The Code Shop - Batman: The Killing Joke

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Manufacturer: DC Comics

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Binding: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 741.5973
EAN: 9781401216672
ISBN: 1401216676
Label: DC Comics
Manufacturer: DC Comics
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 64
Publication Date: 2008-03-19
Publisher: DC Comics
Release Date: 2008-03-19
Studio: DC Comics

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Watchmen Batman: The Dark Knight Returns Batman: Year One Batman: Arkham Asylum (15th Anniversary Edition) Batman: The Long Halloween

Spotlight customer reviews:

Customer Rating:

Summary: A historical moment in the Batman universe...
Comment: The Killing Joke was good in the art and plot mediums. It's by no means my favorite Batman story, but it does cycle through nicely. The plot begins with Batman visiting with the Joker in Arkham. After eventually seizing him and smearing off some of his makeup, it transitions to the Joker "buying" what seems to be an abandoned amusement park that seems to have a few hazards riddled about it. From here on out the plot begins shifting back and forth between two stories:
1.) The Joker somehow gets out of Arkham and breaks into Jim Gordon's apartment where he shoots Barbara (Batgirl) in the hip thus paralyzing her from the waist down for life (this leads to her becoming "the Oracle" later). The Joker's goons then grab Jim and drag him off to the now demonized amusement park to put Jim through an assortment of hellish experiences and games all the while Batman is trying to track him down and stop all this.
2.) The other story is the Joker's origin, or at least one of the more popular ones. It involves the Joker as a then nice guy who quit his job at a chemical factory to become a stand-up comedian. Sadly, this turns out badly so he decides to help some ruffians cut through the chemical factory he quit from to rob the playing card company next door to help support his pregnant wife. His wife is eventually killed in an accident, but he continues on with the plan to aid the ruffians due to their threats. The ruffians give him a red helmet to help him reassure him that he will not be recognized. This results badly when Batman and a squad of police crack down on them and Batman thinks the Joker to be the same thief who wore the helmet on a separate occasion. To escape from Batman, the Joker jumps into the toxic chemical drainage where he ends up being washed up on some shore with an entirely mutated face, skin and personality.
Overall, I'd say that the story is good as is the art. Much of the style of the comic is very twisted and is laced with grim humor throughout, but that's to be expected when you're taken inside the mind of one of DC's sickest villains. Obviously, this is more about the Joker than it is Batman, so all you're essentially seeing throughout this is an assessment of the Joker from his origin to his strengths to his weaknesses. Batman is mearly the hero who inexplicably comes in to stop all this, although there is a constant assessment of the relationship between Batman and the Joker that surfaces once or twice in the story. Try it out.

Customer Rating:

Summary: Overated
Comment: I had heard so much about this story that I may have set myself up for a letdown. The art IS spectacular and it is a fine story. I just walked away from it feeling like I had missed something. It is no Watchmen or V for Vendetta.

Customer Rating:

Summary: Not the best joker....but
Comment: This isn't bad i like the story, it's just missing something if you ask me I'm just not sure what it is. this joker to me was kinda a wuss totally awesome but he just seemed like he could have been so much better. the best part of the whole book was the end when he beat down batman that part was cool but the story up to it not so great

Customer Rating:

Summary: This aint your parent's joker
Comment: This book is a perfect representation of the Joker. He makes you laugh, then feel bad about what you're laughing at. This is such an intense tale of an absolutley brilliant maniac. The plan that he puts into action in this story is not for the children, esspecially when a certain someone's daughter gets plugged in the ribs. What follows is a "how to" on driving a father completely insane. The way it ends lets you know just how much Batman and the Joker love to hate eachother.

Customer Rating:

Summary: ilustraciones y textos al máximo nivel
Comment: ha cumplido las expectativas que tenía, y tras leer varias obras de moore, decir que esta breve, dura, y magnífica historia es la que está mejor ilustrada de todas, sin duda. una pieza para colección.

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Editorial Reviews:

One of the most famous Batman stories of all time is offered for the first time in hardcover in this special twentieth-anniversary edition.

This is the unforgettable that forever changed Batman's world, adding a new element of darkness with its unflinching portrayal of The Joker's twisted psyche.

Writer Alan Moore, acclaimed author of WATCHMEN and V FOR VENDETTA, offers his take on the disturbing relationship between The Dark Knight and his greatest foe. The Clown Prince of Crime has never been more ruthless than in this brutal tale.

This special new edition also includes a story written and exquisitely illustrated by Brian Bolland.