awesome ( )

I'm a relatively new fan of comics (thank you Maus and Watchmen), and I find myself drawn to Alan Moore's work. That said, this isn't the best that I've read from him; it's not even close. I would probably give the storyline 2.5 or 3 stars.

I've never been a "Joker fangirl" by any stretch of the imagination (which surprises me, since I usually love the psychos), but I don't particularly think this backstory fits him very well. In The Killing Joke, he has A Very Bad Day, and maybe that is the point of Moore's story - one bad day can make you go quite mad. But it falls flat for the Joker. It just doesn't fit him.

Oh, but the art! That's what really saves this comic for me. It's gorgeously colored, and the Joker's facial expressions are just perfect. It may be a short book, but I spent several hours drooling over the panels (figuratively, of course). It deserves more than five stars.

It certainly doesn't hurt that the deluxe edition is simply beautiful. ( )

This was the first Batman story I truly cared about, and the one that stuck with me the longest. It's not so much its notoriety that makes it one of the most enduring stories in Batman lore, it's the fact that it depicts The Joker, one of the most often used villains in Batman lore, as not merely a cold-hearted evil clown who commits terrible deeds, but as a broken and utterly irredeemable man. He gets your sympathy, only to twist the knife into you in the end, refusing to be rehabilitated, perhaps out of malice towards Batman, or perhaps out of fear that he will be controlled. Alan Moore wasn't satisfied with how this story turned out, but it's certainly my favorite Batman story ever.

Having read both the original printed version of this story in a trade paperback of Alan Moore's DC stories, I have to say that this version of The Killing Joke will either win old fans over with its much darker and eerier colouring washouts, or confuse them about why the old art wasn't touched up and they'll like the original version better. However, since the original art is in the hands of collectors, touching up the original art was impossible, and I have to say I like both presentations of the tale for different reasons. I like this one because it's in hardcover, but I also like the original colouring job because of its retro feel.

Still, since this story's been out of print for years, pick up this hardcover and read it for yourself. ( )

I bought this book when I was a kid, and had no idea who Alan Moore was. As an adult, being re-introduced to great comics I had missed as a youth, I was thrilled to find this still sitting in my box of old books. A short story that doesn't leave much room for the typical Moore-ish threads and diversions, but instead focuses directly on the relationship between Batman and the Joker in a way that has been as definitive a character study as Frank Miller's Dark Knight stories. ( )

I bought this book when I was a kid, and had no idea who Alan Moore was. As an adult, being re-introduced to great comics I had missed as a youth, I was thrilled to find this still sitting in my box of old books. A short story that doesn't leave much room for the typical Moore-ish threads and diversions, but instead focuses directly on the relationship between Batman and the Joker in a way that has been as definitive a character study as Frank Miller's Dark Knight stories. ( )

Joker origin story. ( )

One of the greatest Batman books ever, and the definitive Joker graphic novel. Dark interpretations of the Joker (such as the one in The Dark Knight) trace their lineage to this work. ( )

Kearsten says: Wow. This was incredibly disturbing! I'm not deeply familiar with Batman and his history, but this installment feels very dark and I wonder how much of *this* Joker influenced The Dark Knight... Lots, methinks! ( )

Wow. This was incredibly disturbing! I'm not deeply familiar with Batman and his history, but this installment feels very dark and i wonder how much of *this* Joker influenced The Dark Knight... ( )

Nice tale and interesting ending. Better than most comics. ( )

Dark, intense and intriguing ending.... ( )

A good Batman comic, but I don't understand the hype it's received. It's not one of Moore's best works. It's not long enough, mainly... The meat was there, the balance between The Joker and Batman etc., but I didn't get a chance to get my teeth into it.

On the plus side, I have the deluxe, recolored, partially redrawn edition and at least in this one, the art is really good. Dark, yet stylish. I especially love the full-body drawings of Batman, he has a great silhouette and the cape is fantastic on him. ( )

I bought this book when I was a kid, and had no idea who Alan Moore was. As an adult, being re-introduced to great comics I had missed as a youth, I was thrilled to find this still sitting in my box of old books. A short story that doesn't leave much room for the typical Moore-ish threads and diversions, but instead focuses directly on the relationship between Batman and the Joker in a way that has been as definitive a character study as Frank Miller's Dark Knight stories. ( )

Classic Batman villain the Joker has been enjoying somewhat of a renaissance lately, it seems. Given the late lamented Heath Ledger’s astonishing performance as Joker in “Batman: The Dark Knight,” it’s easy to see why. Jack Nicholson’s Joker, while certainly still darkly crazy in many ways, was still somewhat more sane than not…at least where his motives for crime were concerned. But Ledger’s performance was much more in line with the classic portrayal of the Joker as a force of pure insanity, driven to inflict his own madness upon the world. The graphic novel “Batman: The Killing Joke,” first published over twenty years ago and now republished in an anniversary edition, should be of interest to any fans of the recent movie as well as to long-time Batman readers.

