What Makes The Killing Joke Great

The Killing Joke

Writer: Alan Moore
Artist: Brian Bolland

Many comic enthusiasts will rate The Killing Joke as one of the must read Batman comics.  In the New 52 era we can see it's influence on Scott Snyder's run of Batman with Greg Capullo.  After a first read of this book I felt like I had missed something.  The quality of the work wasn't in question, Moore and Bolland told a good Batman/Joker story.  But I couldn't quite grasp what set this one apart from all the rest, save for the fact that Alan Moore's name was on the cover.  After reading it a couple more times, doing some research and spending some time thinking about it, I can tell you that, yes, this is indeed one of the greatest Batman stories.

If you havn't read it yet then you may not want to continue reading because I'm going to be getting into spoiler territory.  There are two unwritten rules when it comes to Batman that this story breaks, depending on how you want to read it.  The first, and most important, is that Batman does not kill.  The second is that the Joker does not have a fixed back story.  If you are confused at this point that is fine, and in fact, that is what makes this such a great story.  One could easily read this and write Joker's backstory, as it is given, off, because the Joker says that sometimes he doesn't even remember his past.  Batman breaking his golden rule is not spelled out and is actually quite ambiguous.  In the last page both Batman and Joker are laughing but after Batman seizes him the laughter abruptly stops while the police siren continues.  Grant Morrison suggested that Batman had broken his neck however Julian Darius offers up a theory that I find more convincing where Batman has stabbed Joker with his own toxic needle.

At first I thought it was cool that Moore had managed to kill Joker right in front of me without my noticing.  That being said, just because Batman breaks his rule to end the collision course that he shares with Joker doesn't make this a great book.  The beauty lies in how this is all presented.  Moore and Bolland have not broken any rules while doing so at the same time.  A reader can take it any way they wish.  That is what I believe elevates this from a good story to a great one.


NXS