop the violence.
Some time afterward, Jarvis discovered he was dying and only had a few weeks left. When a talk show host made negative comments about Jarvis being "a cheap British knock-off", Jarvis began a series of daylight robberies. When nobody took him seriously, he dejectedly abandoned the crimes. The Squire had figured out that Jarvis was dying, so she and the Knight played along with his scheme to give him the recognition he wanted. Jarvis took over the Britovision song competition and demanded one billion pounds to allow the show to continue. The Knight and Squire arrived to stop him, but they allowed him to get away since he still had his grand finale of turning the River Thames pink around London Bridge. The recently reformed hero, Shrike came upon Jarvis at the bridge and planned on bringing him in. Both the Shrike and Jarvis were surprised when the original Joker appeared and shot the young hero dead. The Joker was displeased with Jarvis using his name and with the seemingly comical nature of both the heroes and villains of England. Taking Jarvis prisoner, the Joker planned to kill every hero in the country.
The Joker used an army of mind-controlled minions to attack several heroes. Since the masks the Joker was using contained cameras and microphones, the Squire came up with a plan to try and send messages to Jarvis. When Faceoff made mention of trying to protect "the magic", Jarvis knew what to do. He lead the Joker to the Time in a Bottle, just outside the building he made a run for it, and the Joker shot him dead. Once inside the pub, the truce magic prevented the Joker from attacking and the heroes disarmed the Joker and sent him back to Arkham Asylum. Outside the pub, the heroes found Jarvis. Double Entendre spoke a eulogy of their fallen comrade.
Powers and Abilities
Other Characteristics
Paraphernalia
Equipment
- Bag of Tricks: Jarvis carries a seemingly magical bag that can release a dust that can make people break out into hysterical laughter.
Notes
- Jarvis' name is derived from the old British comic tradition of having his name rhyme with his job description.
Related
- 3 Appearances of Jarvis Poker (New Earth)
- 4 Images featuring Jarvis Poker (New Earth)
- Quotations by or about Jarvis Poker (New Earth)
- Character Gallery: Jarvis Poker (New Earth)
Footnotes