Books Batman: The Killing Joke
Books and Publications Average Rating:

Rating: - Good...and disturbing
When I read this through for the first time, I was under the impression it was aimed at younger teenagers. Needless to say, when I got to the middle of the book, I was pretty shocked at some of the content. At times I think the Joker's reaction to his "bad day" were a little too extreme, but some of the lines he says are really powerful and thought provoking. So even though this story pushes the envelope, its still a classic.

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Rating: - Very Cool One-Shot
There really isn't anything I an add that hasn't already been mentioned by other reviewer's: the comic looks great, the story is entertaining and provides (as far as I know) an unprecedented look into the origins of The Joker, and The Joker is just an awesome character in here. It is a bit short (you can probably finish it off in less than an hour, though I spent quite a bit of time examining the artwork) and a bit cliche (Batman and The Joker are the same) but still very enjoyable.

Check it out, it's well worth the $10 and the hour it takes to read it.

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Rating: - Not Alan Moore's Best Work. Nor is it the best Batman story
As much as I enjoyed this comic, there's a limitation placed on a writer when he has to work with established characters. Alan Moore said in an interview that he created Rorschach in Watchmen on the premise that Batman really is a sociopath. However, when Alan Moore has to write Batman himself, he can't make Batman a sociopath. He gets to have some fun with Joker's origin story, portraying him as a nebbish who went mad from the chemicals that bleached his skin white and turned his hair green (the standard origin story for the Joker - one that they don't bother to repeat in the current movie). There's also a fun torture sequence (I can't believe I wrote that) with the Joker trying to drive Commissioner Gordon mad.

However, there's not much else to this comic. It's about 64 pages of the Joker being the Joker. The artwork is great. Batman and the Joker are again portrayed as two sides of the same coin, which is true but also a rather tired cliche in most crime novels (as in Red Dragon where Hannibal Lector taunts the hero by saying he's just like him - except for all the cannibalism). And for $10, I would expect something a little more substantial from Alan Moore.

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Rating: - Batman: The Killing Joke
Great insight into why the Joker may be who is is, very easy read should take about an hour.