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Batman: The Killing Joke
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Batman: The Killing Joke
Batman: The Killing Joke is a 1988 DC Comics one-shot graphic novel featuring the characters Batman and the Joker written by Alan Moore and illustrated by Brian Bolland. The Killing Joke provides another origin story for the supervillain the Joker, loosely adapted from the 1951 story "The Man Behind the Red Hood!", which was written by Batman co-creator Bill Finger. The Joker's supposed origin is presented via flashback, while simultaneously depicting his attempt to drive Jim Gordon insane and Batman's desperate attempt to stop him.
Created by Moore, Bolland, and Higgins as their own take on the Joker's source and psychology, the story became famous for its origin of the Joker as a tragic character; a family man and failed comedian who suffered "one bad day" that finally drove him insane. Moore stated that he attempted to show the similarities and contrasts between Batman and the Joker. The story's effects on the mainstream Batman continuity also included the shooting and paralysis of Barbara Gordon (a.k.a. Batgirl), an event that eventually leads her to develop the identity of Oracle, secret data broker for the DC Universe's superhero community and leader of the superhero team Birds of Prey.
Many critics regard the graphic novel as the definitive Joker story and one of the greatest Batman stories ever published. The comic won the Eisner Award for "Best Graphic Album" in 1989 and appeared on The New York Times Best Seller List in May 2009. In 2006, The Killing Joke was reprinted as part of the trade paperback DC Universe: The Stories of Alan Moore. In 2008, DC Comics reprinted the story in a deluxe hardcover edition, which featured new coloring by Bolland, with a more subdued palette than the original. Elements of The Killing Joke have inspired or been incorporated into other aspects of Batman media.
Artist Brian Bolland conceived the idea for the story after watching the 1928 film The Man Who Laughs, which features a character named Gwynplaine (played by Conrad Veidt) whose rictus grin inspired the visual design of the Joker. Bolland's rendition of the Joker was partially influenced by that film. DC editor Dick Giordano's invitation led directly to Bolland working with writer Alan Moore to create a plausible background story for the Joker. He recounted: "I thought about it in terms of who's my favorite writer at the moment, what hero I would really love to do, and which villain? I basically came up with Alan, Batman and the Joker".
Although the story takes pains to stress that it is merely one possible "origin story" for the Joker, it has been widely accepted and adopted into DC continuity, and editor Len Wein had to ask the publisher for approval of a central mutilation of long-running character Barbara Gordon. Bolland said that he saw "Judge Death [as] almost a dry run for drawing the Joker". He also recounted that "by the time Alan had finished Watchmen he had fallen out with DC to a certain extent... in the end, he only continued to do Killing Joke as a favor to me".
The 48-page prestige format one-shot comic took a considerable amount of time to produce. Both Moore and Bolland are well known for their meticulous and time-consuming work; both creators' then-recently finished 12-issue maxiseries titles – Moore's Watchmen and Bolland's Camelot 3000 – had seen delays. Bolland was aided by the laid-back attitude taken by DC, who he says "seemed prepared to let me do it at my own pace". The original editor, Len Wein, left the company, and was replaced by Dennis O'Neil, a "very hands-off sort of guy", with whom Bolland only recalls having one conversation about the book.
Bolland envisaged the flashback sequences in black and white, and instructed Watchmen colorist John Higgins to use "muted November colors". He was upset when he saw the finished comic had "garish... hideous glowing purples and pinks... and my precious Eraserhead-esque flashback sequences swamped in orange". The 2008-published 20th anniversary edition of the book featured new colouring by Bolland, restoring his artistic intentions to the palette. All the original artwork had long disappeared in the hands of collectors but DC figured out a way to reverse engineer the already colored prints to isolate the black & white from the colors. In addition to recoloring, Bolland also did a touchup on several of the characters' faces using Photoshop.
An unnamed man quits his job at a chemical company to become a stand-up comedian, only to fail miserably. Desperate to support his pregnant wife, he agrees to guide two criminals through the chemical plant where he previously worked so that they can rob the playing card company next to it. The police inform him that his wife and unborn child have died in a household accident. Grief-stricken, the comedian tries to withdraw from the plan, but the criminals convince him into keeping his commitment.
