Batman: The Killing Joke (Deluxe Edition) - Books (Alan Moore, Hardcover)

For full product details, view this product on Amazon.

Customer Reviews of Batman: The Killing Joke (Deluxe Edition)

Alan
Edinburgh United Kingdom
24th August 2008

"I know you're a mass murderer, but can't we be friends?"
Alan Moore provides the reader with plenty motivation for us to hate the Joker in this short story; so much in fact that it make's Commisioner Gordon's response largely unbelievable, and Batman's 'let's be friends, I can help you' reaction somehow cowardly. The villain is elevated to such a level of cruelty and malice that Batman's idealistic moral outlook has no counter. The result is Batman comes off as a wimp.

The artwork by Boland is wonderful, but probably the worst story I've read of Moore's.

Lancebastion
stratazon.co.uk
17th August 2008

A short story, short on story
This graphic novel has been given a massive amount of praise and to be honest, I'm not sure why. Perhaps because it's Alan Moore, perhaps because it is Batman vs Joker, perhaps because it has a Joker origin. I'm not sure.

I read it in one sitting, it's a very short and at £10 is a bit expensive. As it's so short there's not really a story. None at all. Batman turns up at the begining and the end, the middle is mainly flashbacks to the Joker origin. Which is campy and somewhat uninteresting.

The end is somewhat ambiguous following on the unexplored idea of should Batman kill the joker and why.

Really, the problem is not bad writing, just that it's too short and doesn't really explore the relationship at all.

There are better graphic novels, there are better batman novels. I wouldn't recommend this.

juno
Wales
13th August 2008

Not as great as it's made out to be....
I must admit to having had a copy of this book for quite a while now, and having read and re-read it a number of times, still cannot see why it is so lauded. Okay, the artwork IS wonderful (though Brian Bolland didn't like the colour much, apparently), and there are elements within the story which have subsequently proven pivotal within the DC Universe, but that's not really enough to explain it's status. I think that after an excellent set up, the ending is rather flat. I'd always assumed that I'd "missed the point" somewhere ... now I'm not so sure. It's quite interesting to review "The Killing Joke" in the context of the rest of Alan Moore's work at DC (and, as all but his "Swamp Thing" stuff is now collected in a single trade paperback, that's relatively easy to do). It's certainly not his most interesting or most imaginative during this period (his two comparable Superman stories are probably superior, whilst his Omega Men and Green Lantern Corps tales are better still) and I suspect much of the status comes from the general Batman "thing" that ran from Miller's "The Dark Knight Returns" to the Burton's two movies.
A good book, but not the great one everyone seems to think.

Interesting person
A long way away from you.
9th August 2008

The best Joker story for the last 20 years
This story has to be the best insight to the Joker mainly because its the only one that has a worthy and acceptable back story for Joker. He's not as psychotic as I usually like him to be in this but he's still got the regular charm. Seeing as the story's quite short its hard to mention anything without spoiling anything. but I assure you, this is an excellent read.

The artwork is excellent too like all of Bolland's work. My only problem is the design of the Batmobile. You'll understand when you see it.

Anthony Guasco

4th August 2008

IT NEVER CAME!
The Comic and another one I bought never came! ahahaahah They were for a friend as a gift and now what am I supposed to frickin do when people rip me off?