Dark Knight viral marketing explodes with new sites!

The Joker’s most recent online scheme is over. The Clown Prince of Crime asked his operatives to take pictures of themselves in Joker garb at various landmarks, and you can see the results right here.

Contributors were asked to supply their mailing addresses, and this week they received printed copies of The Gotham Times newspaper, which can now be read online right here.

Throughout the pages of The Gotham Times, you can read about the state of play in Gotham City as we lead up to the release of The Dark Knight on July 18, 2008.

And please be sure to read all four pages, which are linked in the top-right corner.

On Page 1, we’ve got stories about how Batman (Christian Bale) is waging war on Gotham City’s criminals after defeating Ra’s Al Ghul and bringing down the Falcone family in Batman Begins. And as you can see, not all of Gotham’s cops are happy with Batman’s interference.

Speaking of cops, there’s another story about how Assistant District Attorney Harvey Dent is waging a war of his own by creating an anonymous tip line — at We Are The Answer.org — where concerned Gotham citizens can report corrupt cops.

On Page 3, there’s a story lambasting Bruce Wayne (even though he’s repairing the city’s monorail system) placed above an editorial about how the city’s politicians don’t know what to do about Batman.

If only they knew.

And then, on Page 4, there’s a story about the emergence of Harvey Dent as a Gotham power player, and a tragic report on lovely young Gina Tortericci, who lost her life after getting caught in a crossfire between warring gangs.

There’s yet another new website, dedicated to Gina’s memory, right here.

Unfortunately, however, it seems that The Joker (Heath Ledger) also reads the newspaper.

And he’s taken some time out of his scary schedule to deface it.

Click right here to read The Ha Ha Ha Times, courtesy of The Joker himself.

The headline “Batman Saves Entire Family” becomes “Batman Saves Money on Car Insurance.”

“Dent Tip Line Targets City’s Dirty Cops” becomes “Dent Prepares Bubble Bath for City’s Dirty Cops.”

“Family Torn Apart by Fear” becomes “Family Torn Apart by White Tiger at Magic Show,” and The Joker has pasted a picture of a tiger leaping at the original article’s grieving widow.

On Page 2, The Joker tells us the best way to cook Vishnu the Elephant, and alters another story to show how a young boy saved his sister from a 5-alarm “chili cook-off.”

The Joker makes fun of Bruce Wayne on Page 3, chiding him for “being a wuss” and defacing his photo to make light of the tragic murder of his mother (and father) when Bruce was just a child.

The nastiest of the modified headlines appears on Page 4, where The Joker jokes that the late Gina Tortericci is “no longer most likely to succeed.”

It’s a lot to read in one sitting, but make sure you’ve read all the articles and headlines — in both the original Gotham Times and in The Joker’s cut-and-paste lampoon version — before you see The Dark Knight on July 18.

This is the best marketing campaign ever.

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Update:

And they just keep popping up. Check out Gotham City Rail, Gotham Police Department and a new personality profile test conducted by The Joker.