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2nd Jan '13 7:24:20 PM Craver357

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->''"All it takes is one bad day to reduce the sanest man alive to lunacy. That's how far the world is from where I am. Just one bad day. [[DeathByOriginStory You had a bad day once]]. Am I right? I know I am. I can tell. [[NotSoDifferent You had a bad day and everything changed]]."''
-->-- '''SelfDemonstrating/TheJoker'''

Back in [[TheEighties the day]], Creator/AlanMoore actually wrote for mainstream superhero comics -- and not just for ''Comicbook/SwampThing''. He wrote ''[[ComicBook/ForTheManWhoHasEverything Superman]]'' and ''{{Franchise/Batman}}'' stories, too... stories such as this one.

'''''The Killing Joke''''', first published in March 1988 and drawn by Brian Bolland, tells [[MultipleChoicePast one possible version]] of [[StartOfDarkness the story of how The Joker became The Joker]], while simultaneously telling how he paralyzed Barbara "Batgirl" Gordon.

What follows is a particularly effective MotiveRant from SelfDemonstrating/TheJoker [[NietzscheWannabe about how pointless the world is]], an admission of Joker's inability to figure out [[MultipleChoicePast why he is the way he is]], and a [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking legitimately funny joke]].

''The Killing Joke'' is widely considered by critics and fans to be one of the best ''Batman'' stories ever written, and certainly the best one involving the Joker; it heavily influenced both of Tim Burton's ''Film/{{Batman}}'' movies and Heath Ledger's take on The Joker in ''Film/TheDarkKnight''. It was also heavily referenced in two consecutive Season One episodes of ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheBraveAndTheBold'', which introduced The Joker in the series. John Ostrander and Kim Yale transformed Barbara Gordon into Oracle after the events of this story crippled her.

This comic is not to be confused with the proto-industrial rock group Music/KillingJoke (although the title could be a ShoutOut).
----
!!''TheKillingJoke'' provides examples of:

