Review of Batman: The Killing Joke (2016) by Christopher C — 30 Sep 2017

The cartoon added some strange conflicting messages to the comic's original intent. Not only was Batman in lust with Batgirl but he was also strangely emotionally absent. Was this Kevin Conroy's fault or the scriptwriter / animator? I didn't feel any anger coming from Batman, even though the suspense of the comic book was palpable.

The cartoon also shows us a very ambiguous take on the ending - suggesting that since Batman is laughing alone, maybe he killed Joker after all. This corresponds with dummy Kevin Smith's theory that Batman killed Joker and that it was the "point" of the last Batman story ever told.

The cartoon certainly added to the conspiracy. But I never got that from the comic book at all. The point of the comic to me was that Batman was seething in anger (from an attack and sexual humiliation, not a rape - I never got that indication) and that Gordon told him, "I want him brought in by the book. We have to show him (them) that our way works.".

Batman is bound by his own rules. If the victim is telling you not to give in to vengeance then violence would be illogical and crazy. Was the point of the story that Joker won and drove Batman crazy?

No, I took it to mean that Batman (who uncharacteristically says, "one of us will kill each other", even though he's apparently bluffing) learned from Gordon's stoicism. That sometimes it's not all of humanity that had has a bad day and snaps - sometimes it's just YOU. (Joker, sociopaths and criminals) - Not decent people like Jim.

Add to that, the fact that Alan Moore wrote it (Watchmen) and has stated before that he doesn't consider it his best work...he basically wrote, in his mind, a typical Batman story - one where Batman refrains from violence. If Alan Moore's intent was to write a story where Batman loses his mind, you would have known. Moore may be great, but I wouldn't say subtlety is his strong suit. He saw this as the prevailing of law and discipline over anarchy and revenge. Just my take on it.