Batman: The Killing Joke

Batman: The Killing Joke
Cover of Batman: The Killing Joke by Brian Bolland
Publication information
Publisher	DC Comics
Format	One-shot
Genre	Superhero
Publication date	March 1988
No. of issues	1
Main character(s)	Batman Joker Jim Gordon Barbara Gordon
Creative team
Created by	Alan Moore Brian Bolland John Higgins
Written by	Alan Moore
Artist(s)	Brian Bolland
Letterer(s)	Richard Starkings
Colorist(s)	John Higgins (original) Brian Bolland (Deluxe Edition)
Editor(s)	Dennis O'Neil
Collected editions
Trade Paperback	ISBN 0930289455
Trade Paperback (Titan Books)	ISBN 1852860820
DC Universe: The Stories of Alan Moore	ISBN 1401209270
2008 Deluxe Edition	ISBN 5012256263
Noir	ISBN 140126364X
Absolute Edition	ISBN 1401284124
Novel	ISBN 1785658107
2019 Deluxe Edition	ISBN 1401294057

Batman: The Killing Joke is a 1988 DC Comics one-shot graphic novel featuring the characters Batman and the Joker written by Alan Moore and illustrated by Brian Bolland. The Killing Joke provides another origin story for the supervillain the Joker, loosely adapted from the 1951 story "The Man Behind the Red Hood!", which was written by Batman co-creator Bill Finger. The Joker's supposed origin is presented via flashback, while simultaneously depicting his attempt to drive Jim Gordon insane and Batman's desperate attempt to stop him.

Created by Moore, Bolland, and Higgins as their own take on the Joker's source and psychology,^[1] the story became famous for its origin of the Joker as a tragic character; a family man and failed comedian who suffered "one bad day" that finally drove him insane. Moore stated that he attempted to show the similarities and contrasts between Batman and the Joker. The story's effects on the mainstream Batman continuity also included the shooting and paralysis of Barbara Gordon (a.k.a. Batgirl), an event that eventually leads her to develop the identity of Oracle, secret data broker for the DC Universe's superhero community and leader of the superhero team Birds of Prey.

Many critics consider the graphic novel to be the definitive Joker story and one of the best Batman stories ever published, though the story's exploitative treatment of Barbara Gordon has garnered criticism. The comic won the Eisner Award for "Best Graphic Album" in 1989 and appeared on The New York Times Best Seller List in May 2009. In 2006, The Killing Joke was reprinted as part of the trade paperback DC Universe: The Stories of Alan Moore. In 2008, DC Comics reprinted the story in a deluxe hardcover edition, which features new coloring by Bolland, with a more sombre, realistic, and subdued palette than the original. Elements of The Killing Joke have inspired or been incorporated into other aspects of Batman media.