The fanboy crusade to earn The Dark Knight a Best Picture Oscar nomination may have failed, but one fan hasn't lost faith in the potential of Batman people-power.

The Ultimate Joker founder Fer Barbella never wants to see the Joker in the movies again. TV, fine. Animation, fine. But Heath Ledger was so good, he says, that the character deserves permanent retirement. And the only way to achieve that, apparently, is to gather 50,000 signatures in an impassioned plea for geek solidarity. More than 30,000 readers have contributed in two weeks; by the end of the month Barbella may fulfill his pledge to organize a march on Warner Bros.

But please — no hate mail. The organizers acknowledge their deficiencies:

Regarding some aggressive and radical comments here… to all of them… WHY SO SERIOUS? Just share your POV, but as well as we have the right to ask for this cause without being rude with you, you have the right to show some respect and class writing like a normal person. Please, do not overuse the f… word, for God's sake. And yes, we're morons, idiots and all that stuff… so what?

Oh, which reminds us: The Stop Uwe Boll petition is stalled well short of its million-signer goal. Don't let democracy pass you by.