Hardcover, 64 pages
English language
Published March 19, 2008 by DC Comics.
"One bad day. 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'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 thes two iconic foes before it leads to a 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? '' -- dust jacket.
This was hands down one of my first few favorite graphic novels.
The Joker & the joke at the end were my favorite parts. A perfect story for a comic book. The illustrations were just great.
Por la psicología de personajes y por el origen del Joker, le habría puesto al cómic 4 estrellas. Es fascinante la simpleza del motivo que volvió al Joker loco, precisamente por lo vulgar, por lo absurdamente corriente que es. Lo cual era el argumento del Joker: el ser humano quiebra mucho más fácilmente de lo que parece. Por otra parte, la representación del Joker y Batman como dos caras de la misma moneda ayuda a darle una dimensión más profunda (y casi diría más creíble) a Batman, cuando desmitifica al superhéroe infalible y lo muestra como un humano imperfecto que lidia con su locura particular como buenamente puede.
Por la pésima forma de escribir a Barbara Gordon, lo dejo en 3 estrellas. El cómic contribuye a lo que con el tiempo ha acabado siendo un tropo muy feo, el de la Mujer en la Nevera. Acuñado por Gail Simone, …
Por la psicología de personajes y por el origen del Joker, le habría puesto al cómic 4 estrellas. Es fascinante la simpleza del motivo que volvió al Joker loco, precisamente por lo vulgar, por lo absurdamente corriente que es. Lo cual era el argumento del Joker: el ser humano quiebra mucho más fácilmente de lo que parece. Por otra parte, la representación del Joker y Batman como dos caras de la misma moneda ayuda a darle una dimensión más profunda (y casi diría más creíble) a Batman, cuando desmitifica al superhéroe infalible y lo muestra como un humano imperfecto que lidia con su locura particular como buenamente puede.
Por la pésima forma de escribir a Barbara Gordon, lo dejo en 3 estrellas. El cómic contribuye a lo que con el tiempo ha acabado siendo un tropo muy feo, el de la Mujer en la Nevera. Acuñado por Gail Simone, el término denuncia la frecuencia con que las superheroínas tienden a "perder sus poderes, ser violadas, o incluso despedazadas y metidas en una nevera", normalmente con el único objetivo de que avance la trama de personajes masculinos. Como cuenta mucho mejor que yo @slayerkinney en su crítica "La Broma Asesina y el murciélago en la nevera", la violencia contra Barbara Gordon está al servicio del desarrollo de personajes masculinos. A pesar de que presenciamos cómo la superheroína Batgirl es torturada y humillada, perdiendo toda su libertad y poder, no se nos muestra su reacción más allá de dos viñetas. La víctima centro de toda la trama sale en menos de cinco páginas de las cincuenta del cómic porque su sufrimiento no está dirigido a su superación personal, sino a la de Batman y su padre. Y cuando esto se ha convertido en costumbre dentro de las historias de superheroínas, creo que podemos afirmar que algo está fallando.
Really nice book... although the plot wasn't particularly Moore-ishly convoluted, the art was great and hit some really good progressive beats. I can understand why this is so highly rated.
Wow. Although I read quite a few comics there are only a handful I can say I really love: Jimmy Corrigan, Fatale, maybe a few later Grant Morrison works. I can honestly say The Killing Joke is the most impressive Batman comic I have ever read. More interesting than The Dark Knight Returns and somehow more violent than Year One - I'm not sure how it manages this. The art is unbelievably good and the writing is able to balance subtext with organic story development.
People who complain Alan Moore (and the Joker) killed the character of Batwoman in 'The Killing Joke' do not appreciate Kim Yale and writer John Ostrander for establishing the computer expert character known as Oracle in the later series.
I am not a Batman fan especially, but this was pretty good. A surprisingly subdued little story that sets the Joker up as a dark mirror of Batman and philosophizes about the fragile nature of sanity. (My favorite bit: the Joker commenting that the only difference between him and the rest of the world was "one bad day"... and then pointing out that Batman had a bad day once, too, a day that changed everything.)
I enjoyed the implication that superheros are as broken as the villains they hunt, they have just drawn different conclusions from the events that removed them from the rest of the human race.
I've been groping for the words to describe the tone of this story, and just realized it reminded me of Sandman more than anything else. It has the same sort of... sympathetic tone toward everyone, regardless of which side of the battle …
I am not a Batman fan especially, but this was pretty good. A surprisingly subdued little story that sets the Joker up as a dark mirror of Batman and philosophizes about the fragile nature of sanity. (My favorite bit: the Joker commenting that the only difference between him and the rest of the world was "one bad day"... and then pointing out that Batman had a bad day once, too, a day that changed everything.)
I enjoyed the implication that superheros are as broken as the villains they hunt, they have just drawn different conclusions from the events that removed them from the rest of the human race.
I've been groping for the words to describe the tone of this story, and just realized it reminded me of Sandman more than anything else. It has the same sort of... sympathetic tone toward everyone, regardless of which side of the battle they're on or what part they play in the story.
On the surface, this appears to be a very light story. And yet, as you read it, it draws you in. It is a quick read, but an engrossing read. Batman and Joker, in some ways, seem like opposite sides of the same coin. I really liked it, but what I liked the most was the art in this one. The origin story was so-so, and I think that, as another commenter noted, we can look at that story as another one of the Joker's mad memories. I think if one looks at it that way, then the story works better (for me at least). The scheme to drive the Commissioner mad goes right along with something the Joker would do, but it just comes by so fast. And yet, and this is where the strength of the book lies, you find yourself as a reader drawn in all the …
On the surface, this appears to be a very light story. And yet, as you read it, it draws you in. It is a quick read, but an engrossing read. Batman and Joker, in some ways, seem like opposite sides of the same coin. I really liked it, but what I liked the most was the art in this one. The origin story was so-so, and I think that, as another commenter noted, we can look at that story as another one of the Joker's mad memories. I think if one looks at it that way, then the story works better (for me at least). The scheme to drive the Commissioner mad goes right along with something the Joker would do, but it just comes by so fast. And yet, and this is where the strength of the book lies, you find yourself as a reader drawn in all the way to the end. While certainly not Alan Moore's best, this is still pretty good, and I can see why it has held up after 20 years.
