The Joker Exposed in The Killing Joke

As a preamble to Heath Ledger’s upcoming posthumous portrayal of the Joker in “The Dark Knight”, DC Comics has reissued the seminal work on Batman’s most nefarious foe. Originally printed as a short series in 1988, Batman: The Killing Joke is famed comic scribe Alan Moore’s origin tale that offers a dark, bitter rendering of the events that transformed one normal man into a master of terror and tyranny.

The story begins with an ingenious escape by the Joker from Arkham Asylum. In a brutal act of vengeance and retaliation, the madman kidnaps commissioner Gordon, and shoots Gordon’s daughter, Barbara. He constructs an elaborate funhouse brimming with devious tricks and horrific gags in an attempt to drive Gordon insane, wreaking the same havoc on his brain that the Joker himself suffers. It becomes a literal race against time as Batman struggles to track down the villain before Gordon’s fate is sealed.

Interspersed in the narrative is a subplot that reveals the creation of the Joker. A man struggling to support a small family and his dismal comedy career, the Joker’s origins contrast greatly with the fiendish acts he commits after his transformation. A robbery gone bad and the tragic death of his wife lead him into a toxic accident that completes his horrifying alteration. The  Joker’s own words sum up his catastrophic nature – “One bad day. That’s all that separates the sane from the psychotic.”

The flashbacks are inked in stark black-and-white shades, with vivid color splashed onto key frames. Detailing their doomed robbery, the cronies hunch over a table at a seedy diner, cracking open bright red crawfish. Crimson blood spatters the rainy walkways during the foiled burglary. The Joker emerges from a boiling toxic pit with his trademark green hair and ashen face. Artist Brian Bolland does the story a great service with an array of colors and illustrations that complement Moore’s acerbic story.

The Killing Joke is an unparalleled graphic novel that offers a mature and bittersweet beginning to the comic world’s most iniquitous antagonist. It joins The Long Halloween, Year One, and Hush in the Batman’s most essential modern story arcs.