Alan Moore - The Killing Joke

Pros: Incredible story and artwork; the best Joker story ever
Cons: Can be too graphically realistic for some people to swallow

The Joker is, perhaps, the Batman’s most twisted and insane villain. It’s easy to understand the motives of the Penguin, the Riddler, Catwoman, Two-Face and the rest of the lot as they always follow some sort of pattern in their methods towards crime. ...

Pros: Perfectly crafted story and art create a book that changed comics.
Cons: None.

The Killing Joke Written by Alan Moore. Art by Brian Bolland. Characters created by Bob Kane. When Bob Kane created The Batman in 1939 Organized Crime was still a focus of the American Psyche. Al Capone was in prison, John Dillinger dead, ...

Pros: Great characterization of Batman and Joker...an examination of their need for each other.
Cons: Graphically (realistically?) violent

I just re-read "The Killing Joke", Alan Moore's seminal work about the struggle between Batman and the Joker, and the suffering on both sides as a result of that struggle. First published in 1988, it was one of a wave of Graphic Novels (AKA higher...

Pros: Moore's writing and Bolland's art, simple as that.
Cons: Seriously?

1988 wasn't the start of it, but that year definitely had a hand in it. The "it" was the development of comics beyond the super-hero funny books. These new books were mature, graphic, and in the end, important--at least as far as the growth of comics...

Pros: Dark, gripping, interesting and excellently illustrated
Cons: Might be a little slow for some.

With the recent release of this years superb summer blockbuster The Dark Knight I decided it was fast time for me to look back into some of the comics that influenced it. My first stop was The Killing Joke as it is the book quoted by both ...

Pros: Moore and Bolland at their quintessential best! The Joker at his very worst!
Cons: THAT YOU HAVEN'T READ IT YET!

If there's a singular book that slapped the comic industry across the mouth and forced it to grow up, BATMAN/THE KLLING JOKE gets my vote. A one shot graphic novel from one of the all time greatest writers in the field Alan Moore combined with one of ...

Pros: Excellent characterization, the definition of the Joker.
Cons: Somewhat small, some scenes might be disturbing.

The Dark Knight has been rarely seen in a darker setting than what Allan Moore has reserved for this brooding tale of desperation and insanity. Set right after the time of the Joker's escape from Arkham Asylum, the absolutely deranged villain seeks to...

Pros: Excellent Art, Interesting Story Line
Cons: All comics aren't this well done.

Most readers of the various Batman comics know that the last decade and a half has been harsh on the characters presented in the series. The most recent catastrophes that have occurred are the breaking of the Bat in the "Knightfall" saga and...

Pros: Poinent tale of two archetypical foes. Wonderfully written and drawn.
Cons: May be too much for younger readers.

Are we insane? Or are the mad ones perfectly normal. What does it take for the sanest man to crack? Not much thinks the Joker, and he intends to prove it.
In Alan Moore's The Killing Joke, we are seeing two of pop-culture's most recognizable...