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- This video is sponsored by Full Sail University.
Batman The Killing Joke is an iconic story
shrouded in a bit of mystery,
especially the ending.
Take this panel here for example.
Many people believe that this shows Batman
clearly reaching out and killing the Joker.
This is supported by how Joker's laughter abruptly stops
a few panels later as the light in the rain slowly goes out.
As we discussed in our last video on the subject,
there's no basis for this idea in real life,
but, like,
something has to happen, right?
Are we really supposed to believe
that Batman and Joker simply share a laugh together
in the rain and that's it?
No.
What's really going on here?
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We are back today, talking about The Killing Joke.
If you missed the first video we did on it
discussing how it probably was never Alan Moore's intention
for Batman to kill Joker,
you can click that card right up there to check it out
before moving forward with this video.
But just because it might not have been what Moore intended,
doesn't mean you as a reader can't interpret it
as Batman intentionally ending the Joker once and for all.
Still, there are a few inconsistencies
with that idea, right?
Firstly and most obviously,
if Joker really did die,
how do you explain him coming back in subsequent stories?
Well, recent revelations in the DC Universe
tell us that there is not one Joker,
but actually three.
Meaning Batman could've killed one
and every appearance of the clown prince after that
has been one of the remaining two Jokers.
As of this recording, we just don't know yet.
But let's imagine that this is the case.
Wouldn't Batman at least be a little suspicious
of Joker popping up after he supposedly died
by the Dark Knight's own hands?
And you'd think that killing his nemesis
would impact Batman at least a little bit, right?
Forget Batman's rule against killing.
We've seen evidence to the contrary
both in and out of the comics.
But the whole point of The Killing Joke
was to showcase the symbiotic relationship
between Joker and Bats.
In some weird way, they need each other.
For Batman to kill Joker would undermine
that whole narrative of the book.
And I know what you're thinking.
But the joke!
You're forgetting about the joke!
Okay, yes.
Joker did tell a joke at the end of the story.
It's about two inmates who are escaping from an asylum
by jumping from rooftop to rooftop.
The first one makes it to civilization
while the second one is left behind,
too scared to make the leap.
The first inmate has an idea.
He'll shine his flashlight across the building
so the scared inmate can walk across
the beam of light to freedom.
But the second guy says,
"What, you think I'm crazy?
"You'd turn it off when I was halfway across."
If you hadn't caught on,
the joke is meant to represent
Batman and Joker's relationship.
They're both lunatics with a taste for the theatrical.
They each had one bad day
that pushed them past the edge of sanity.
But Batman is the first inmate
who managed to escape the asylum,
while Joker is stuck behind.
Batman tries to help Joker,
but with methods that will ultimately fail
like trying to walk across a beam of light.
And that's what many believe is shown
on the final panels of The Killing Joke.
It's the beam of light that finally goes out
as Batman snaps the neck of his worst enemy.
A literal lights out for the Joker.
In Julian Darius's And The Universe So Big,
the author masterfully lays out an alternate theory.
Instead of Batman strangling Joker or breaking his neck,
Darius suggests a different cause of death.
The Joker's own venom.
Let's look at the facts.
Throughout the book, we see constant hand imagery.
Just within the first few pages,
we see Batman getting out of a Batmobile
with a shot of his hand closing the door.
A closeup of Two Face's hands in his jail cell.
We see the Joker imposter dealing cards
as Batman tries to talk to him.
During this interaction,
there's a huge focus on both of their hands.
That's just the first five pages.
And look at all these other panels that focus on hands.
And if you think we're just reaching here,
here are even more of them.
It's like the artwork is trying to send a message.
Watch the hands.
In the midst of the final battle sequence
with Batman and Joker,
we get this series of strange shots.
Batman is staring intently at his hand,
as if there was something there.
It's weird, right?
What is he looking at?
Some fans have speculated
that he's glancing into a tiny mirror
that allowed him to block and attack the Joker
without turning around,
but a small gadget like that was never established
in the story prior to this moment,
and therefore, doesn't make a whole lot of sense.
However, there is one handheld item
that was established earlier.
The Joker's poison needle.
When Joker was obtaining the amusement park
from one of its owners,
he shook the man's hand to mark their deal.
Little did the man know that Joker
in his classic, clowny style
hid a poison needle in his where?
That's right, his hand.
When Joker's venom made its way into the man's system,
he instantly dies.
That toxic needle comes back into play
during Joker's final physical confrontation
with the caped crusader.
The clown attempts to stab Batman with the needle
the same way he did to the park owner.
Batman kicks it away
and the device is sent flying through the air.
Moments later, Joker disorients Batman
by pulling on his cowl and smacking him over the head
with a plank of wood.
Batman stumbles for a beat.
When he emerges, he's back on this panel.
Staring at his hands.
Darius proposes that Batman stumbled on to the poison needle
he just kicked out of Joker's possession.
As an unbalanced Batman lifts himself up,
he accidentally comes in contact with the toxic device.
The needle punctures the glove.
