Lara reviews The Killing Joke
I figured that it is about time that I reviewed one of the greatest comics I have ever read, so here it is!
The Killing Joke is a bit of a stand alone comic in the DC Universe and is a huge tipping point for some characters. We learn more about
The Joker,
Batman,
Barbara Gordon / Batgirl, and
Commissioner Gordon in the story created by Alan Moore and Brian Bolland.
Warning: Spoilers Ahead
If you have not read the comic or do not want to know what happens, turn away NOW.
Right at the beginning, The Joker has broken out of Arkham (the break-out is discover by our favourite vigilante) and is plotting something... no-one knows what, but all is revealed when he arrives at Commissioner Jim Gordon's house. Gordon is sitting down on the sofa and Barbara Gordon (also known as Batgirl) goes to open the door. The Joker is standing there in Hawaiian shirt with a camera around his neck. He pulls a gun and shoots her through the spine, allowing his goons to kidnap Gordon before undressing Barbara and taking pictures.
Batman goes to the hospital, is told by a conscious but now paralysed Babs what happened, and he swishes his cape and is gone.
We learn a little about The Joker's past, with it being revealed that it was one really bad day that made him who he was - he lost his wife and unborn child, before being knocked into a vat of chemicals while wearing the red hood by the Batman. That gave him his white skin, and he turned into... well, The Joker... to cope with what had happened to him.
But back to the main story - The Joker has basically kidnapped him and is going to effectively torture him and make him like him, to prove that all it takes is one bad day to make a Joker. Batman goes on the hunt for Gordon, who has been tied naked into a funhouse train and sent around the track. That might not be enough to send him crazy, but the pictures of a naked and bleeding Babs around the track could be.
The Joker's plan fails, as it doesn't make Gordon crazy in the way he intended. Then Batman arrives to save the day and arrest Joker. They share a joke as the cops pull up, and that is the end.
This is one of my favourite comics of all time. It is a very well written and illustrated tale, which explains how Barbara Gordon (aka Batgirl) became Oracle. Like Gordon, she didn't let this bad day change her into the Joker. It also shows just how insane the Joker is, that he would go to all of this trouble
to prove a point.
I think the key scene, however, is between The Joker and Batman right at the end, as the police cars come. When Joker tells the joke to Batman, he laughs alone for a while before Batman joins in. In that moment, we see that Batman is, or was, perilously close to becoming like the Joker with his own bad day. Here is the joke they share:
Originally Posted by
Joker
See, there were these two guys in a lunatic asylum, and one night, one night they decided they don't like living in an asylum any more. They decide they're going to escape! So, like, they get up onto the roof, and there, just across this narrow gap, they see the roof tops of the town, stretching away in the moonlight. Now, the first guy, he jumps right across with no problem. But his friend, his friend daredn't make the leap. Y'see, y'see, he's afraid of falling. So then, the first guy has an idea... He says "Hey! I have my flashlight with me! I'll shine it across the gap between the buildings. You can walk along the beam and join me!" B-but the second guy just shakes his head. He suh - says... He says "Wh-what do you think I am? Crazy? You'd turn it off when I was half way across!"
Because of this, I give it a:
10 out of 10
Have you read it? What do you think?
The Killing Joke - Review
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