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A review by athleenk
Absolute Batman: The Killing Joke by Alan Moore, Brian Bolland
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.0
Originally rated this comic 4 stars, decided more on 3-3.5 stars for me.
Admittedly, this is the first comic I decided to pick up for Batman - my infatuation with the Gotham universe is largely because of Batman and Joker's relationship so why not pick up a comic focused on the Madman? And if I were to rate this solely on that, it'd rate really high. The issue offers an origin story of the Joker and expands on the concept of "one day is all it takes.. (for a man to go mad)." Joker is especially cruel and we follow Batman as he tries to understand and help Joker after another escape from Arkham Asylum. The artwork and chase are beautiful and the ending, while controversial, I loved. (One, because it reminded me of the raining roof scene between Light and L in Death Note). But two, it wrapped up what I love about the dynamic between the two men: despite that killing Joker would save Batman a lot of trouble, despite that the cycle of catching and losing the Joker persists and we get to see how terribly this plays out every time, Batman will not give up on him. And in the end, Batman is able to be there for Joker in the only Way Joker ever allows him to be. In Gotham's pouring rain, finally just listening and not pathologizing Joker. Batman does not rehabilitate Joker and Joker doesn't make his point about one bad day to Batman. But neither will stop trying.
For the not fun part. The sexual violence against Barbara Gordon, like many, is where my struggle comes in. I was aware of Barbara's treatment in this story beforehand (which I do feel is why I'm able to still appreciate, I think it would have made digesting this a lot differently had I not known) and was actually open to setting aside the gender analysis aspect of it. Plenty of stories written in this time have hurt and depicted women poorly for the sake of the story or for shock value. That being said, I 1000% felt this story could have been told without the sexual violence the only female character in the comic endures. The whole "one bad day" is not a good enough story plot/point/whatever-you'd-like-to-call-it to support it. Especially after learning editor Len Wein responded "yeah, okay, cripple the bitch" when Moore was discussing Barbara's treatment. It feels like the "separate the artist from the art work" type of mental gymnastics needed to dismiss this criticism. But the artist themselves makes that impossible (and yes, I'm already aware Alan Moore himself isn't a fan of the story and has acknowledged it). It's another reminder of how women were (are) thought of, disregarded, and used to further a story's male characters.
The things I loved about this work could have easily been achieved without the moral issues I take with it.
Admittedly, this is the first comic I decided to pick up for Batman - my infatuation with the Gotham universe is largely because of Batman and Joker's relationship so why not pick up a comic focused on the Madman? And if I were to rate this solely on that, it'd rate really high. The issue offers an origin story of the Joker and expands on the concept of "one day is all it takes.. (for a man to go mad)." Joker is especially cruel and we follow Batman as he tries to understand and help Joker after another escape from Arkham Asylum. The artwork and chase are beautiful and the ending, while controversial, I loved. (One, because it reminded me of the raining roof scene between Light and L in Death Note). But two, it wrapped up what I love about the dynamic between the two men: despite that killing Joker would save Batman a lot of trouble, despite that the cycle of catching and losing the Joker persists and we get to see how terribly this plays out every time, Batman will not give up on him. And in the end, Batman is able to be there for Joker in the only Way Joker ever allows him to be. In Gotham's pouring rain, finally just listening and not pathologizing Joker. Batman does not rehabilitate Joker and Joker doesn't make his point about one bad day to Batman. But neither will stop trying.
For the not fun part. The sexual violence against Barbara Gordon, like many, is where my struggle comes in. I was aware of Barbara's treatment in this story beforehand (which I do feel is why I'm able to still appreciate, I think it would have made digesting this a lot differently had I not known) and was actually open to setting aside the gender analysis aspect of it. Plenty of stories written in this time have hurt and depicted women poorly for the sake of the story or for shock value. That being said, I 1000% felt this story could have been told without the sexual violence the only female character in the comic endures. The whole "one bad day" is not a good enough story plot/point/whatever-you'd-like-to-call-it to support it. Especially after learning editor Len Wein responded "yeah, okay, cripple the bitch" when Moore was discussing Barbara's treatment. It feels like the "separate the artist from the art work" type of mental gymnastics needed to dismiss this criticism. But the artist themselves makes that impossible (and yes, I'm already aware Alan Moore himself isn't a fan of the story and has acknowledged it). It's another reminder of how women were (are) thought of, disregarded, and used to further a story's male characters.
The things I loved about this work could have easily been achieved without the moral issues I take with it.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual assault