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ashlylynne 's review for:
Batman: The Killing Joke (Deluxe Edition)
by Alan Moore
Synopsis
The Joker’s at it again and is doing his best to drive Police Commissioner to his breaking point and straight into madness. He does this by striking his daughter–taking her and Gordon into a funhouse of torture and mayhem.
Batman: The Killing Joke by Alan Moore, Brian Bolland, Richard Starkings, and Tim Sale
★★★★★
Genre: Horror/Science Fiction
Release Date: 1988
Source: Target – Bought
On My Shelf: Yes
So, I read this book ages ago, and I'm finally getting around to writing my review of it. I’ve been wanting to talk about this book since finishing it, but I’ve never felt myself in the right mind to accurately describe how I felt about it.
I’m actually a pretty big low-key fan of Alan Moore and will literally read anything he’s done. So, I basically went into this collection knowing that I was not going to be disappointed, and, sure enough, I wasn’t even a little bit.
I will say a quick disclaimer before I start praising this work. I know some of the topics in this book are tough to handle (especially for some), and I know that there are parts of this book that come across demeaning and politically incorrect to certain groups of people. I in no way support this, but I’ve taken into consideration the year of publication of this text, and it’s also important to know that Moore himself apologized for they way some of the text may be misconstrued.
That all being said, I really did enjoy this. This story was quite the ride. From page one, Moore dives right into the action and, quite frankly, right into the madness. He gives zero sensibility to the Joker and makes him at times even more ruthless and insane than you would expect. There is no sense of humanity left in the character that Moore writes and Bolland draws.
The Joker is actually one of my favorite Batman villains, so seeing him in a story where’s he’s violent and nowhere short of insane was fun in a sort of unsettling way. I enjoyed this storyline and thought the setting was utterly appropriate for it.
To top it all off, Bolland’s artwork set the scene perfectly. I enjoyed the soft tones and intensity of his work. Each panel was like some new nightmare I couldn’t look away from. The dark colors complemented Moore’s storytelling to the t and brought the story to life in a seamless, morbidly disturbing manner.
There was something else that struck me about this text that I just want to say a quick word on before I wrap up. Not only does this comic show us the craze of the Joker, Moore examens Bruce Wayne’s character in a striking way as well. Gordon does a fairly good job of holding on to his sanity; the same can’t exactly be said about Wayne. Batman’s character is pushed to extremes, and the concept of a dark knight truly came into play. Moore has a way of subtly giving his characters so much complexity that when you stop to think about it all everything takes on the tone of overwhelming in a good way–this story is no different.
Overall, I highly recommend this twisted tale to fans of Batman, Moore, or those looking for a superhero comic that is much…much darker than the typical one you’d pull off the shelf.
*NOTE* I also highly recommend buying the anniversary edition that’s introduced by Tim Sale. His work has been incredibly influential in the Batman (and DC universe), and his foreword is worth the read!
Review originally published on my Wordpress blog Ashly Reads.
The Joker’s at it again and is doing his best to drive Police Commissioner to his breaking point and straight into madness. He does this by striking his daughter–taking her and Gordon into a funhouse of torture and mayhem.
Batman: The Killing Joke by Alan Moore, Brian Bolland, Richard Starkings, and Tim Sale
★★★★★
Genre: Horror/Science Fiction
Release Date: 1988
Source: Target – Bought
On My Shelf: Yes
So, I read this book ages ago, and I'm finally getting around to writing my review of it. I’ve been wanting to talk about this book since finishing it, but I’ve never felt myself in the right mind to accurately describe how I felt about it.
I’m actually a pretty big low-key fan of Alan Moore and will literally read anything he’s done. So, I basically went into this collection knowing that I was not going to be disappointed, and, sure enough, I wasn’t even a little bit.
I will say a quick disclaimer before I start praising this work. I know some of the topics in this book are tough to handle (especially for some), and I know that there are parts of this book that come across demeaning and politically incorrect to certain groups of people. I in no way support this, but I’ve taken into consideration the year of publication of this text, and it’s also important to know that Moore himself apologized for they way some of the text may be misconstrued.
That all being said, I really did enjoy this. This story was quite the ride. From page one, Moore dives right into the action and, quite frankly, right into the madness. He gives zero sensibility to the Joker and makes him at times even more ruthless and insane than you would expect. There is no sense of humanity left in the character that Moore writes and Bolland draws.
The Joker is actually one of my favorite Batman villains, so seeing him in a story where’s he’s violent and nowhere short of insane was fun in a sort of unsettling way. I enjoyed this storyline and thought the setting was utterly appropriate for it.
To top it all off, Bolland’s artwork set the scene perfectly. I enjoyed the soft tones and intensity of his work. Each panel was like some new nightmare I couldn’t look away from. The dark colors complemented Moore’s storytelling to the t and brought the story to life in a seamless, morbidly disturbing manner.
There was something else that struck me about this text that I just want to say a quick word on before I wrap up. Not only does this comic show us the craze of the Joker, Moore examens Bruce Wayne’s character in a striking way as well. Gordon does a fairly good job of holding on to his sanity; the same can’t exactly be said about Wayne. Batman’s character is pushed to extremes, and the concept of a dark knight truly came into play. Moore has a way of subtly giving his characters so much complexity that when you stop to think about it all everything takes on the tone of overwhelming in a good way–this story is no different.
Overall, I highly recommend this twisted tale to fans of Batman, Moore, or those looking for a superhero comic that is much…much darker than the typical one you’d pull off the shelf.
*NOTE* I also highly recommend buying the anniversary edition that’s introduced by Tim Sale. His work has been incredibly influential in the Batman (and DC universe), and his foreword is worth the read!
Review originally published on my Wordpress blog Ashly Reads.