April Edition Live Magazine - April 2014 Issue. | Page 94

KILLER INSTICT

comic review

WITH FREE WATCH!

Batman: The Killing Joke
(DC Comics)
If you are going to start with getting
into comics, look no further than
Alan Moore’s The Killing Joke. One
of the most influential and important
Batman one shot stories to date. The
thing about The Killing Joke is, it’s
all about everyone’s favourite homicidal maniac, The Joker.
Released in 1988, only two years
after Frank Miller’s groundbreaking “The Dark Knight Returns”, The
Killing Joke, would go on to shock
fans of Batman worldwide. Ladies
and gentleman, this particular issue
is NOT for the faint of heart. This is
the issue of Batman that features
the horrific scene where The Joker
shoots Barbara Gordon (aka Batgirl)
in the spine, rendering her a paraplegic for the remainder of the series, it
only gets worse from there.
The issue comes off with the same
impact of the 2008 film The Dark
Knight. That feeling you got at the
sight of The Joker, what wouldn’t this
guy do for fun? This comic is one of
those key issues that truly makes
you understand how completely evil
this manic is. It’s one of those stories
that sticks with you and rocks you to
your very core.
It’s also worth noting that this is the
first issue to ever attempt to give The
Joker some form of back story, and
does so very well. A story that would
be later revisited in the hit video
game Batman: Arkham Origins.

10/10
Written by Alan Moore . Art by Brian Bolland

Written by the legendary Alan Moore,
the genius behind some of the greatest ever comics, Watchmen, From
Hell, V For Vendetta and the reboot
of Swamp Thing, just to name a
few. He commands this issue with
his usual sharp tongued writing and
cynical direction. He makes a Batman comic all about The Joker, Batman himself only really appearing in
the final few pages. This daring feat
makes The Killing Joke stand out for
it’s time.
Brian Bolland fills the pages and
fleshes out Moore’s writing with a
rich 80’s style art that just makes
you swoon for the old days of pop

art gone by, but with a dark edge
naturally.
The single issue is a highly sort after one, but fear not, it has been collected with some additional content
and republished by DC in 2008 as
a nice, big, hard back graphic novel
available now at all good comic retailers. If you want to get into comics, if you have ever been curious,
maybe you just love Batman or The
Joker, than The Killing Joke is an
absolute MUST own comic for you!

Written by Scott F. Sowter

Brand new! See in-store for pricing.