* ActuallyPrettyFunny: The Joker's joke, which is an analogy of how hopeless it is for one insane man to try and save another insane man. [[spoiler:It's so sadly relevant, Batman can't help but join the MonsterClown in bitter laughter.]]
* AlasPoorVillain: Joker himself at the end, obviously.
* BittersweetEnding: Gordon is saved and the Joker is carted away, but Barbara is paralyzed (and will remain so for several years).
* BlackComedy: The Joker describing Barbara after he just shot her in the stomach and sent her flying onto a glass coffee table.
-->She thinks she's a coffee table edition... Mind you, I can't say much for the volume's condition. I mean, there's a hole in the jacket and the spine appears to be damaged.
* {{Bookends}}:
** The story starts and ends in the rain.
** Batman's monologue.
** The first words are "There were these two guys in a lunatic asylum", the beginning of the joke which Joker tells at the end.
* CircusOfFear: The Joker's carnival.
* ColdBloodedTorture
* CollectiveIdentity: In the (maybe-)flashbacks, the villain Red Hood is actually a mask which members of a robbery gang take turns wearing to confuse the police.
* CreatorBacklash: Not so much of a "backlash", but Alan Moore (and Brian Bolland) personally don't think it's as great as most people say it is.
* DeusAngstMachina: "All it takes is one bad day to reduce the sanest man alive to lunacy."
* DisposableWoman:
** The Joker's wife. [[MultipleChoicePast Maybe.]]
** Barbara. She didn't die, but she was crippled to cause angst for the male characters, and [[http://img835.imageshack.us/img835/9264/babsi.jpg this trauma became her defining trait.]]
* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: [[WordOfGod Alan Moore]] insists Joker didn't rape Barbara, though it certainly looks possible on a casual reading. Moore did [[SureWhyNot suggest]], in one interview, that it's possible to read Joker having three circus midgets strip Commissioner Gordon as implying ''his'' rape.
* DrivenToMadness: The Joker tries to do this to Commissioner Gordon, but he fails.
* {{Elseworlds}}: A number of fans believe Moore originally intended for the story to be a one-shot non-canon story and ExecutiveMeddling integrated it into TheDCU; it certainly would explain why Batman has a picture of Pre-Crisis Bat-Girl and {{Batwoman}} on his desk. WordOfGod says ''The Killing Joke'' was always intended to be in continuity, however.
* EstablishingCharacterMoment: Most accredit this story as the one that establishes Joker's murderous modern-day characterization.
* EvilCannotComprehendGood: "God, you make me want to puke."
** "Why aren't you ''laughing''?"
* EverybodyLaughsEnding: A much darker use of this trope than usual.
* EyeScream: The twentieth anniversary recoloring makes Joker's eyes bleed when he comes up from the chemicals.
* FanDisservice:
** During Commissioner Gordon's Willy Wonka-ish roller coaster ride, [[http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t251/beeftony/killingjoke27.jpg a collection of photographs]] are projected displaying Barbara after being shot. Among other things, the photographs show Barbara's fully exposed breasts with little censorship, in a manner not usually seen outside of a Vertigo comic.[[note]]If you don't see it, look behind Joker's speech bubble in the middle panel. It was hidden well.[[/note]] As interesting as this would normally be, the fact Babs is covered in blood and in obvious agony tends to belay any sexual connotation.
** When being dragged before Joker after regaining conciousness, a full frontal of Gordon is given. While he's mostly obscured by shadow, it appears that the artist left in a bit of detail.
* FreakOut: Despite going through one, Gordon manages to avoid going crazy.
* FreudianExcuse: [[spoiler:If his backstory is true, maybe.]]
** Subverted. After telling Joker about his failure to break Gordon -- and mindful of his own "bad day" -- Batman asks Joker to consider if he was wrong: "Maybe ordinary people don't always crack. Maybe there isn't any need to crawl under a rock with all the other slimy things when trouble hits... maybe it was just you all the time."
* FromNobodyToNightmare: Joker was (at least in this story) a failed stand-up comedian who wanted to make a little money to support his family. Now he's Batman's greatest foe.
* GoKartingWithBowser: [[spoiler:At the very end, between Batman and Joker.]]
* GoMadFromTheRevelation: Joker does this after "one bad day" (to be fair, it ''was'' a [[TraumaCongaLine really bad day]]). He also tries to bring this about in Commissioner Gordon, who resists Joker's torturous plans out of [[HeroicResolve sheer willpower.]]
* HallOfMirrors: The final showdown between Batman and Joker takes place in one.
* HawaiianShirtedTourist: Joker dons this outfit for maybe a page and a half when he shoots Barbara Gordon -- but it's remembered to the point where it's one of his alternate costumes in ''[[LegoAdaptationGame Lego Batman]]''.
* HeroicResolve: This is what enables Gordon to resist going mad.
* HumanityIsInsane:
--> '''The Joker:''' Faced with the inescapable fact that human existence is mad, random and pointless, one in eight of them crack up and go stark slavering buggo! Who can blame them? In a world as psychotic as this... any other response would be ''crazy!''
* LastSecondChance: [[spoiler:Batman offers Joker a sincere chance at redemption at the end.]]
* LaughingMad: Joker, anyone? Heck, look at the trope picture.
* MatchCut: This is Moore's specialty. It's incredibly effective at tying the flashbacks into the current events to create a united narrative.
* MindRape: This is what the Joker does to try and drive Gordon insane.
* MotiveRant: Joker's explanation of why he's torturing Gordon is one of these.
* MonsterClown: '''Guess.'''
* MultipleChoicePast: Joker is the TropeNamer, and it comes from this comic.
** Later comics had The Riddler pop up as a possible witness to the "bad day" which birthed The Joker -- only to tell a different version of the story (one which isn't considered canon, too).
* NamelessNarrative: Neither Batman or Joker are referred to by those names throughout the story (save for Batman looking up Joker's info in a computer). In newspaper headlines, it's "Disfigured Homicidal Maniac" and "Bat-garbed Vigilante"/"Crimefighter".
** The French translation, ''Rire et mourir'' -- "Laughing and dying", "To laugh and to die", or "To laugh and die" -- botches this trope in the first scene when Batman, having discovered an impostor in Joker's cell, shouts "''Vous n'êtes pas le Joker!'' (You're not the Joker!)".
* NietzscheWannabe: Joker qualifies here.
* NothingUpMySleeve: [[ILied Joker lied]] -- there's a knife.
* NotSoDifferent: As seen in the page quote, Joker accuses Batman of being equally as insane as he is -- even if Batman won't admit it.
* NotSoStoic: [[spoiler:Batman laughs at Joker's joke at the end.]]
* OhCrap: Barbara gets a brief one when she see's The Joker, right before he shoots her.
