This Iconic Batman Story is Wildly Overrated (And I Stand By That Opinion)

Batman is DC’s most popular hero, and for good reason. Looking back over Batman’s history, there are some amazing stories. Batman has starred in industry-changing stories, ones that have showed just how great the character and his world are. From sidekicks to allies to villains, every facet of Batman’s world has benefited from the character’s popularity and created characters that are nearly as important to pop culture as Batman himself. Of course, there’s one Batman character that stands heads and shoulders above the rest and that’s the Joker. Batman’s greatest foe has also starred in some brilliant stories, including one that many consider the best Batman/Joker story ever — Batman: The Killing Joke, by Alan Moore and Brian Bolland.

The Killing Joke is a classic story, full of Moore’s deft writing and Bolland’s eye-catching artwork. For many fans, it’s earned its place in the pantheon of not only the greatest Batman stories ever, but also the greatest stories in comics history, period. However, I think it’s about time that someone said the obvious — The Killing Joke is overrated. It’s an important story that changed the way everyone looked at the Joker and forever changed a big part of the Batman mythos, but much of the story’s importance lies less with what it does and more with who created it and it’s time to simply move on.

The Killing Joke Just Isn’t Necessary

So, let’s just get this out of the way right off the bat. Batman: The Killing Joke is a example of the comic medium done right. It’s written by Moore, who is considered by man to be one of the greatest writers in the history of the comic medium. Moore doesn’t have the ability to write a bad comic, and that’s definitely on display here, but Bolland’s art is the real star of the story. Every page is a visual feast, and Bolland’s pencils definitely bring the script to life in a way that no other artist could. Bolland’s work is what makes The Killing Joke into something special; honestly, I’ve always felt that if anyone other than Bolland drew this story, it wouldn’t be the blockbuster that it is.

However, Batman: The Killing Joke is a relic that really isn’t necessary anymore and may never have been necessary. Let’s start with the Joker. The Joker is Batman’s greatest foe. Their war against each other is one of the most important parts of the Batman mythos. They are two sides of the same coin, with Batman representing order and Joker representing chaos. For many fans, The Killing Joke is the definitiv Joker story, as it presents a possible origin for the character. However, ask yourself this question — has anything ever really been done with Joker’s origin that is interesting? Have The Killing Joke‘s revelations led to anything better or are they just kind of there? Personally, I look at it as the latter.

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Does the Joker having a sad sack origin made the character any better? Have there been any amazing stories built around the idea? I’d argue that giving the Joker any kind of origin was a huge mistake. Look at 2008’s The Dark Knight; one of the best parts of that movie is the way it shows us that Joker’s origin is meaningless. The Joker isn’t his past, he’s the bloody present and that’s the important part.

There’s also the matter of The Killing Joke‘s most controversial element: the shooting and paralysis of Barbara Gordon. The mean-spirited destruction of Barbara Gordon is looked at as one of the Joker’s most terrible acts, but DC has spent years walking it back because it was a mistake. It’s something that has long been met with criticism, not just for Barbara’s injury but the sadistic things Joker does to her in addition to that. Looking at The Killing Joke objectively, it’s easy to see how much of the story just exists for shock value. Giving the Joker an origin was shocking. Paralyzing and tormenting Barbara Gordon was shocking. The torture of Jim Gordon was shocking. What meat is there to the story? Beyond shocking moments, some of which have been invalidated in a variety of ways since its publication, what matters about The Killing Joke? The Killing Joke has very little value to the Batman mythos other than its shocking moments. It doesn’t really say anything new about Batman or even the Joker, it’s just yet another installment in their forever war with a bit higher stakes, functionally reducing the story to nothing more than a stunt.

The Killing Joke Lives or Dies by the Pedigree of the Creators and That’s the Only Reason It’s Important

Over the years I’ve drifted away from The Killing Joke. In terms of its artistic execution, it’s not a bad story, but it’s also not the amazing story that everyone wants to say it is. It weakens the concept of the Joker by giving him an origin. It removed an important part of Batman’s supporting cast for shock value. In the end, it’s basically just a run of the mill Batman and Joker story, with the added shine of Moore and Bolland to distract from the fact that the story itself doesn’t really do anything worthwhile.

Let’s be real for a second; if this story was by anyone else other than Moore and Bolland, it wouldn’t be nearly as well-regarded. It’s not even one of Moore’s best DC works when it comes right down to it — honestly it’s probably on the lower end of Moore’s DC oeuvre — and he’s even disavowed it multiple times over the years. Bolland’s art is tremendous, but it’s impossible to find any time that Bolland’s work isn’t amazing. This is the key to the story’s reception and it’s one of the main reasons I feel it’s overrated. Any other creative team could have come up with this story and it would have fallen to the wayside.

The Killing Joke has an important place in comics. It’s clearly had impact on Batman’s mythos in the many years since its publication and it is something that every Batman fan should read. But just because it is important doesn’t make it the best nor does it mean that the massive praise the story continues to receive to this day is warranted. It’s not the first time that someone tried to give the Joker origin and it won’t be the last. It’s a perfectly entertaining story, but it doesn’t belong in the rarefied air that it often finds itself in.

What do you think? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section.