The Story
The Joker first appeared in Batman #1, cover-dated Spring 1940, credited to Bill Finger, Bob Kane, and Jerry Robinson. He was written as a one-off killer and nearly died at the end of that debut issue before an editor pulled him back for more. That decision gave Batman the antagonist the whole mythos would orbit. Over eight decades he has gone from a playing-card murderer to the definitive comic book villain, the character other villains get measured against.
His reach runs far past the page. Cesar Romero played him on 1960s television, Jack Nicholson in 1989, and Heath Ledger and Joaquin Phoenix both won Academy Awards for their versions. Mark Hamill's voice work in Batman: The Animated Series set the standard for how the character sounds. When people search for who the Joker is or where he first appeared, the answer starts in that 1940 issue and runs straight through modern film, games, and now blockchain collectibles.
This VeVe piece is the character's on-ramp to digital. It carries the Batman Black & White house style, a grayscale statue treatment DC has used since the late 1990s to let a single artist's linework carry a figure without color. Jim Lee, DC's President, Publisher, and Chief Creative Officer, provided the art, and James Shoop handled the sculpt.
The pose is pure Joker: one hand raised with the "BANG" flag gun, the grin stretched wide, the suit rendered in sharp black-and-white contrast. Without color to lean on, the read comes entirely from the sculpt and the linework, which is the point of the Black & White format. For a first digital appearance, VeVe paired the character with one of the most recognizable pencillers in modern DC history.
Spotlight: Jim Lee
Jim Lee was born in Seoul, South Korea, in 1964 and moved to the United States as a child. He broke out at Marvel on X-Men, where his 1991 issue #1 remains one of the best-selling single comics ever printed. In 1992 he co-founded Image Comics, part of a creator-owned push that reshaped the industry. He later brought his studio WildStorm to DC and drew defining runs on Batman (Hush) and Superman before moving into DC's top creative leadership.
Having Lee's art anchor the first Joker NFT and digital collectible matters for provenance. This is not a generic likeness; it is a named-artist piece from a working DC executive, which is the kind of attribution collectors track when they weigh an early drop.
Edition Breakdown
The Jim Lee Joker is the Common tier of a four-piece Batman Black & White rarity set from Season 1. The other three are a Jason Fabok Batman (Uncommon), a Dick Sprang Joker (Rare), and a Carmine Infantino Robin (Ultra Rare). Pull odds on this Joker were roughly 1 in 2.39, the most attainable slot in that set.
Supply is fixed at 7,500 editions. One has been burned, leaving 7,499 in circulation. Within that run, serial numbers drive value: First Editions and low mints command premiums, and the first available edition was #51. There are no later color variants of this specific piece, so this is the only version of the first Joker NFT that exists.
Market Context
This drop landed in VeVe's opening weeks, when the platform's user base was a fraction of what it is now. That genesis-era timing is the main scarcity story: a fixed 7,500 supply against a collector pool that has grown into the millions. The list price was $79.99 with a 2.50% market fee, and the piece carries a First Appearance edition type, the flag VeVe uses to mark a character's true digital debut.
Infrastructure has caught up around these early pieces. VeVe completed its migration to the Collect blockchain in January 2026, the StackR marketplace opened OMI-based trading in April 2025, and self-custody options are rolling out. All of that adds liquidity and discoverability to a supply that cannot expand.
Collector's Note
For a Batman rogues collector, the first Joker sits near the top of the want list alongside the first Catwoman, Harley Quinn, and Penguin NFTs. The Jim Lee attribution and the genesis-era release date are the two levers that hold value here. If you care about serial numbers, a low mint or a First Edition is worth chasing over a random high serial.
Copies trade on the VeVe secondary market, sometimes below the original retail. New to the app? Grab $10 off your first purchase before you start browsing.
Frequently Asked Questions
The first Joker NFT is the #21 Jim Lee Joker from DC's Batman Black & White line, released on VeVe Collectibles on November 4, 2020. It is a Common with 7,500 editions at $79.99, art by Jim Lee and sculpt by James Shoop, and VeVe marks it as a First Appearance.
The Joker debuted in Batman #1, cover-dated Spring 1940, created by Bill Finger, Bob Kane, and Jerry Robinson. He was nearly killed off in that first issue before editors kept him around as Batman's main antagonist.
The art is by Jim Lee, DC's President, Publisher, and Chief Creative Officer, and the digital sculpt is by James Shoop. It uses DC's Batman Black & White grayscale statue style.
7,500 editions were minted at Common rarity. One has been burned, leaving 7,499 in circulation, and no later variants of this piece were released.
Yes. The original store allocation is gone, but copies are available from other collectors on the VeVe secondary market and StackR, sometimes below the original $79.99 retail. Price varies by serial number and demand.