* PatrickStewartSpeech: Batman gives one to SelfDemonstrating/TheJoker in response to his "one bad day" monologue.
-->I spoke to Commissioner Gordon before I came in here. He's fine. Despite all your sick, vicious little games, he's as sane as he ever was! So maybe ordinary people don't always crack. Maybe there isn't any need to crawl under a rock with all the other slimey things when trouble hits. Maybe it was just you, all the time!
* {{Prequel}}: An issue of the team-up series ''ComicBook/TheBraveAndTheBold'' (#33 of the 2007 relaunched series) featured a team-up between Zatanna, WonderWoman, and ComicBook/{{Batgirl}}, as Zatanna apparently decided to go [[GirlsNightOutEpisode clubbing]] with the others after a vivid dream. Zatanna and Diana repeatedly reiterate the need for Barbara to enjoy the night and not to spend all her time preoccupied with crime-fighting, particularly making a point of having her ''dance''. The story is touching and beautiful and funny (including what appears to be a karaoke rendition of {{Beyonce}}'s ''Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)'') -- until the night ends and Diana asks if Barbara has ever heard of [[ComicBook/BirdsOfPrey oracles]]. Zatanna's dream was a ''[[PropheticDreams prophecy]]''; she knew Barbara would be paralyzed, and since she could not change the future, she decided to give Barbara one final night of normalcy before her life was irrevocably changed. The final pages of the issue feature a re-creation of the pages from ''The Killing Joke'' where Barbara was shot (including the conversation she was having with Commissioner Gordon at the time) and end with The Joker shooting Barbara as she opens the door.
* PsychologicalHorror: The Joker uses the most disturbing images possible to break Gordon. [[spoiler:He fails; Gordon remains sane.]]
* RedemptionRejection: The Joker has enough humanity left to be sad about what he's become, but he bitterly admits he can never be a good person again, no matter how much he actually wants to be one ''deep'' inside.
--> "No. I'm sorry but...No. It's too '''late''' for that. '''Far''' too late."
* RuleOfSymbolism: Joker's final joke is an obvious parallel between himself and Batman -- it's a tale of a man who's insane but functional (Batman) and a man who's completely off the deep end (Joker).
* SadClown: The finale displays this when both Joker and Batman hysterically laugh at the cruelty of their lives, which drives in how ''deeply'' both these men have been hurt. Joker '''must''' substitute laughter for tears, or the ponderous weight of his sadness would crush what little will to live he has left.
* SanitySlippage
* ShutUpHannibal: Once again, Batman delivers one to the Joker (a running theme between these two).
-->'''Joker''': It's all a ''joke''! Everything anybody ever ''valued'' or ''struggled'' for... it's all a ''monstrous'', demented ''gag''! So why can't ''you'' see the ''funny side''? Why aren't you ''laughing''?\\
'''Batman''': Because I've heard it before... and it wasn't funny the ''first'' time.
* SingleIssuePsychology: This is subverted -- and since this is a Batman story, the subversion is rather shocking.
* SlasherSmile: This one's mandatory; it's ''The Joker'' we're talking about here.
* StuffedInTheFridge: Babs gets this treatment in ''Killing Joke''. Rumor has it that when Alan Moore asked if it was okay to shoot and paralyze her, editorial sent back a note saying "cripple the bitch." Later, John Ostrander and his wife Kim Yale, horrified at her treatment and determined to fix it, had Babs [[TookALevelInBadass take a level in Badass]] in order to become the [[HandicappedBadass uberimportant cyber superhero]] known as [[ComicBook/BirdsOfPrey Oracle]].
** To his credit, Moore felt bad about what he did to Babs and wanted to restore her ability to walk in order to make her Batwoman -- but since she'd already become Oracle by the time he suggested the idea, it was scrapped. Babs would later return to the role of Batgirl when DC rebooted its entire line with "The {{New 52}}".
* SympathyForTheDevil: Batman to Joker, especially towards the end.
* ThouShaltNotKill: Gordon tells Batman to bring the Joker in alive to "show him that our way works."
* TraumaCongaLine: This is what Joker [[spoiler:might have]] went through during his "one bad day." [[spoiler:He throws away a stable career working at a chemical factory to pursue his dream of becoming a comedian, but fails miserably at it. After falling into serious financial trouble, he agrees to lead a couple of mafia thugs through the factory in order to provide for his wife and unborn child. On the day when he's supposed to do the job, his wife dies in an accident, rendering the job meaningless. The thugs fake sympathy for him, but force him to go through with the job -- and tell him to use the money for a funeral for his family. He leads the thugs through the chemical plant, but they're soon spotted by security and shot to death. Batman shows up, believing the man who would be Joker to be Red Hood (since he's wearing the Red Hood costume). He proceeds to jump into the polluted water and swims to safety, then realizes that his skin is burning. When he takes off the hood, the first thing he sees is his reflection in a puddle: green hair, pale skin, yellow teeth, and bloodshot eyes. At this point, he [[GoMadFromTheRevelation just starts laughing.]]]]
* UnreliableNarrator: This trope goes hand-in-hand with MultipleChoicePast and is also one possible explanation for what actually happens at the end. This ''is'' SelfDemonstrating/TheJoker we're talking about, after all.
** Batman's outfit, as detailed during the flashback, is considerably more demonic-looking than any previous rendition (and certainly don't match the "normal" outfit Batman wears in Present Day) -- which means the flashbacks are clearly told from Joker's POV.
*** The demonic costume ''is'' closer to his original costume, however, which could make this a ContinuityNod.
* UpdatedRerelease: The 2008 twentieth-anniversary edition was completely recolored: new details such as [[EyeSquick the Joker's eyes bleeding]] were added, the flashbacks were made DeliberatelyMonochrome, and the yellow oval around the Batman insignia was removed (bringing the costume into line with ''Film/TheDarkKnightSaga'', which was heavily influenced by ''TheKillingJoke'').
** Brian Bolland ''hated'' the original coloring, which is intentionally garish and jarring. He approved of the re-release on one condition: he had to be allowed to personally recolor it.
* VillainousBreakdown: ''Killing Joke'' features a clever little inversion: the breakdown itself is ''how'' Joker became the villain.
** The end of the comic arguably counts: [[spoiler:when Joker learns his attempt to break Gordon failed, he seriously considers Batman's offer of a possible redemption before declining. The Joker actually becomes ''sane'' for a few brief moments.]]
* [[WhenSheSmiles When He Smiles]]: [[spoiler: Batman at the end after the Joker says his joke.]]

