Batman: The Killing Joke Analysis

1. Batman: The Killing Joke was extremely well-written and executed. There is a certain stigma attached to superheroes and comic books, but Alan Moore is able to avoid that altogether. The flow of the story, which is nonlinear, is effortlessly smooth, with transitions between times, places, and character that are absolutely seamless. Moore has said that he tries to focus on the aspects of comic books and graphic novels that are not shared with any other medium, not even film. This story is a perfect example of a team of artists working together to create a work of fiction that resonates as if it were a perfectly real -- and perfectly terrifying -- series of events.

2. I have always been a fan of most superhero stories, batman in particular, and while I appreciated the Joker as an antagonist, I feel that I've come to an entirely new level of admiration for the character. Through Batman: The Killing Joke, Moore takes one of the most disliked people in the DC universe and, by means of his ingenious writing, is able to make him a sympathetic character. There are themes of desperation with which almost any person can certainly connect, followed inexorably by poor decisions and the consequences that arise from them. Moore goes even deeper, however, and addresses the desire to remove oneself from these consequences, and whether it be through alcohol, drugs, or (in the Joker's case) insanity. Within the narrative of this story, Moore threads several enduring themes of humanity that make it impossible for a reader not to connect with Batman: The Killing Joke.

3. If I were to adapt this story into another medium, I would have to make it into a movie. While Moore has said that it is not fair to say that graphic novels are extremely similar to cinema, Batman: The Killing Joke needs to have that visual element in order for it to retain what makes it incredible. As a movie, this story would need to be expanded. To do this, I would focus on the montage in which Batman is interviewing the other supervillains, giving them dialogue that acts as a reflection of all of the evil that the Joker has created throughout his career as a criminal; these conversations would be meant to act as "leading lines" designed to pick up the already dizzying momentum of the story as it rushes to the climactic final battle between the Joker and Batman.