by Alan Moore
Illustrated by Brian Bolland
The Killing Joke is one of the first graphic novels I ever read. When I was an undergrad and considering a career as a librarian, I decided I should educate myself in the genre, and the first one I picked up was the Watchmen, also by Alan Moore. The Killing Joke was next to it on the shelf, so I thought why not. I wouldn’t go so far as to say it’s my favorite graphic novel to feature the Batman (that honor belongs to the Dark Knight Returns), but it’s high on the list.
The Joker is a great villain, and I’m glad that Moore and Bolland took him out for a spin. While I side with those who say the Joker is a better character without a backstory, I love what they came up with and the open ended presentation. Probably the strangest (and best?) part of this book is wondering how aware of the flashback story the Joker is. He claims he doesn’t remember his own past - but he is also a pathological liar. His insistence that going insane is a reasonable response to the horrible things happening to Jim Gordon is, in itself, a rational argument for him doing the same thing. But if he’s making a rational argument, then it’s evidence he isn’t actually insane. He just wants to be. The fact that it isn’t laid out in black and white both adds to his apparent insanity and the depth of the character.
I purchased the hardcover deluxe edition to re-read for this post, and the artwork is gorgeous - especially the art on book cover itself, beneath the dust jacket (I used an image of it above). I can’t figure out why they covered it up. I sort of want to buy one of the earlier editions (the artist re-colored this version) to compare. It’s the details in the artwork that really tie this piece together, from a narrative standpoint. Each jump from scene to scene carries over a word, phrase, or image (as in the case of the Joker’s memories, where his facial expression is the carry over, or the switch from the dead carnival seller to the joker card). The only exception is the doors from Gordon’s train ride - although arguably those goblin faces represent the Batman as he investigates. The carry over elements invite comparison to other parts of each panel - the Joker’s pregnant wife is in the same place as “the fat lady” in one of the first jumps, underscoring his actual opinion of her.
One of the other things that stood out to me when I returned to this piece after reading more widely about the characters is the treatment of Gordon and Barbara. Both are ineffectual, almost pitiful characters. Barbara can be excused, on account of getting shot before she has a chance to react (although one would still expect the former Batgirl to put up more of a fight), but Jim Gordon has no excuse. He never even lands a punch against the thugs in the apartment - compare that to his strong presence after the bomb detonation in The Dark Knight Returns, or his fight against Detective Flass in Year One. One of the risks of working within a shared universe like this is that readers come with certain expectations based on other titles and other authors, and sometimes when those presentations clash it can jar the reader.
On that same note, it was also very difficult not to read the Joker’s lines in Mark Hamill’s voice. But I’m not complaining about that one.
All in all this is a great Batman title, and it does it without Batman being the main character. The Joker is center stage, and he steals the show.
If not for the parts in the Batcave, I would have seen the entire story as taking place in The Joker's mind. Batman is not the brilliant detective or the peerless warrior we've come to know in the comics. The Joker was designed to confound Batman by acting without an obvious pattern. While he plots meticulously, Joker employs variables and options that allow him to stay a step ahead of Batman. Here, he literally has to give Batman directions to his hideout. Joker is also able to keep up with Batman in hand-to-hand combat. Joker would continue to use human shields to escape, not put himself in a position to go back to Arkham.
ReplyDeleteOn what you said about Gordon, I respect that train of thought and it may in fact be more valid than mine, but I disagree. You may be a pretty hardened, ex-military, bad ass like Gordon but I don't know how many of your faculties you could employ when your sitting, reading the paper at your leisure with you daughter getting on you about minute things when the door bell rings like any other day and when your daughter opens it without provocation she's gut shot. Not to mention, it's not a common robbery, it's Gotham's most notorious criminal. I don't see a real person jumping up, and stepping into a fight with them. He's not Batman. He's a father. He would be so shell-shocked he wouldn't even understand what is happening for at least a few seconds which ends up being more than he has when he's beaten down. Then on top of that, he's stripped naked, set on display while nude images of his injured daughter are posted up to taunt and haunt him. Yep, there's no way he would be planning his escape by beating down thugs and strangling Joker. Not to say that wouldn't come. But it would take some time for him to process which Gordon never gets because Batman saves him within a few hours.
ReplyDeleteI was disappointed by Barbara's reaction too. Even though she received a serious wound I expected more from her. Combine that with the other woman in the novel, the Joker's wife, and I think we've got a graphic novel in sore need of a female presence.
ReplyDeleteI agree that the artwork is fantastic for this novel. It certainly helps with the atmosphere of the story, and draws the reader into a darker place. Where words may fail in a graphic novel, the artwork needs to be strong. Despite a strong script, the artwork can ruin a story, and even the coloring can mess with the story.
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