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12th Dec '12 1:12:17 PM SorataYuy

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* {{Prequel}}: An issue of the team-up series ''ComicBook/TheBraveAndTheBold'' (#33 of the 2007 relaunched series) featured a team-up between Zatanna, WonderWoman, and {{Batgirl}}, as Zatanna apparently decided to go [[GirlsNightOutEpisode clubbing]] with the others after a vivid dream. Zatanna and Diana repeatedly reiterate the need for Barbara to enjoy the night and not to spend all her time preoccupied with crime-fighting, particularly making a point of having her ''dance''. The story is touching and beautiful and funny (including what appears to be a karaoke rendition of {{Beyonce}}'s ''Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)'') -- until the night ends and Diana asks if Barbara has ever heard of [[ComicBook/BirdsOfPrey oracles]]. Zatanna's dream was a ''[[PropheticDreams prophecy]]''; she knew Barbara would be paralyzed, and since she could not change the future, she decided to give Barbara one final night of normalcy before her life was irrevocably changed. The final pages of the issue feature a re-creation of the pages from ''The Killing Joke'' where Barbara was shot (including the conversation she was having with Commissioner Gordon at the time) and end with The Joker shooting Barbara as she opens the door.

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* {{Prequel}}: An issue of the team-up series ''ComicBook/TheBraveAndTheBold'' (#33 of the 2007 relaunched series) featured a team-up between Zatanna, WonderWoman, and ComicBook/{{Batgirl}}, as Zatanna apparently decided to go [[GirlsNightOutEpisode clubbing]] with the others after a vivid dream. Zatanna and Diana repeatedly reiterate the need for Barbara to enjoy the night and not to spend all her time preoccupied with crime-fighting, particularly making a point of having her ''dance''. The story is touching and beautiful and funny (including what appears to be a karaoke rendition of {{Beyonce}}'s ''Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)'') -- until the night ends and Diana asks if Barbara has ever heard of [[ComicBook/BirdsOfPrey oracles]]. Zatanna's dream was a ''[[PropheticDreams prophecy]]''; she knew Barbara would be paralyzed, and since she could not change the future, she decided to give Barbara one final night of normalcy before her life was irrevocably changed. The final pages of the issue feature a re-creation of the pages from ''The Killing Joke'' where Barbara was shot (including the conversation she was having with Commissioner Gordon at the time) and end with The Joker shooting Barbara as she opens the door.

14th Oct '12 2:36:05 PM Tuckerscreator

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14th Oct '12 2:35:56 PM Tuckerscreator

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