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Batman: The Killing Joke
Batman: The Killing Joke is a 1988 DC Comics one-shot graphic novel featuring the characters Batman and the Joker written by Alan Moore and illustrated by Brian Bolland. The Killing Joke provides another origin story for the supervillain the Joker, loosely adapted from the 1951 story "The Man Behind the Red Hood!", which was written by Batman co-creator Bill Finger. The Joker's supposed origin is presented via flashback, while simultaneously depicting his attempt to drive Jim Gordon insane and Batman's desperate attempt to stop him.
Created by Moore, Bolland, and Higgins as their own take on the Joker's source and psychology, the story became famous for its origin of the Joker as a tragic character; a family man and failed comedian who suffered "one bad day" that finally drove him insane. Moore stated that he attempted to show the similarities and contrasts between Batman and the Joker. The story's effects on the mainstream Batman continuity also included the shooting and paralysis of Barbara Gordon (a.k.a. Batgirl), an event that eventually leads her to develop the identity of Oracle, secret data broker for the DC Universe's superhero community and leader of the superhero team Birds of Prey.
Many critics regard the graphic novel as the definitive Joker story and one of the greatest Batman stories ever published. The comic won the Eisner Award for "Best Graphic Album" in 1989 and appeared on The New York Times Best Seller List in May 2009. In 2006, The Killing Joke was reprinted as part of the trade paperback DC Universe: The Stories of Alan Moore. In 2008, DC Comics reprinted the story in a deluxe hardcover edition, which featured new coloring by Bolland, with a more subdued palette than the original. Elements of The Killing Joke have inspired or been incorporated into other aspects of Batman media.
Artist Brian Bolland conceived the idea for the story after watching the 1928 film The Man Who Laughs, which features a character named Gwynplaine (played by Conrad Veidt) whose rictus grin inspired the visual design of the Joker. Bolland's rendition of the Joker was partially influenced by that film. DC editor Dick Giordano's invitation led directly to Bolland working with writer Alan Moore to create a plausible background story for the Joker. He recounted: "I thought about it in terms of who's my favorite writer at the moment, what hero I would really love to do, and which villain? I basically came up with Alan, Batman and the Joker".
Although the story takes pains to stress that it is merely one possible "origin story" for the Joker, it has been widely accepted and adopted into DC continuity, and editor Len Wein had to ask the publisher for approval of a central mutilation of long-running character Barbara Gordon. Bolland said that he saw "Judge Death [as] almost a dry run for drawing the Joker". He also recounted that "by the time Alan had finished Watchmen he had fallen out with DC to a certain extent... in the end, he only continued to do Killing Joke as a favor to me".
The 48-page prestige format one-shot comic took a considerable amount of time to produce. Both Moore and Bolland are well known for their meticulous and time-consuming work; both creators' then-recently finished 12-issue maxiseries titles – Moore's Watchmen and Bolland's Camelot 3000 – had seen delays. Bolland was aided by the laid-back attitude taken by DC, who he says "seemed prepared to let me do it at my own pace". The original editor, Len Wein, left the company, and was replaced by Dennis O'Neil, a "very hands-off sort of guy", with whom Bolland only recalls having one conversation about the book.
Bolland envisaged the flashback sequences in black and white, and instructed Watchmen colorist John Higgins to use "muted November colors". He was upset when he saw the finished comic had "garish... hideous glowing purples and pinks... and my precious Eraserhead-esque flashback sequences swamped in orange". The 2008-published 20th anniversary edition of the book featured new colouring by Bolland, restoring his artistic intentions to the palette. All the original artwork had long disappeared in the hands of collectors but DC figured out a way to reverse engineer the already colored prints to isolate the black & white from the colors. In addition to recoloring, Bolland also did a touchup on several of the characters' faces using Photoshop.
An unnamed man quits his job at a chemical company to become a stand-up comedian, only to fail miserably. Desperate to support his pregnant wife, he agrees to guide two criminals through the chemical plant where he previously worked so that they can rob the playing card company next to it. The police inform him that his wife and unborn child have died in a household accident. Grief-stricken, the comedian tries to withdraw from the plan, but the criminals convince him into keeping his commitment.