I am Batman!
July 12th, 2008 | Published in Art News, Site News
To say that I am excited to see the next Batman movie brought to the big screen next Friday, here in the states anyway, is a bit of an understatement. The Batman franchise had a huge influence on me as a child and while it wasn’t my favorite cartoon based on a comic from the early 1990s (that prize goes to The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles) it was definitely in second place. The movies from the 80s and 90s were also quite dear to my heart. Michael Keaton as Batman, Jack Nicholson as Joker, Danny DeVito as The Penguin, Michael Gough as Alfred and Michelle Pfeiffer as Catwoman? I really don’t understand why people are talking so much trash about the original movies at the moment.
Of course since I grew up in the 1990s I was aware that Batman was a comic, but I had never had the opportunity to really read any of those classic comics from “back in the day.” In May I went on a day trip to San Francisco with my husband and one of our friends from school. While we were there our school friend picked up The Killing Joke written by Alan Moore and featuring art by Brian Bolland. This was the first real Batman comic that I ever had the pleasure of reading and I must say it was amazing. We had been searching for the comic for a while now, thankfully with the release of The Dark Knight we were able to get a reissue of it at Virgin records (I’ve seen it at all of our local bookstore and comic stores since then, they’re pretty easy to get your hands on now).
The writing was hilarious and well thought out, the artwork was classic, dark and gritty. As for the title of the comic? It’s very fitting and I’m still giggling about it months after reading it. When I do buy the comic for myself, I think I will invest in the special edition collector’s set that DC just put out.
The Batman: The Killing Joke Action Figure Collector Set includes newly sculpted versions of both Batman and the Joker, as well as the 48-page Prestige Format Special version of Batman: The Killing Joke. The Killing Joke storyline presents the Joker’s origin in a sympathetic light, blending melancholy flashbacks with the Joker’s present day attempt to prove the theory that one bad day can push anyone over the edge. The Joker stands 6.75â, and is blithely dressed in the eye-smarting tourist outfit he wore when he attacked Barbara Gordon and captured James Gordon. The Joker is armed with his accustomed rictus grin, and would presumably include accessories such as his camera and pistol. Batman, also standing 6.75″, is clad in the blue and grey version of his costume, his bat insignia silhouetted against a yellow background. Batman’s face is grimly pallid as it was throughout the majority of the book.
In celebration of The Dark Knight and all things Joker, Batman and Two-Face many of the blogs that I frequent have been doing suggested reading lists for those of us that wish to catch up on the best parts of the comic series. Check out the list of links here, the artwork is not to be missed:
The Joker you’ll see in Dark Knight isn’t quite like any of the iterations in these books. Heath Ledger’s interpretation is markedly different. (Grant Morrison’s prose issue in Batman #663 is close though.) However it still does draw elements from some of these classics. Regardless, these are spectacular comics that no Joker fan should miss. We judged them not only on overall quality but how integral they were to defining the Clown Prince of Crime.
Personally, I can’t wait.
