'The Killing Joke' - Classic or Just Popular?

Critical Analysis of a Classic

Batman – The Killing Joke (1988)

When one is given the opportunity to take a publically perceived classic, and analyse it, the mind immediately aligns itself towards typical examples of Movies, Music, Paintings and the other usual suspects. However, of late, I have begun to realize the amazing art-form that exists in the realm of Comic Books. Let me elaborate, when I use the term ‘Comic Book’ I am referring to what some would consider ‘Graphic Novels’ not cartoons like ‘Archie’ and ‘Tinkle’.

The ‘Comicsphere’ is much larger than anyone would be willing to even imagine, with independent projects to successful publishing houses, there are no shortage of Comics today. The challenge is finding one which is considered a ‘Classic’. The connection of the phrases; Comics and Classic immediately brought one subject to my mind, and that was Batman. However, there is a saying that it’s the clothes that make the man, and indeed, Batman is who he is, because of his rogue’s gallery – the most popular and well known being the Joker. It is with that reasoning, that I chose ‘Batman – The Killing Joke’. (Moore, 1988)

           ‘The Killing Joke’ was described by IGN as “the greatest Joker story ever told” (Goldstein, 2005). Not the best Batman book, mind you, but the best Joker story. There is a reason for that. When Brian Bolland was given the opportunity to have a book of his own choice, he chose the Joker and to write the script for that was arguably the best comic writer, Alan Moore.

          What makes the book so brilliant is not simply the story that it tells, but the way it is told. The decision of the team to expand it from the regular 32-page one shot issue and make it a 50 paged Prestige Comic allowed Bollard the artistic liberty to spend more time on the subtler details of the story when it comes to setting, artwork and colours. The script that Moore wrote complemented this as the story is able to move through parts that are slightly irrelevant with no dialogue. However, when the story is in motion, Moore’s writing is exemplary, it is engaging, and does something that books today cannot even do, it makes the reader think.

         Moore’s story has also been heavily commented on, while feminist activists attacked him on the seemingly ‘weak’ portrayal of Barbara Gordon, aka Batgirl, the only female character in the Batman series. Barbara is shot in the stomach (eventually paralysed from the waist down), stripped and photographed by a deranged Joker who, upon being asked why coldly replies, “To prove a point”. This senseless act at the time makes no sense to the reader; however, considering the deeper themes and messages of the story, it plays perfectly into the overall concept of the comic.

Alan Moore fans, did not appreciate this comic as they drew comparisons to Moore’s other work, ‘V for Vendetta’ and ‘Watchmen’ which are both publically and critically acclaimed. However, there is undeniable praised to Moore for the delivering of a story that eventually kick started the ‘thesis – anti-thesis’ relationship between Batman and the Joker. The reason for this is that ‘The Killing Joke’ marks a turning point in the relation between the two characters. This is seen by Batman’s realisation that the two of them are destined to remain on a consistent collision course, while the events of ‘The Killing Joke’ make the anger the Dark Knight has for the Clown to move to a personal level. This is seen to continue in later comics, as the Joker would progressively ensure that he causes Batman as much despair as possible.

The story is downright disturbing with its dark theme; the limits of one’s sanity and the nature of madness. The Joker’s ultimate objective to drive Commissioner Gordon insane by traumatising him and showing him nude photos of his daughter, who passes into shock as she is photographed, would be enough to drive any person, any father insane. But this is where Moore introduces another underlying concept that madness does not exist in everyone. It exists in some of us as a way out from the reality that we cannot face. Moore’s grasp of deep and complex psychological concepts as commendable as the dialogue used to convey it to the reader.

As a comic, ‘The Killing Joke’ has perhaps the least focus on Batman, it is at the end of the day, a Joker comic, an origin story of sorts as the Joker seemingly reflects on his own personal ‘bad day’ that drove him insane. The comic successfully expands the characters in the Batman series, details that shaped the characters for the three decades and longer.

Interestingly enough, while Batman fans will proudly state that this is one of the best comics, its creators do not feel the same way. Bollard never got to complete his artwork and was disappointed with the final product. Moore, sulked about the fact that he did not like The Killing Joke, his reasons were that it’s a very character oriented story, “there’s no important human information being imparted” (Khoury, 2003) and thus the reader doesn’t take anything back from it.

When Moore was asked about the role of Barbara Gordon in the comic, he replied stating that when he approached his bosses to ask for permission, he was told to “cripple the bitch”. (Lonely Gods, 2012) While an extremely cynical statement, it is a theme that was only echoed in the following years with the “Women in Refrigerators” phenomenon that was seen in 1994. In retrospect, however, I feel that it was a decision that allowed the character of Barbara Gordon to grow from just another sidekick and become a character of her own.

However, seeing the displeasure that both the stories creators had in the final product, should ‘The Killing Joke’ be considered a Classic? After all, if Beethoven was to ridicule his 5^th Symphony, would we stop recognising it as the epic work that it is? The answer is that we would not let the words of the works creators dissuade us from our personal opinion. The Killing Joke may not be the best Batman comic, but it has an extremely unique style with regards to how the story progressed and the central character being the Joker and not the Batman.

While ‘The Killing Joke’ would be chronologically considered as a fairly recent work, it is in fact a very old comic in the ‘Comicsphere’. ‘The Killing Joke’ can be considered as one of the being a part of the Modern Age, or more fittingly, part of the ‘Dark Age of Comic Books’, an era where comics began getting darker and involving more personal stories for the Heroes often pushing them to the brink of their functionality, while villains grew from ‘bad people’ to sociopathic lunatics. This is where The Killing Joke broke ground as it truly established the relation between the Joker and the Rest of Gotham. He moved from the laughing criminal to the demented schizophrenic whose lust for killing is senseless and uncontrollable; this paradigm shift is what makes ‘The Killing Joke’ such a timeless classic.

Stories about Heroes are a dime a dozen, they have thousands of pages to show their characters and grow as individuals, their Rogues, however, are not privy to such an option. Their journeys, though much more intense and thrilling than any hero, are forced to have their stories told through the life of another. ‘The Killing Joke’, in this sense, reintroduces the Joker to Batman readers, turning him into a character of his own by giving him a human side, a trait that had seemingly been absent from the character since his introduction in the 1940’s. ‘The Killing Joke’ as I have said is not the best Batman comic, but it is undeniably the best Joker comic and certainly a comic that many have tried, and failed, to duplicate in dialogue, artwork and plot. I feel that despite the displeasure the creators have shown towards the comic, it still is a classic. Because a classic is a work that will be remembered for its originality, its unique style and the amazing impact that it had on the comic book world.

Post Script: Got a 14/15 for this assignment, if you feel that I've left something out, please comment!