The Killing Joke

[The Dark Knight]

Batman and the Joker will kill each other in the end. Pretending otherwise is a joke.

Absolutely. TKJ references that with the "perhaps you'll kill me, perhaps I'll kill you, perhaps sooner, perhaps later" commentary. I think the Joker's death at the very least is an accepted eventuality, with TDK Returns and Beyond being two key examples. TDK Returns satisfies my cravings for such a scene the most, because it represents an accumulation of an entire career's worth of restraint falling away in a moment of desperation. Batman is getting stabbed repeatedly, he's bleeding out and thus the Joker forces the issue. It really works well. 

[The Laughing Fish]

I got to be honest, as eerie as the last few panels were, I was never really convinced that Batman killed the Joker in the end. For the interpretation to work, Batman's body language would have to appear more aggressive - posing in a position where one could perceive he is about to attack the Joker. That wasn't the case here. The only thing we see him doing is sharing a laugh. The laughter may have ended rather abruptly once the police siren plays in the background, but it's not enough to interpret that Batman had finally put the Joker down for good.

When you consider that DC Comics would soon incorporate TKJ as a mainstay of Batman continuity, I find it hard to believe they'd approve the Joker getting killed in the end. As far as I can tell, Brian Bolland seems to encourage the belief that the ending is ambiguous, going by reading his foreword in the Deluxe Edition. But Alan Moore made it quite clear that wasn't what he intended.

Plus, Richard Starkings - the letterer who worked on TKJ - also dismissed the theory.

No. They are laughing. Batman is laughing so hard he leans on the Joker for support. The End.

Brian described it to me that way when this craziness first came up in 1986.

http://www.unleashthefanboy.com/comics/batman-doesnt-kill-joker-in-the-killing-jok/68199

For what it's worth, this is the official script that describes the last moments of the book, and it doesn't show any hints of Batman killing the Joker.



It may be a fun theory to talk about it, but judging by the feedback from some of the creators who worked on the book and the lack of context to support the interpretation.

[The Dark Knight]

I managed to pick up a copy of the original Killing Joke for a reasonable price. This is the way the book should look. The new version takes away all the personality and atmosphere (along with the yellow oval...unforgivable!) to make the experience generic. Give me the acid trip fever dream every day of the week, and the fact this is how it was first released means a lot to me.

[Slash Man]

This was one of the first titles I sought out once I began seriously reading comics (that, and TDKR, of course). I didn't know the whole controversy back then and just went with the version that was attainable for a couple bucks. Back then, I was a sucker for all the gimmicks of altering old works of art: remastered, remixed, noise-reduced, digitally expanded, et cetera.

Nowadays, I like to think in terms of preserving art with my physical media purchases; which version best represents the original intent? Sometimes, alterations do have merit to them, and I think the original artist retroactively coloring the work does apply. The same goes with director's cuts of films. But the bottom line is that these should be seen as alternatives to the original and not outright replacements. This is what brings much more negative attention to a new version that's not awful in its own right.

For those following the upcoming DC Finest line of complete run TPB collections, I'm wondering where The Killing Joke would fit into the line, and more importantly which version they'd use. It'd just feel jarring to go from an 80s comic into a 2000s digitally colored comic. There's also the possibility that they just don't include graphic novels in the collection, but I don't think that'd be a wise decision if they wanted to copy what made Marvel's Epic line great.