- Batman: The Killing Joke is one of the most well-known
and influential stories
about the Dark Knight and the Clown Prince in DC's history.
It's a legendary story that has led fans
to create countless myths and theories
about how and why it was made,
why it's called The Killing Joke,
as well as what happens during those mysterious last panels.
Many people believe that Batman kills the Joker
at the end of the story, straight up murders him.
Also spoilers for a 30-year-old comic.
But today I wanna show you why that famous theory
as fun and interesting as it might be,
is most likely wrong.
(heavy metal music)
(sirens)
If you've never read The Killing Joke,
you really should.
It was written by Alan Moore
with beautiful artwork by Brian Bolland.
Here's a quick recap that definitely
does not do the comic book justice.
The Joker has once again escaped from Arkham Asylum
and he heads to the home of Commissioner Jim Gordon
where he shoots Jim's daughter
and recently retired Batgirl, Barbara Gordon.
Joker then kidnaps the Commissioner and sends him
through a terrifying and mentally scarring funhouse
designed specifically to break Jim's mind
simply to prove a point.
"All it takes is one bad day to reduce the sanest man alive
"to lunacy."
- Madness, as you know, is like gravity.
All it takes is a little push.
- [Scott] Intercut within the story
are glimpses into Joker's origin,
or at least supposed origin.
He keeps the truth of it vague
stating, "Sometimes I remember it one way,
"sometimes another.
"If I'm going to have a past,
"I prefer it to be multiple choice."
Which is interesting
considering the recent revelation in comics
that there're actually three different Jokers,
but we'll get back to that later.
The ending of The Killing Joke is what's shrouded in legend.
Batman rescues Gordon, confronts the Joker,
and pleads with him to just stop,
accept Batman's help and get rehabilitated.
They're on the path of mutually assured destruction.
Joker responds by telling a joke,
a joke that represents their relationship as two lunatics,
one trying to help the other by offering solutions
that won't ever actually work.
They're locked in eternal conflict,
destined to do this forever.
Joker becomes hysterical,
laughing uncontrollably at his own joke.
After a bit Batman joins him.
The two figure are cackling into the night
as police cars roll up onto the scene.
Batman reaches out for the Joker.
The camera tilts down and suddenly
the laughter stops,
the rain continues to pour,
and the comic ends.
Now, many people have theorized
that the last few panels clearly show Batman
reaching out for Joker's throat
and either strangling him or snapping his neck.
The Dark Knight finally kills his greatest enemy.
This theory was even popularized
by a comic writer Grant Morrison
on Kevin Smith's Fat Man on Batman podcast.
- [Voiceover] Batman kills the Joker.
That's why it's called The Killing Joke.
The Joker tells the killing joke at the end,
Batman reaches out, grabs his neck and breaks it.
And the laughter stops.
Actually abruptly stops,
which tells you he's just reached out and killed him.
It's really obvious if you look back at it.
- Now, you might be thinking,
"But Batman doesn't kill.
"Why would he break his one rule now?"
And that's a fair question
that Morrison has an answer for.
According to this theory, The Killing Joke
was supposed to be the final Batman story,
the last battle between the Caped Crusader
and the Crown Prince of Crime.
Throughout the story Batman even talks
about their eternal struggle is destined to end
with one of them killing the other.
"I've been thinking lately.
"About you and me.
"About what's going to happen to us in the end.
"We're going to kill each other, aren't we?
"Perhaps you'll kill me.
"Perhaps I'll kill you.
"Perhaps sooner.
"Perhaps later."
According to Morrison, this comic is supposed
to represent that idea.
- [Voiceover] This is the last Batman-Joker story,
this is the inevitable end, this is the killing joke.
It says it in the title.
- [Voiceover] Alan Moore secretly wrote
the last Batman story.
- [Voiceover] Of course he did.
- This is why fans have accepted Batman breaking his rule
and killing the Joker.
Because this story is supposed to represent
the final conflict between them.
The story where Batman breaks down,
does what needs to be done,
and finally puts an end to the Joker.
This theory also hinges on the idea
that The Killing Joke was never intended to be
in continuity.
It was meant to be an elseworld story,
set in an alternate reality.
This is another reason why it was okay for Batman
to kill the Joker, because DC would never actually
kill him off in their main universe.
Joker stories sell comics.
It's just an alternate reality, Joker that's dead.
The real one is still very much alive.
However, the popularity of the book basically forced DC
to make it a part of their main continuity
meaning Joker couldn't actually be dead.
Thankfully Alan Moore left the ending vague enough
that DC could say, "Nah, Joker's fine."
Although this theory does state
that it was always Moore's intention
that Batman definitely murdered the Clown Prince.
It was just never supposed to count
as a part of the main DC universe.
Pretty convincing theory, right?
When you look back over the comic,
it definitely looks like it's the case,
and given all the other information
about how it was supposed to be an alternate universe story,
this theory seems to hold up.
Except, this is awkward,
but almost all of that stuff I said
is completely wrong.
Let's take a look at what this theory hinges on.
