User:TheJoebro64/drafts/killing
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Batman: The Killing Joke is a 1988 American comic book written by Alan Moore and illustrated by Brian Bolland. The 48-page one-shot graphic novel was published by DC Comics as part of its adult comics line in May 1988. The Killing Joke was Moore's penultimate work for DC Comics before his split from the company in 1989, and has since been reprinted on numerous occasions in collections and special editions.
Development began in 1984, when editor Dick Giordano told Bolland that he could do any project he wanted. Bolland, who had recently seen the 1928 film The Man Who Laughs, requested to produce a one-off story featuring Batman and the Joker with Moore. Moore decided to present a take on the Joker's origin story, based on the 1951 story "The Man Behind the Red Hood!". Although Moore's Watchmen (1986–1987) was released before The Killing Joke, he actually finished writing The Killing Joke first. Bolland worked slowly, and the comic subsequently spent four years in production before it was finally published in 1988. John Higgins handled coloring duties, although Bolland provided colors for a later edition released in 2008.
The Killing Joke is divided into two parts. The first, told via flashbacks, provides a possible origin story for the Joker, depicting him as a failed comedian who goes insane following a single day of unfortunate events. The second, set in the present day, begins when the Joker's initiates a scheme to drive James Gordon insane—which includes shooting his daughter Barbara in the stomach—and follows Batman's desperate attempt to stop him. Thematically, The Killing Joke explores the nature of insanity and what Moore saw as similarities between Batman and the Joker.
Many critics consider The Killing Joke the definitive Joker story and one of the greatest Batman stories of all time. Acclaimed for its writing and artwork, it won the Eisner Award for "Best Graphic Album" in 1989 and appeared on The New York Times Best Seller List in May 2009. It had a profound impact on future Batman stories and is considered a seminal work of the Modern Age of Comic Books. However, both Moore and Bolland have expressed dissatisfaction with the final product, and it has faced increasing criticism in recent years for its treatment of Barbara Gordon, which some writers consider mysoginistic. Elements from The Killing Joke have inspired or been incorporated into Batman adaptations, including the films Batman (1989), The Dark Knight (2008), and Joker (2019) and the Batman: Arkham video game series. An animated adaptation of the comic was released in 2016.