bluemechaoxide

I have to admit, Batman: The Killing Joke was a bit underwhelming for me.

It’s not that it wasn’t good, or it wasn’t worth the money I paid. Quite the contrary. It was both of those, and how. The origin of Batman’s crazy archnemesis told in an equally manic fashion garners a buy from me anyday. Considering how much I seem to love the works of Alan Moore, it’s no wonder I grabbed this as soon as I saw it.

No, it wasn’t because of those. The whole thing left me a bit unshaken because I had already seen it, some 16 or so years before. Remember the original Batman movie? Ah, there we go.

In the film, the origin of the Joker (and what an awesome Joker Jack Nicholson was) was also played out. Chemical factory, break-in, Batman arrives, gives chase, some poor dude falls in a vat of green liquid and is presumed dead. He resurfaces later with bleach white skin and candy green hair, mind twisted beyond recovery.

In the comic, almost the exact same thing happens, albeit with a little more exposition on the story. The infamous Red Hood gang has managed to persuade a down-on-his-luck comedian into helping them break into the nearby chemical plant. Of course things go awry and soon the poor comedian is the only one left standing. Being chased by the Batman and in a state of panic, he jumps into the river and comes back to land damaged beyond all recognition. Enter the Joker.

Although I already knew the main revelation of the story, I found the rest of the read enjoyable nonetheless. Moore shows off his penchant for raising suspense by telling the story with flashbacks alongside the rest of the action. In the end the book poses the question of whether or not Batman is really all that different from his greatest enemy.

All it takes is one bad day to reduce the sanest man alive to lunacy.

That’s how far the world is from where I am. Just one bad day.

Truer words were never spoken. It’s all chilling stuff.

I have the new deluxe edition, which apparently is a recolored version of the original. The color palette this time around is much colder and less… 80s. Seriously, see for yourself. Brian Bolland did a fantastic job of going over John Higgins’ old work, for sure.

Yes, I was underwhelmed. But don’t let that fool you: it’s the Joker’s origin. How can it not be good?