Batman: The Killing Joke, Deluxe Edition - Hardcover

Moore, Alan; Bolland, Brian

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1401216676 ISBN 13: 9781401216672

Publisher: DC Comics, 2008

Synopsis

A New York Times best-seller

Presented for the first time with stark, stunning new coloring by Bolland, Batman: The Killing Joke is Alan Moore's unforgettable meditation on the razor-thin line between sanity and insanity, heroism and villainy, comedy and tragedy.
 
According to the grinning engine of madness and mayhem known as The Joker, that's all that separates the sane from the psychotic. Freed once again from the confines of Arkham Asylum, he's out to prove his deranged point. And he's going to use Gotham City's top cop, Commissioner Jim Gordon, and his brilliant and beautiful daughter Barbara to do it.

Now Batman must race to stop his archnemesis before his reign of terror claims two of the Dark Knight's closest friends. Can he finally put an end to the cycle of bloodlust and lunacy that links these two iconic foes before it leads to its fatal conclusion? And as the horrifying origin of the Clown Prince of Crime is finally revealed, will the thin line that separates Batman's nobility and The Joker's insanity snap once and for all?

Legendary writer Alan Moore redefined the super-hero with Watchmen and V for Vendetta. In Batman: The Killing Joke, he takes on the origin of comics' greatest super-villain, The Joker—and changes Batman's world forever.

Stunningly illustrated, Batman: The Killing Joke, The Deluxe Edition has been lushly re-colored by artist Brian Bolland, presenting his original vision of this modern classic for the first time.

About this title

About the Author

Alan Moore is perhaps the most acclaimed writer in the graphic story medium, having garnered countless awards for works such as Watchmen, V or Vendetta, From Hell, Miracleman and Swamp Thing. He is also the mastermind behind the America’s Best Comics line, through which he has created (along with many talented illustrators) The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Promethea, Tom Strong, Tomorrow Stories and Top 10. As one of the medium’s most important innovators since the early 1980s, Moore has influenced an entire generation of comics creators, and his work continues to inspire an ever-growing audience. Moore resides in central England.

After making his professional debut in 1975, artist Brian Bolland perfected his clean-line style and meticulous attention to detail on a series of popular strips for the British comics magazine 2000 AD, most notably its signature feature Judge Dredd. He went on to illustrate the 12-issue maxiseries Camelot 3000 and the Alan Moore-written graphic novel Batman: The Killing Joke for DC before shifting his focus to work almost exclusively on cover illustrations. Since then, he has earned a reputation as one of the best cover artists in the industry, and his elegantly composed and beautifully rendered pieces have graced a host of titles, including Animal Man, Batman, The Flash, The Invisibles, Wonder Woman and many more.

Reviews

This classic, infamous story in the Batman saga has been recolored with a more effectively cooler palette and set into context with an introduction and an afterword. Escaped from Arkham Asylum, villain deluxe Joker shoots Barbara "Batgirl" Gordon as part of his plan to drive her police commissioner father insane. Intending to prove that anyone can go mad after "one bad day" as he describes in his putative origin story, the Joker also kidnaps and torments Commissioner Gordon. But Gordon remains sane, and Batman recaptures the Joker—the two actually share a laugh at the ambiguous ending. With Barbara Gordon now a paraplegic, the story stands as a chilling profile of madness. The Killing Joke provoked fury among many readers who lamented the disposal of Barbara Gordon as a mere pawn to testosterone; yet Gordon reinvents herself later as superinfohacker Oracle, poster girl for disability empowerment (see Birds of Prey, LJ 7/08). A bonus story at the end paints the quieter, equally chilling madness of a Batman fan fantasizing about killing the superhero—a perfect foil for the publicly gaudy Joker. For adult collections.—M.C.
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Edition details

• Publisher: DC Comics
• Publication date: 2008
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1401216676
• ISBN 13: 9781401216672
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 64