Absolute Killing Joke - new colours

[Illstreet]

can we get a scan of this blood picture?

As I stated before, I prefer the original version. But this is cool too... Just less flamboyant looking, and hence less Jokerish... IMO

Also the black and white quality of the panels above it really sorta suck, compared to the original, which are probably my favorite panels of the book. Him getting up and stumbling away, and that color... Just so great, and here it's deviod. Takes alot of life out of it.

 

[Nepenthes]

thanks.

the more I see the new version the more I prefer the original. it doesn't even look finished

 

[Joker]

The flashbacks arent supposed to look "finished." They're all black and white, with the only color being red, and then green on the last panel.

 

[Mladen]

in the recolor's defense: have a flick through the ENTIRE book in one go (rather than just one page online), and the recolour actually looks really good since its got a lot more colour variation than the original version...

the re-drawn elements I'm not as happy with though.

 

[deadgoon697]

I couldnt find a pic to post in my reply. But, yes the yellow oval is gone. I guess Bolland didn't like having it there at all; since it's completely gone in every panel that has bats in it in the new edition.

On a personal note I like them both. Having the flashbacks be b&w helps the story flow better; it makes it a little more apparent that the story is in the past. I think I still like the classic shot of when he first becomes The Joker in the original a little more. But the newly added blood is cool.

 

[BubbaGump]

thanks.

the more I see the new version the more I prefer the original. it doesn't even look finished

That's how Bolland originally intended it. I came across an old interview from Back Issue magazine (way before he was approached to do a recoloring of TKJ) and he says he never wanted the flashback sequences in full color. He wanted it in black and white with select objects (like the shrimp in the restaurant) colored.

 

[Carmine Falcone]

I gotta buy this sucker, I've only read the dutch translation of The Killing Joke and the coloring looks pretty cool to.

 

[Nathan Petrelli]

I bought this about an hour ago because of The Joker's scanned pic's, why does it look so short? It looks like there is 30 pages lol, I spent $35 on it, Hardcover.

 

[Saint]

Those scans are pretty incredible. I sort of miss the trippy-rainbow circus, because it seemed so surreal, but the panels of Joker coming out of the chemicals blow me away, and Batman looks fantastic. It's bloody expensive for that book, but maybe I'll pick it up; it'd make a neat counterpart to the original version.

 

[Nathan Petrelli]

The art in this is great, I LOVED it, I will need to find the First Edition though.

I'm unsure how I feel about it, it was a great look into The Joker's past and it gave me the sense that he isn't insane, he is just hateful, since insane people usually dont acknowledge that they are insane, and they also dont know the difference between right or wrong.

My favourite part of the book would have been Batman saying "I have heard it before..." "AND IT WASNT FUNNY THE FIRST TIME!" then he hits Joker, that had me cracking up.

What was with the ending? I thought overall, the book was a bit short, and the ending gave me the impression Batman hit the level of Jokers sanity, or insanity, or super sanity when they started laughing together. Did Batman stab Joker? did he give him a friendly punch on the arm as some people do when they laugh like that?

I will read it again.

 

[Joker]

He hit him in the arm at the end. The important thing at the end is the Joker, and the mud at their feet. The mud has a small thing of water running through it, with Batman on one side, and Joker on the other. That's the gap between the madhouse and freedom. Batman is the inmate that escaped the madhouse, and insanity, and Joker is the guy who's afraid to make the jump. Afraid because he doesn't trust Batman to actually help him back to sanity, and because he's not sure he's strong enough to deal with being sane again.

 

[Superhobo]

I've been meaning to pick this up for a while - saw it at Titan Comics, in Dallas, when last I was there, for about seventeen bucks. Hmm.

 

[Carmine Falcone]

He hit him in the arm at the end. The important thing at the end is the Joker, and the mud at their feet. The mud has a small thing of water running through it, with Batman on one side, and Joker on the other. That's the gap between the madhouse and freedom. Batman is the inmate that escaped the madhouse, and insanity, and Joker is the guy who's afraid to make the jump. Afraid because he doesn't trust Batman to actually help him back to sanity, and because he's not sure he's strong enough to deal with being sane again.

Wow, I never really understood that part either. Thanks for that explanation. Gotta love Alan Moore.

 

[Joker]

I find it amazing that Moore considers Killing Joke to be "just an average Batman/Joker story." That to me shows that the guy is thinking on an entire other level if he can write something like this, which is still widely considered the definitive Joker/Batman story, and go "meh, it could have been alot better."