“The Killing Joke” contains a Joker origin story…one of many, as the Joker himself has been known to state that he does not remember his own past clearly. In this particular origin story, however, the man that Joker used to be had one very bad day…everything in his life went wrong all at once, ending with a dunk in a chemical bath that produced the Joker’s characteristic crazed red grin, green hair, and dead white skin. It was this one very bad day that pushed him over the line into insanity, and now, in present day, he decides to prove that even the sanest of men is only one very bad day away from becoming just as mad as he himself became. To that end, he kidnaps Commissioner Gordon— after shooting his daughter Barbara (also known as Batgirl) in the spine and paralyzing her from the waist down—and drags the Commissioner to a twisted carnival funhouse of the Joker’s own design and shows him just how bad life can get in the course of just one day. Of course, Batman intervenes, and in the end…well, the Joker’s own day gets a heck of a lot worse. ( )

Another Joker origin story. Beautifully drawn. I think the madness of the Joker was captured quite well. But I think Gordon's reaction was understated and not believable at all. ( )

Beautifully, poignantly drawn short graphic novel about the Joker's tragic, pedestrian past, his hidden pain, and his relationship and similarity to Batman. I was surprised at how impressed I was by the ending, and throughout I was struck by how strangely adult and depressing the tone was. Far more dark and morbid than any of the films, or much else in literature for that matter! ( )

Very possibly the best Batman/Joker story ever written. ( )

Definitely full of Alan Moore flavor and humor. I appreciate how the story is bookended w/ a joke. However, the Joker is a stronger character w/o an origin story. ( )

This graphic novel is indeed graphic, and intended for older teens and up, but it is one of the best Batman graphic novels ever produced and is a must for a teen or adult graphic novel collection. The story written by the famed Alan Moore is a dark and violent imagining of the Joker's origins, and is gorgeously depicted by Brian Bollard. The new edition has been re-colored to perfection by Bollard, to reflect his original vision. His line art is detailed and bold, and captures the characters and their expressions of agony and torment. A cliff-hanger ending will leave readers wanting more...absolutely put this one into your older teen/adult collection, but don't steer young Batman fans toward it due to its graphic (torture) scenes and implied nudity. ( )

It took me ages to finally get this book. It was somehow consistently out of print, but thanks to the wonders of amazon marketplace, I was finally able to get my hands on a copy. And I am glad I did.

There's this constant warring in my chest about who I love more - Neil Gaiman or Alan Moore. At the end of the day it'll always be Neil, I suspect, but every time I read something by Alan Moore it feels like - I don't know, like a punch into my stomach that leaves me breathless, except with less physical pain. He's just so good. (I reread Watchmen last weekend and yeah. That's what I'm talking about.) But since I have more than enough love to give, I don't have to decide, I just can enjoy myself and love them both.

Although I had read a bit about the book before and thus should have known what to expect, I was quite shocked. It was very brutal and cruel, and mostly just altogether unexpected, I think that's the thing. What happened to the Gordon's was extremely hard for me to read, but since that's how it should be I'm not complaining.

I love the Joker's theory about the "one bad day" one has to have, one thing that could change the balance. I also love how his backstory is still left unsure, and how his theory is challenged both by Batman and Gordon. (Who I love. With every single Batman thing I read or watch, I fall more and more in love with Jim Gordon.) And I loved the ending. It's absolutely brilliant.

I always feel odd talking about the art of a comic, because I don't feel qualified to judge (although I think I would notice if the artwork was bad). But Brian Bollands work is amazing to look at.

So yeah, this was definitely worth waiting for. ( )

http://tyranist.blogspot.com/2008/09/... ( )

If this graphic novel is anything (and I suppose it is many things), it is "stark." That can be used to describe both the art and the overall aesthetic, but also that The Killing Joke is quite starkly what it is, and people will either love it or hate it for that as they will. It cannot be denied that this story is a classic and a pivotal moment in DC continuity, but those are more facts about the way people responded to the tale, both as comic book readers and as comic book writers and artists picking up the mythos after Moore.

