Batman: The Killing Joke by Alan Moore, Brian Bolland Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Batman: The Killing Joke
Book Review: An awesome combination of two stellar talents.
Summary: 5 Stars
While Frank Miller's DARK KNIGHT series has traditionally been given more credit for the revival of BATMAN in specific, and the medium of comics in general, the teaming of writer Alan Moore and artist Brian Bolland resulted in an equally (dare I suggest more?) powerful examination of the super-psyche. Driven by rhythymic writing and darkly mesmerizing artwork (Bolland creates the definitive interpretation of The Joker)THE KILLING JOKE stands apart as a classic tale of sanity, insanity, and the fine line that divides the two.A line represented, in Moore's words, by "one really bad day".
Book Review: Are we all insane ?
Summary: 5 Stars
Commissioner Gordon gets a real shock-surprise when oneday his doorbell rings and when his daughter, Barbara (Batgirl), opens the door she is imediately shot by the Joker. The Joker kidnaps Gordon, leaving Barbara behind in a puddle of blood, and traps him in his personal circus. He is out to prove to the world that in essence everybody can be driven as mad as he himself is without even having to push very hard. This book is a milestone in the Batman continuity and has left a legacy to every Bat storyline since. Alan Moore is, like always, very up for the job and the great artwork by Brian Bolland isn't exactly awful either. Although I think it's a bit overhyped this book it surely makes for a good read.Book Review: Could just be the finest comic ever?
Summary: 5 Stars
What happens when you get the world's best comic writer and one of the world's three best comic artists to produce a one-off story for the world's most fascinating superhero-supervillain relationship? The answer is this truly magical work. The Joker, as written by Moore and drawn by Bolland, has never seemed so human and yet so utterly insane, and rarely gets such brilliant - and brilliantly sick - one-liners as when Barbara Gordon is lying crippled from his gun shot to her spine. As the story progresses, we are both moved by the 'one bad day' that caused the Joker's insanity and horrified by the truly evil acts he uses it to excuse.
Batman also seems more human than he can often appear - Moore allows him to show more compassion than many authors would, both for Barbara and for the Joker, and his frustration at his continuing inability to reason with the Joker is one of the more interesting background themes to the book.
If you only buy one Batman book, make it this one. Although more ground-breaking work has been done by authors creating their own characters (Moore's own 'Watchmen' being a good example), the creators here manage to take a well-established set of characters and develop and broaden them without losing any of the original spark in the process. A rare feat indeed, and for that reason, along with the overall quality of the story and how much is contained in such a small package, this may be one of the finest comics ever produced.
Book Review: A rewarding read
Summary: 5 Stars
As someone rediscovering comics after some 20 years out, this book is something of a revelation. A literate script and beautifully illustrated, this is a rewarding, sophistocated read. Batman seems to be the only 'golden age' superhero who lends himself to tales as dark as this - my other favourite is Year One by Frank Miller. But this is the better book, and I'd recommend it to anyone curious about graphic novels but wary of their relative (to paperback novels) high price. Of course, this is reasonably priced, and fairly short - but it's actually all the better for it. Give me a taught, tense story over the flab that fills many of the longer graphic novels every time!Book Review: Definately worthy of 5 Stars
Summary: 5 Stars
Definately worth reading, not sure what more to add to be honest!Alan Moore is a truly amazing writer and this is very good proof of that. Within just 48 pages (or so) he has created an utterly compelling and thought provoking story in which we see the origins of the Joker and how he came to be.
It is full of images which stay in your head for ages after you've finished reading it, which is what good comics should do!
Recomended!