Reviews

Batman: The Killing Joke by Tim Sale, Alan Moore, Brian Bolland

mtquandary's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

rymc125's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

trin's review against another edition

2.0

Wasn’t terribly impressed by this, to be honest. The Joker’s backstory seemed flimsy and clichéd, and there’s frankly just not that much else to this (aside from the horrible stuff that happens to Barbara—let’s not even get into that). I liked the art, and I liked the ending. But otherwise—meh.

the_dude1951's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

skarijay's review against another edition

4.0

One bad day can ruin a man. It was a grusome read, grim and dark, grimmer than even I expected it to be. Moore didn't pull any punches and Brian Bolland's illustrations really fit the horror of this book. I'm glad to have read it, but it's not one I'd pull out again for a "fun read".

tenthrow's review against another edition

dark fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

I admit that I am not a bid fan of comic books. I do, however, love Batman and the lore of his universe. This comic has been hyped up to me for decades at this point, and I have to say it doesn't live up to that hype. I didn't hate this book, but I didn't find it to be transcendent of the medium. The art is fantastic, but the dialog and plot, while having subtle moments, feels very forced. The unreliable origin story of joker is also pretty silly and the death of his pregnant wife was just laughably executed. I'm glad that so many have enjoyed this book, but it's definitely not impressive to me, aside from the excellent art.

nb_leftist's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

I recently read V for Vendetta and read The Watchmen a while back, I realized they were both written by Alan Moore and I have heard innumerable good things about “The Killing Joke.” Since I’ve never been into DC or Batman that much, I’ve never given it a try. The end goal of all this explaining is that this is my first real experience with Batman and the Joker (besides The Joker movie with Joaquin Phoenix).

Overall, I think it’s interesting. I think to really get the gravity of this, I’d need to read more DC stuff, get a little bit more on the level. The artwork was beautiful, I don’t think the part with Barbara being violated was really needed. But, I think the question of sanity was interesting. The way I thought about it was the dichotomy between good and bad. Is Batman good? Is he sane? Is he only considered sane because he is “fighting for the good side?” Definitely deserves a second read in a month or a week or something.

dolly_dagger87's review against another edition

dark emotional tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

italorebelo's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

3.0

thefirehawk's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark tense fast-paced

4.25