So I've just read the graphic novel Batman - The Killing Joke, written by Alan Moore, and I can honestly say that I believe I understand, for the first time, the comic book as art.
I've been back into reading comics for awhile now...I used to as a kid, of course, but although I've always enjoyed animation, (and recently, especially the fine art of Satoshi Kon), I had not settled into the particular grace of the graphic novel and the possibilities it affords artistically.
I've read some fantastic stuff lately, notably the Watchmen (also by Moore), and Kingdom Come, a graphic novel concerning superheroes in their older years struggling with a world that doesn't really need them anymore...but none of it has had nearly as deep an impact upon me as Killing Joke.
I've been reading, with some interest, some of the fine graphic novels the Batman has inspired... the best ones, I've found, have cast Batman as a character in a grand noir. Since he is supposed to be the world's greatest detective, this touch of atmosphere is frosty and luminous. I loved Batman: Year One by Frank Miller as well as The Long Halloween by Loeb & Sale and Dark Victory by the same. Having heard about Alan Moore and how great a talent he is considered, I decided to take on the Watchmen, considered (I believe), one of his classics. I enjoyed it immensely. A few issues in particular were stunning, most notably #4 and #6 which concered Dr. Manhattan and Rorschach respectively. But the light in my brain was inconsistent and spotty, hinting at recognition but always beneath the surface.
This all changed with The Killing Joke.
The book is absolutely mind-bending. It is essentially a character study of the Joker which plumbs the depths of his madness to an unfathomable degree. Twisted and horrible, the savagery of the comic is stark and feels more real than comic books I'd read in the past. It somehow shocks me - which I don't consider easy to do in these cynical, sarcastic times.
The art of it, in my opinion, is how Moore connects the Batman and Joker stories, implying strongly that they share a similar madness and that, as they say, but for the grace of god, so might one be the other. But that is far from the nub of it. The adventure is in the journey and in each panel the expanding madness engulfs the mind and yet empties it, awash in nothingness; cold and alone.
Needless to say, I dig it.
Rob
