Batman Noir: The Killing Joke

The Killing Joke is considered the quintessential Joker story, providing insight into what drives the Joker, a deeper look at his relationship with Batman, and (perhaps) an origin story for him. It was written by Alan Moore, writer of perhaps the greatest graphic novel of all time: Watchmen. (He also wrote V for Vendetta, the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Superman: Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?, Lost Girls, an issue of American Splendor with Harvey Pekar, an historic run on Swamp Thing, and much, much more – [...]NOTE: There is more than one version of this tale:#1 – the original Batman: the Killing Joke (1988).#2 – the Deluxe Edition (2008). This is probably the most common one at this point. While Brian Bolland drew the 48-page story, it was colored by John Higgins. Dissatisfied with the results, Bolland re-colored the entire story, including taking the color out of the flashback sequences completely, rendering those pages black and white (with one character in red). This edition also prints Bolland’s black and white story “An Innocent Guy,” now presented in color, as well as an introduction by Tim Sale, and an epilogue by Bolland.(For a side-by-side comparison of these two editions, go here: [...])#3 – Batman Noir: the Killing Joke (2016). This edition was released August 9, 2016, and it may be the best one yet. It presents both stories from the Deluxe Edition in stark black and white (but not the introduction or epilogue). The black and white gives the story a very different feel – a somewhat timeless feel – and that can only be a good thing considering the importance of this story in the comics canon. This edition also includes a series of covers Bolland has drawn for Batman, also presented in black and white.

I bought a lot of these Noir series books because I had a harder time enjoying the color versions. There is a color version of the Killing Joke that I actually enjoyed visually, and that was the original printing's stylistic color version back in the 80s. I couldn't find that version anywhere for sale, so I ended up getting this. What's funny is, I think maybe because I suffer somewhat from colorblindness, those controversial colors looked great to my eyes. The modern colorization is not as hard for my eyes to read but it's too gritty and realistic for me. It really sucks the life out of it.My complaint for all of the Noir series is that they didn't use any dot patterns or crosshatching for filling in things that clearly needed to be shaded in. You're presented artwork in it's half-finished state, before colorizing. I think they should've still taken the extra step to shade it for black and white like a newspaper comic or manga. At least they didn't just present it as a grayscale version, which would've been a cheap cash in.There's plenty written about the story, so I'll just stick to this Noir edition of it. I would recommend this if you want to read it in a new light, and notice different things or details may have missed as you read it in black and white.

I won’t go into specific plot details, as this is one of the best-known and most analysed comic book stories, but rather my impressions from it.The “lightning-in-a-bottle” combination of Alan Moore’s writing and Brian Bolland’s artwork creates a masterpiece, utilizing two of the best-known mainstream comic book characters to tell what is very much *not* a “superhero story”. The contrast between a highly emotional, chaotic and energetic plot and a subdued, detailed, even mature, art style provides this work with a prestige look and feel, creating a true *graphic novel*.Also, from an in-universe presentation, the Batman presented here is at his *peak* and most iconic presentation (to differentiate from other classic Batman stories like Dark Knight Returns or Year One, which show him at his beginning or twilight…)This story has garnered more than a bit of criticism, due to its handling of Barbara Gordon. My opinion is that this specifically highlights the dramatic impact of the story, and that it serves a purpose both on a metatextual level (exploring the “damsel in distress” trope) as well as an in-universe level (there is quite a focus on Barbara’s character in the aftermath of The Joker’s brutal attack – not long but quite effective, considering that the entire story is not long).Admittedly, even Alan Moore has quite a lot of criticism on his own story, but reading those words of criticism brings me to two conclusions-1. For the work itself, Mr. Moore is flat out wrong – I find it hard to see how the man who wrote all three works of art would say that “... Watchmen was something to do with power, V for Vendetta was about fascism and anarchy, The Killing Joke was just about Batman and the Joker – and Batman and the Joker are not really symbols of anything that are real, in the real world...”. TKJ’s core ideas on sanity and insanity, order and chaos, and what makes a man move between the two, are that much more personal and relate to the human condition, than Moore’s V for Vendetta or From Hell, which concerns society at large and Watchmen, which specifically concerns comic book tropes.2. The source of Mr. Moore’s negativity perhaps originates more from his soured relationship with DC Comics (and his resulting reluctance to “plug” their best-known icons) rather than the actual work itself – which is quite sad, but from Moore’s POV, understandable.Moore’s criticism of his own work makes me appreciate it even more, as a work of art that has exceeded its creator’s intent, has subsequently shown itself to withstand such scrutiny and “earn” its acclaim.Regarding the color work, I think that on some level, the various versions each highlight a side of this deceptively-simple story. John Higgins’ original color palette highlights The Joker’s (and effectively, the story’s) “deranged” vibe, while Bolland’s own “muted” palette shows that darker, mature, grounded side. And both versions work beautifully – whether it’s the original softcover one-shot, the Deluxe hardcover with new coloring, the Noir version with *no color* and of course the Absolute Edition, all these versions, taken separately and side-by-side highlight the depth of the story and how multi layered it really is.The fact that such a short work (covering the equivalent of 2-3 standard monthly comic book issues) would elicit such strong impressions and responses (both positive and negative) , include such an iconic depiction of the main characters (both Batman and The Joker) and a moment in time that would be retroactively inserted into the main comics continuity and affect much of the work that came afterwards (both in-universe and on a meta level), is a testament to its strengths.For me, this work is nothing short of perfect.Get it. In any edition.

I have the noir version of watchmen and love how it makes Gibbons’ artwork stand out. It reminds me of reading both him and Bolland in the heady days of 2000AD.This version also has the added bonus of some extra artwork and a bunch of bw Batman Knight covers from Brian.I’ve a few versions of this and also all the versions of Watchmen and think I prefer the Noir editions.Highly recommended.

Just the best joker origin story and the artwork is superb in b/w I have the original copy of this in colour and this one is for collectors

great collectors item

origin of the joker really good and it being a noir edition really sets the mood.

Poco se puede decir ya de esta historia, una de las mejores de Batman, aunque, en mi opinión, no una de las mejores de Moore. Pero sí está entre los tebeos de Moore que ha contado con un arte superior en mucho a la media. Esta edición se ha hecho para disfrutar de los maravillosos dibujos de Bolland en blanco y negro: papel de gran calidad, no satinado, sino el mate de toda la vida, mayor gramaje y a un tamaño algo superior al estándar. Así que esto es un cómic de Bolland, muy disfrutable, que se completa con el par de historias que realizó para Batman Black & Noir y cincuenta portadas para cómics de Batman. Una gozada visual.