Number one.
Alan Moore intended on Batman killing the Joker.
That's what this panel is showing.
Number two.
Batman breaks his "no killing rule"
because this is meant to be the last Batman story.
And number three.
Killing Joke was supposed to be set
in an alternate reality,
but DC later adopted it into the main DC continuity.
And let's actually start with that last point.
Was The Killing Joke really meant to be
an elseworld story?
Nope.
It was always meant to be in DC's main universe
from day one.
We know this because of Barbara Gordon's role in this story.
You know how The Killing Joke movie starts
with the first half being a story
about Batgirl's last mission before she retires.
You might have thought it felt a little out of place.
Like the movie was padding for time.
But it was ever so loosely based on a Batgirl special comic
that was published specifically to help set up the story
in The Killing Joke.
You see The Killing Joke took years to be finished
mostly due to Brian Bolland
being a slow and detailed artist.
During that time the higher ups in DC knew
that Moore was planning on injuring Barbara
and they were totally fine with that.
Moore recalled in an interview with Wizard magazine,
"I asked DC if they had any problem with me
"crippling Barbara Gordon - who was Batgirl at the time -
"and if I remember, I spoke to Len Wein,
"who was our editor on the project."
This was reportedly his response.
I'm not going to read it out loud.
The point is DC knew.
They just needed to make sure
that all of Barbara's current storylines were finished
so there wouldn't be any loose ends
when the Joker pulled the trigger.
DC called up Barbara Kesel,
who at the time was the last person
who had written a Batgirl story,
and they asked her to write up that special
one-shot comic book specifically for closure.
With the end of the issue seeing Babs retire
from crime fighting.
The idea was to finish the Batgirl chapter of Barbara's life
specifically because they knew
more was going to severely injure her in Killing Joke.
DC had planned from the start for Killing Joke
to be in their main continuity.
Not an alternate reality,
not an elseworld story.
Killing Joke was always meant to count.
This also means that it wasn't intended to be seen
as the last Batman story.
It wasn't supposed to be the final confrontation
between him and the Joker,
it was simply supposed to be another story
and to continue entails of Batman.
So the idea that we can let Bats break his "no killing rule"
because it's the end of their journey as characters
doesn't really apply here.
Plus there's no evidence to support the idea
that Alan Moore intended for Batman to kill Joker anyway.
If you read his really detailed script of that last page,
he doesn't write that Batman reached out for Joker's neck
to harm him in any way.
In fact, for this specific panel Moore writes,
"They are now both helpless with laughter
"and have collapsed forward onto each other,
"both ragged and bloody, each holding each other up
"as they stand there clinging together in the rain."
Not Batman attacking Joker,
just the two men embracing in shared laughter.
And if you think that's boring,
so does Alan Moore.
He once said in an interview regarding The Killing Joke,
a comic I'll remind you that he himself wrote,
"I don't think it's a very good book.
"It's not saying anything very interesting."
If he had intended on Joker being killed by Batman,
I think at the very least
that would be something interesting.
But the comic ends with the same panel it starts on,
a visual indicator that nothing has changed.
Besides, if DC knew from the start that Killing Joke
was going to be in continuity,
would they really let Alan Moore kill off Joker?
My money says no.
And the fact that Joker has popped back up in comics
after the story seems to indicate that Batman really
didn't kill him.
This theory sounds pretty flawed.
You could argue that there're now three Jokers.
Maybe Batman really did kill one of them
and every appearance of the Clown Prince since
has been a different Joker.
But that's a very recent development in comics.
And if it were true, it'd be more of a retcon
and not something Alan Moore deliberately planned.
But I want to make something clear here.
I'm not saying that you can't interpret
Joker dying at the hands of Batman
simply because Moore didn't explicitly write that.
We'll discuss the relevance of authorial intent
in a future video.
All that I'm saying right now
is that part of Morrison's theory
and a common misconception about The Killing Joke
is that Moore intended for Batman to murder Joker.
Based off the script and more sentiments about the story,
I don't think we can say that's true.
It's simply speculation.
If you want to believe that Joker did die,
that is your prerogative
and I'm certainly not gonna take that away from you.
Feel free to interpret the story anyway you want.
Personally I think there're way more interesting
and convincing theories
surrounding the ending of the classic Batman story,
and we'll talk about one of them
in part two of this three-part saga into The Killing Joke
in a few weeks.
Yes, three videos about this one comic.
Probably four.
I don't know.
Make sure you subscribe so you don't miss those
and if you really want, turn on notifications
so you're loaded right at the instant we publish them.
You're not gonna wanna miss part two.
It might change the way you read this classic story.
In the meantime, I'd love to know
what you guys think about all this.
Do you still believe in Grand Morrison's theory
despite the flawed evidence?
Am I leading the question?
Probably.
Do you have your own theory
about the ending of Killing Joke?
Let me know your thoughts in the comments below.
Thanks so much for watching.
My name is Scott,
reminding you to read between the panels
and grow smarter through comics.
See ya.