This is a story about one day (two, if one counts the day of the Joker's origin which parallels the main narrative) and three men: Batman, Joker, and Commissioner Gordon. Everything else--including the female characters, unfortunately--is simply prop dressing for the horrible moment these three must endure. This is the moment which will ultimately, in the hands of writers who are not Alan Moore, turn Batgirl into Oracle, one of the most inspiringly empowered heroines in the DC universe, but here Barbara's being crippled and photographed naked are simply fairly cheap vehicles for adding to her dad's angst.

Still, Moore brings all his talent to rendering that moment as starkly and as powerfully as he can, and it is easily understandable why those who love this title think it is so great. Moore strips everything else away until one is left with nothing but pure catharsis. (The problem is that if one isn't interested in that particular type of catharsis, there's nothing left to keep one's interest.) The Joker is convinced that it only takes one bad day to make someone insane, and Moore is as intent on seeing the experiment through to the end as is his villain. ( )

One of the weakest things I've read by Moore. Unsatisfying, badly scripted, and essentially ending-free, the main problem is that it just doesn't *work*. ( )

Wow... just wow! This short story was recently updated, with Brian Bolland recoloring (and apparently sketching in a few new details) the original comic. This is a Joker-origin story, though as the Joker himself admits, he doesn't remember his own past well. In his words, "Sometimes I remember it one way, sometimes another... If I'm going to have a past, I prefer it to be multiple choice!" The short summary is that the Joker escapes from Arkham, only to have Batman discover he's missing when he goes to try and offer something resembling a peace treaty. This escape isn't about crime or money... it's about proving a point. One bad day is all it takes to go from being an average person to a maniac or even a masked vigilante. Before the Joker is through, two of Batman's closest friends and allies will have had their lives changed forever.

Like I said before, the story is brief and to the point. Between moments of the story we see flashes of the Joker's past, of what he did to support himself and how he had his first run-in with Batman. Bolland has washed out these flashbacks, leaving shades of red to stand out, tying in nicely with the Joker's first criminal persona. I guess some people thought the ending was ambiguous... it does end with a joke, and I like how the moment was shared between the two of them. I suppose if you were to take away the text in the box, it would look a different way, but I didn't really find it confusing.

There! That's fairly spoiler-free! I did enjoy the Joker's lines about a coffee-table edition... being a librarian myself, I hope to never be in the same situation. :P

For a little added oomph, Brian Bolland included his short story "An Innocent Guy." I enjoyed the giant typewriter. ( )

Though this is a classic work in the Batman canon from 1989, I only just now got around to reading it.

SPOILERS ABOUND. Read below at your own peril.

There are two parallel stories going on here, both intricately connected. First, we see the Joker's origin. It's pretty tragic: he's an unemployed stand-up comic with a wife and new baby on the way. Financially down-on-his-luck, he becomes embroiled in a criminal robbery scheme. He then finds out that his wife and her unborn baby were killed the day of the heist. His accomplices force him to continue with the plan anyway. He runs afoul of the Batman and ends up taking a chemical bath, which, of course, hideously scars him. That's a really bad day and his life as he knows it is over.

The second story is set in the present day. The Joker decides to create another "really bad day" for Commissioner Gordon to drive him insane in order to prove that anyone, not just the Joker (or Batman, for that matter) would be driven insane when their world is brought to a sudden end. To do this, the Joker shows up at the Gordons' door and immediately shoots Barbara in the spine. The implication is that she was raped or at least sexually exploited as well. Jim Gordon is and taken to an abandoned carnival, stripped naked, and forced to look at photos of Barbara in her broken state. Despite all this, Gordon doesn't break. Despite all that he has suffered, he still wants to bring the Joker to justice by the book. That's a really pivotal moment. Batman rescues Gordon and has a showdown with the Joker when they both realize how inextricably linked they are. Great dialogue between them.

Oh and f you've ever wonder where Todd McFarlane got the idea for the evil munchkins in his Twisted Land of Oz series of figures, I'm pretty sure he took it directly from this book.

Just saw the new Batman: The Dark Knight movie and it's no exaggeration to say that they cribbed a significant portion of the dialogue between Batman and Joker from The Killing Joke, so the book is stil very relevant.

Great comic. Truly a classic if you're a Batman fan. Highly recommended.

Review copyright 2008 J. Andrew Byers ( )