Brian Bolland

English review at the bottom

¿Que puedo decir de esta historia que no se haya dicho ya? ¿Qué es un obra maestra? Lo es, el dialogo es increíble, la deconstrucción del Joker también, pocas historias nos han mostrado tantas capas de este personaje ¿Porqué? Fácil, tenemos su parte más vulnerable, una que pocas veces se había explotado, también tenemos al clásico Joker,al que, como diría Alfred, "Quiere ver arder al mundo"...pero hay otra capa, la que poco se atreven a mostrar y es show more ¿Porque Batman? (y por favor no digan que porque es el otro enmascarado) en respuesta a esa pregunta las últimas dos páginas las ame...

La manera en que Alan Moore lleva esta historia es fantastica porque sí, tiene su sello, el personaje tiene profundidad, pierde ese velo de idealización que ha cubierto al Joker desde hace años...y el dibujo es ideal.

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What can I say about this story that has not already been said? That is a masterpiece? It is, dialogue is amazing, the deconstruction of the Joker too, few stories have shown us so many layers of this character Why? Easy, we have his underbelly, one that rarely had exploded, we also have the classic Joker, who, like Alfred would say, "Wants to see the world burn" ... but there is another layer, which few people dare to show and it is, Why Batman? (And please don't say "because it is the other masked") in response to that question the last two pages are the most georgeous thing ...

The way that Alan Moore takes this story is fantastic because yes, has its stamp, the character has depth, it loses that veil of idealization that has covered the Joker for years ... and the drawing is ideal. show less

Just as jolly and demented as you’d expect from a Joker tale! I liked how this explores some of the same themes Moore develops through the character of The Comedian in Watchmen-- namely, the idea that life is so violent and absurd that sometimes laughter (or in the Joker’s case, full out madness) is the only appropriate response.

This helped me better understand the interconnected relationship between Batman and The Joker, as I can see how they represent two different ways of seeing the show more world. Their conflict becomes ideological, as Batman represents society and reason, while the Joker stands for the individual and chaos. Are we really civilized, rational creatures fully in control of our actions, or like the Joker suggests, are we all just one bad day away from completely losing everything? show less

In The Killing Joke, the Joker has escaped from Arkham Asylum and has a twisted plan in mind for Commissioner Gordon and his daughter Barbara. Meanwhile, he flashes back to his own life as an average guy before becoming the Joker.

While I certainly enjoyed this short comic book, I expected more after all the rave reviews it’s gotten over the years. Likewise, the plotting of the story is well done but over-hyped in the introduction by Tim Sale in the Deluxe edition. I didn't care for the show more ambiguous ending myself but do see how it’s appropriate given that this is only one arc in a much bigger story.

This was really the Joker's story and we see far more of him than of the Dark Knight. I ended up with a William Blake moment when reading the section where the Joker explains that insanity is more reasonable than sanity given the world we live in. (William Blake famously wrote in his poem “The Marriage of Heaven and Hell” that John Milton knew more of demons than of angels and thus wrote better about demons. “The reason Milton wrote in fetters when he wrote of Angels & God, and at liberty when of Devils & Hell, is because he was a true Poet and of the Devil's party without knowing it.”) The Joker is given more time (or some it feels) to narrate than the Batman, who I feel really doesn’t have a lot of screen time in this particular title. The Joker’s reasoning actually sounds more logical in a way than the Batman’s, even if it appears that the Batman gets the last word and we are meant to take his opinion as the true one (as he is the hero after all). Take, for instance, this passage where the Joker mocks Commissioner Gordon: “Now, shudder, as you observe, before your very eyes, that most rare and tragic of nature’s mistakes! I give you … the average man! Physically unremarkable, it has instead a deformed set of values. Notice the hideously bloated sense of humanity’s importance, the club-footed social conscience, and the withered optimism. … Most repulsive of all, are its frail and useless notions of order and sanity. If too much weight is placed upon them... they snap. How does it live, I hear you ask? How does this poor, pathetic specimen survive in today’s harsh and irrational world? The sad answer is “not very well.” Faced with the inescapable fact that human existence is mad, random and pointless, one in eight of them crack up and go stark slavering buggo! Who can blame them? In a world as psychotic as this...any other response would be crazy!” Maybe the logic to the Joker’s insanity was part of the book's intention (Moore said it was the book’s intention to show that the Batman and the Joker are mirror images; one bad day changed everything for both of them) or maybe it was just my feelings about the world today.

I liked having a backstory for the Joker, although I actually felt that it didn’t go into enough detail for my liking (and really, the fall into chemical waste turns his skin white and his hair green? I still find that explanation cheesy.) I also find it fitting with the Joker's character that he casts doubt on the veracity of his narrative so this may not be the definitive telling of his past after all.

I didn't like the artwork all that much in the first few pages but it quickly grew on me and I started to appreciate it more and more. I enjoyed the little details, such as when you see the other people at the bar during some of the flashbacks. There's an almost cinematic feel to the way Bolland presents various angles to look at the characters. Apparently the coloring is different in the Deluxe edition than the original; I have no comparison point but I think the color palette is excellent.

The Deluxe edition also contains a short comic written and illustrated by Bolland, which he refers to as “An Innocent Guy.” It’s always nice to have an extra bonus like this, but while the art work was great and the story was well plotted, the content of this short piece was too disturbing for me to truly enjoy. show less

In The Killing Joke, Batman attempts to settle the score with a presumedly imprisoned Joker once and forever, by trying to prove it to him that their mutual story does not necessarily have to end with the death of one or the other. Of course, Joker has his own plans ... We get a glimpse of the man who became Joker and his tragic life story that propelled him along the tracks of madness - it only takes one bad day - rendered in the truly stunning art of Brian Bolland and excellent writing of show more Alan Moore, who truly may be the best writer in comics (along with Frank Miller).

The issue features one other masterpiece by Alan Moore, titled Mortal Clay, about a man who finds his ideal woman in the form of a department store mannequin, begins living with her in the store and constructs an entire reality inside his head, including her possible cheating with Batman.

Also very good is a shorter story about an ordinary guy who wants to become famous by pointlessly assassinating Batman, in the mold of John Lennon's killer.

These three stories are all deliciously dark and disturbing forays into the depths of a broken human mind and are sort of needlessly rounded up by the first story where Joker appears (from Batman #1), which doesn't really fit the theme, as it is a pretty classic villain-hero story. The again, it was written in 1940, so a good start.

Read the German-language edition by Panini Comics, titled The Killing Joke. show less