He feels it.
He checks to make sure that it doesn't make contact
with his flesh as he pulls it from his palm.
Luckily, he's fine.
But Batman is now filled with rage
as he realizes how close he came to a meaningless death
on top of all that's already happened that night.
We can see the immediate tone shift in the next few panels.
Batman is noticeably angrier
as he delivers the finishing blow to Joker.
What if Batman then pockets the poison laced needle.
A last resort in case he can't stop his nemesis this time.
He made an eloquent speech at the beginning of the comic
about how he's worried
about how their story together will end.
They're locked in a suicide course
where one or possibly both of them
will die by journey's end.
Batman needs to know.
He made a genuine attempt to talk things over
and avert that outcome.
Just once.
When he tries this at the end of the issue,
Joker shuts him down.
It's far too late.
Knowing that he made a sincere effort,
Batman realizes that there's nothing more to do
but kill the clown prince,
closing the book on their adventures.
He takes the poison needle he stashed under his cape,
reaches out in laughter
and stabs Joker with his own toxin,
killing the clown.
Hence the abrupt end to Joker's laughter
as the lights go out.
Unfortunately, this theory suffers
from a lot of the same flaws the others do.
We still have to account
for Joker's appearances after the fact.
We still have to wonder why Batman never referenced it
or seemed to be impacted by it in later comics.
Plus, there is one major flaw.
The theory hinges on the idea
that Joker can be killed by his own poison needle,
but in fact, he can't.
He's immune to his own Joker venom.
It says in Batman number 663, quote,
as an avid consumer of his own chemical experiments,
the Joker's immunity to poison concoctions
that might kill another man in an instant
has been developed over years of dedicated abuse.
End quote.
Kinda makes the whole theory crumble at its foundation.
So.
Guess that's it.
Batman and Joker just share a laugh
at the end of the story like old chums.
Nothing special happens.
But wait a minute.
Batman number 663 was printed in 2007.
The Killing Joke was printed in 1988, much earlier.
The quote says that he built up his immunity of poisons
over years.
He wasn't immediately immune
after he took a fall into a chemical bath.
Perhaps at this point in time,
Joker was still at least a little susceptible
to his own home brew poison.
It wouldn't have to kill him.
He'd still have a little bit of immunity.
But maybe if Batman gave him a direct injection
directly to his heart,
Joker would at least be paralyzed like the park owner,
even if only temporarily.
And that's why Joker feels so stiff in those final panels
and why his laughter stops so abruptly.
He's effectively frozen in place due to his own venom.
But not dead.
Which mirrors Barbara in this story.
An eye for an eye.
Joker paralyzed her, so Batman paralyzed Joker.
Even if they were both only temporary.
But the joke!
What about the joke?
Right, well,
perhaps it doesn't symbolize that Joker died.
Remember in that story,
the light beam was coming from the first inmate.
The one that escaped the asylum.
The one that represents Batman.
The light turning off doesn't stand in for the Joker dying,
but rather Batman giving up hope.
That light represented him trying to help Joker,
even though his methods might not be the most effective.
But now that Batman had his one chance
to talk everything through with the Joker
and was met with nothing in return,
he gave up.
He stopped shining his light.
Joker truly is beyond repair.
And this final joke killed Batman's hopes
of him ever being rehabilitated.
That's why later comics show Batman coming real close
to the point of killing Joker.
In Hush, for example,
Batman almost murders him.
One about to kill the other just as he predicted.
Batman seems more okay with this idea this time around
because he knows that thanks to The Killing Joke,
he made a genuine attempt to talk things out
before the inevitable.
And that's what this story symbolizes to me.
Not the end of their suicide course,
but the gunshot that starts the two of them down that track.
Of course this is all 100% speculation.
I could be and probably am completely wrong.
But that's what's so great about this story.
It's left just vague enough
that we can all interpret it in different ways.
Seeing what we want to see in it,
regardless of the original intention.
But is that a good thing?
Should we stop trying to make theories and speculation
and instead, try to find out what Alan Moore
and Brian Bolland truly meant to say with this story?
How much does authorial intent really matter?
We'll discuss that in part three of The Killing Joke saga
in a few weeks.
Make sure you subscribe so you don't miss that.
And if you really want,
turn on notifications so you're alerted
right at the instant we publish part three.
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In the mean time, I'd love to know what you guys think
about all of this.
What really happened in those final pages
of The Killing Joke?
Do you have your own theory about the ending of the story?
Let me know your thoughts in the comments down below.
And if you missed part one of this series,
you can check it out by clicking right here.
We bust Grant Morrison's theory
about how Alan Moore always intended
for Batman to kill Joker.
Definitely a good watch.
If you've already seen it,
why not check out this other video
about every single death in Suicide Squad comics
over the near three decades they've been out.
It was a collab I did with Mr. Sunday Movies.
He's amazing and hilarious.
Links will be in the description down below.
Until next time, my name is Scott,
reminding you to read between the panels
and grow smarter through comics.
See ya.