Joker's and The Joker

Back in the 1970s my brother owned a hot dog stand named Joker's in Chicago.

Of course there was no newsarama.com in those days but I reliably got my fix of comic book news from The Comic Reader and The Buyer's Guide. When those sources informed me in 1975 that DC Comics would be publishing The Joker as an ongoing title, I immediately approached my brother with an idea. As a promotion, why not give out a copy of The Joker #1 to the customers of Joker's? My brother green-lighted the idea and I arranged with my comic book guy, Joe Sarno, to purchase I-forget-how-many hundred copies of The Joker #1.

And the rest is history.