 

[Superhobo]

I find it amazing that Moore considers Killing Joke to be "just an average Batman/Joker story." That to me shows that the guy is thinking on an entire other level if he can write something like this, which is still widely considered the definitive Joker/Batman story, and go "meh, it could have been alot better."

Alan Moore just hates everything, though. Where've you been?

 

[Nepenthes]

I find it amazing that Moore considers Killing Joke to be "just an average Batman/Joker story." That to me shows that the guy is thinking on an entire other level if he can write something like this, which is still widely considered the definitive Joker/Batman story, and go "meh, it could have been alot better."

I thought this was interesting; Alan Moore talks about the four magical weapons - the coin, the sword, the wand and the cup - and how they relate to storytelling. Apparently The Killing joke doesn't have enough soul, which is the cup.

The soul is the theme, it's what it's about. Is it about something that's big, or important enough? Amongst my own work, The Killing Joke where Batman versus The Joker. Yeah, there's loads of emotion layered on there. It's quite clever. The plot works, on a material level. But it's not about anything, it's not about anything of human importance, it's about Batman and The Joker and you're never gonna meet anybody like Batman and The Joker. It's of no use to you as a human being. It's one of the works – there's some very good things about it, but it's lacking something, and it's lacking soul. It's not got the thematic drive that say Watchmen has, which I was doing at the same time. That was my big mistake. I was doing Dark Knight – I was doing The Killing Joke at the same time as I was doing Watchmen .

and

DW: But what was it that you thought you were getting right with The Killing Joke that looking back you weren't? How do you differentiate those two experiences? What was it you think you did wrong with The Killing Joke?

AM: Like I said a few moments ago, the problem with The Killing Joke was that I was writing it at the same time as I was writing Watchmen and there was leakage between one narrative and another. I was bringing to bear the mindset of Watchmen upon characters and situations that were too slight to bear them. What I should have done, if I hadn't been so immersed in writing Watchmen – well what I probably should have done is passed on writing Batman until I'd finished writing Watchmen – what I probably should have done is to have thought longer about the Batman story and tried to come up with a story that – just because The Killing Joke doesn't work doesn't mean that Batman's a bad character, I'm sure there are perfectly good stories you could tell about Batman. The Killing Joke just wasn't one of them. What I should have done is to have thought more deeply about Batman as a character, what could be said honestly and effectively using that character, and then proceeded from there. But, on the other hand, a useful mistake. Because it irked me, I felt bad about The Killing Joke for a while. Not very satisfied with it.

And so I had to sit down and think: “Why? Why does this book not satisfy me?” Brian's art's lovely, you know it's better than most of the post-modern Batman books…”

the last line refers to Arkham asylum, which he rips into thoroughly....

A great interview all around, you really have to print it out to read it properly though. It's quite long and covers many interesting topics http://www.enginecomics.co.uk/interviews/jan05/alanmoore.htm

 

[Saint]

I absolutely see where he's coming from; Killing Joke just doesn't operate on the levels of his usual work, and certainly not on the level of Watchmen. Still fantastic in it's own right, but he obviously has higher standards than pretty much anyone, ever, for what constitutes good work.

 

[Joker]

Alan Moore is really a conundrum to me. I just fail to see how anyone who's that great of a writer can be such a...well, let's just say it...such a prick most of the time.

 

[Nepenthes]

^ great writers are often that way though . I see what he means with TKJ, I wouldn't say he's a prick in that regard but certainly with the Watchmen movie and few other things fer sure

 

[Joker]

I was reffering more to him essentially saying "My story sucked, but at least it was better than that piece of horse s**k Arkham Asylum."

 

[mongoose-mania]

I bought this at the NY Comic-Con for only $15 hardcover. I must say, even though I do love the insane, mind-blowing colors of the original, I also really like Bolland's colors, too. I think it's really cool to see the book almost through his eyes, the way he would've had it done. I still love the book, no matter what the colors look like.

 

[-Arya-]

I havent read it before, so I just placed my order of TKJ for $12 and I cant wait to read it t:

 

[Man Who Laughed]

I loved the new coloring. The one panel that pushed it over the top for me was the panel in which we see Joker's first victim on that carnival ride. Shocking compared to the original. But alas, I am weak, and will more than likely be buying the anniv. ed. again when it's re-released w/ the figures.

 

[TruerToTheCore]

I was reffering more to him essentially saying "My story sucked, but at least it was better than that piece of horse s**k Arkham Asylum."

I have the same opinion Alan Moore has!

Amazing.

 

[Joker]

I like Arkaham Asylum for the art, and the parts on the founding of Arkham. The Batman part of the story I could take or leave really.