by Matt Sernaker, Managing Editor

There are very few Batman stories that are held in higher regard than “The Killing Joke”. The 1988 story from Alan Moore (Watchmen) is one of the quintessential Joker stories, demonstrating what would happen if the Clown Prince of Crime pushed Batman beyond his limits. In addition to the Batman/Joker dynamic, fans were treated to the secret origin of the Joker from the perspective of the Joker himself! After years of requests, DC Entertainment has finally decided to adapt this story into an animated feature, and they have brought some old friends back to play pivotal roles in bringing this classic to life. Now fans can experience Batman: The Killing Joke on DVD, Blu-ray, and via Digital Download.

For many of us, Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill are the definitive voices of Batman and the Joker. Thanks to Batman: The Animated Series, I can’t read a Batman comic without hearing their voices in my head. When The Killing Joke was announced, we learned that not only would those two be returning, but they would be joined by Tara Strong (The New Adventures of Batman and Robin) as Batgirl, and the entire project would be executive produced by Bruce Timm himself! The entire project sounded like a dream come true. The cast is rounded out by Ray Wise (Reaper, X-Men: First Class) as Commissioner Gordon, Robin Atkin Downes (Batman vs. Robin) as Harvey Bullock, and Maury Sterling (Homeland) as Paris Franz (yes, that is an actual name…we will get to that). The casting on this project couldn’t have been any better. Aside from the obvious highlights of having Conroy, Hamill, and Strong back in their respective roles from the DC Animated Universe, Ray Wise as Gordon was a phenomenal choice. I would love to see him return for future animated projects.

Batman: The Killing Joke is definitely a controversial story, to say the least, and this animated release continues to be a topic of controversy as well… During the creation of this new adaptation, the creative team realized that if they were to create something that was only a direct adaptation of the comic, it would equate to a 30-minute movie. The group decided that this might be a good opportunity to showcase Batgirl in a new prologue, which would lead viewers into the actual Killing Joke story. For those of you who are unaware (SPOILER ALERT), this is the tragic story of how Barbara Gordon becomes paralyzed. The Joker shows up to kidnap Commissioner Gordon and plans to show that even the best person can break and become mentally unhinged with the right stimulus. At the same time, Batman is trying to prove to the Joker that their endless battle doesn’t need to culminate with one of them killing the other.

There are two ways you can analyze Batman: The Killing Joke: you can look at the new story as a whole, or you can look at the prologue as something that is loosely connected, with the actual focus being on the adaptation of the comic itself. For me, I am choosing to focus on the latter. As far as the adaptation of the source material goes, the transition to animation is pretty much perfect. I don’t think it would have worked nearly as well without Conroy and Hamill as their respective characters, and the story plays out extremely well (once we get past the prologue).

Now to be clear, Barbara Gordon is barely in the original source material, and The Joker really does some pretty horrible things to her beyond just shooting her. With the addition of this new prologue, the team really did a disservice to Barbara as a character and pretty much set up her story to be focused around Batman and his grief over her injury. They also make a huge point about how she “needs a man in her life” and she is pretty much pining after Batman (the rest gets a bit graphic). Barbara has always been an extremely strong character, and it was disappointing to see her handled in this way, especially considering how well the character was handled in Batman: The Animated Series. Unfortunately, the story of Batgirl versus Paris Franz was a waste, and I really think they could have done a better job with the story for the added material.

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