Sunday, May 1, 2016

Batman: The Killing Joke

After trying so many times to get it, I was finally ablate find, buy, and read the classic Alan Moore Batman/Joker graphic novel Batman: The Killing Joke, especially with the new animated movie based on the comic coming out soon. One of the best examples of the Dark Age of Comics and my first by Alan Moore, this is one of the best comics I ever read as well as very surprising for many reasons. Something that really surprised me is that instead of a series of issues the story is just one comic, unlike all the other big events that I read before, thus making it short and simple. The other surprise is the story itself, in which Joker escapes Arkham, shoots Barbara Gordon, kidnaps her father, mentally tortures him all the while telling his supposed backstory, until confronting Batman who throughout the story contemplates how their war with each other will end. What's surprising is that I thought The Joker was in the middle of a crime spree only to be thwarted by Batman and the police for 2/3 of the story and at the last third, as a last minute decision, shoots Barbara and tortures Commissioner Gordon. The whole shooting Barbara and torturing Gordon is the whole story, which I still found fascinating especially in how they delve into the mind of The Joker, contemplating if he truly remembers his past or not. Having seen The Dark Knight, I can now understand what references are made to this comic and hope that the animated film is true to it, which I'm sure it will be now that it's being rated R considering how dark the comic really is. Over all: 100%
Top list so far:
1. Batman: The Killing Joke
2. Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #1
3. Batman: The Long Halloween
4. Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe
5. Crisis on Infinite Earths
6. Star Trek/Planet of the Apes: The Primate Directive
7. Star Trek: The Next Generation/Doctor Who: Assimilation2
8. Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. #1
9. The Dark Knight Returns
10. Cartoon Network Super Secret Crisis War
11. Marvel Masterworks: The Avengers Vol. 1
12. Civil War

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