Comics Explained: Swamp Thing

The new Swamp Thing show is starting soon bringing attention to this bizarre character once again. Swamp Thing has always been one of DC's darker characters, and has gone from the mainline comics to DC's darker imprint Vertigo, and then back to the mainline ones. As a result, and thanks to various writers, Swamp Thing's history has changed quite often. Today we'll look at the Guardian of the Green, and how Swamp Thing has changed over the years. To make things easier we'll only look at the first two Swamp Things, and we'll also briefly look at the daughter of the second Swamp Thing. 

Origin - The House of Secrets #92

Swamp Thing debuted in a story by Len Wein and Bernie Wrightson in a story both reminiscent, and very different, from the Swamp Thing which we know of today. Keeping with the later stories, Swamp Thing debuted in the horror comic The House of Secrets in a story straight out of H.P. Lovecraft or Edgar Alan Poe. Issue 92 in July 1971 saw the origins of the first Swamp Thing. In the early years of the 1900s scientist Alex Olsen lived a blissful life in Louisiana with Linda, his wife, while performing experiments with his friend, Damian. However, Damian was deeply in love with Linda, and was willing to murder for them to be together. Mixing up chemicals he hoped Alex's next experiment would go wrong; the explosion didn't kill him so Damian dumped his body in the swamp. The chemicals merged with the swamp's foliage and Alex managed to emerge from the waters as a monster - the Swamp Thing. By this time, Damian had exploited Linda's grief enough so much that she married him, but Linda was suspecting that the experiment which seemingly killed Alex was not an accident. Not wishing to be caught, Alex planned to kill Linda via a secret lethal injection. Just as he was about to kill Linda, Alex, now the Swamp Thing, smashed his way in and killed Damian. A terrified Linda refused to be near him, and he was unable to speak. Unable to communicate, and unable to cry, Alex shuffled back into the swamp to live the rest of his life as a monster.

Alec Holland

The popularity of The House of Secrets #92 encouraged DC to give Swamp Thing his own series, so Wein and Wrightson decided to change the monster's origins to suit an ongoing story. Now set in the present-day, Swamp Thing #1 tells the story of a scientist, Alec Holland, is forced to create a bio-restorative formula to encourage rapid plant growth by a sinister group. Holland tried to resist so the group blew up his lab; Holland was dosed in chemicals as well as being set on fire, and his wife, Linda, was killed. Trying to extinguish the flames he fell into a swamp, however, as he was dosed in the formula the nearby plant life grafted to him and gave him powers. 'Dr. Alec Holland had all the answers... he was an intelligent man... but Alec Holland is dead... and in his place stands only a... SWAMP THING!' Wanting revenge, Alec killed the individuals, and he began his journey. The first Swamp Thing volume set the stage for the later comics and introduced several important concepts. As Swamp Thing, Alec was granted super-strength and the ability to control plant life. His most infamous opponent was Anton Arcane - a mad scientist and warlock obsessed with immortality. Introduced, officially, in Swamp Thing #2 Arcane had witnessed Holland's resurrection so hoped to use that to gain eternal life. He had even stitched his blown up brother back together again, and then had him confined in a dungeon. Using an army of half-human creatures called Un-Men the two fought, and to save a village which Arcane hoped to destroy Swamp Thing knocked the wizard from a tower window. This issue also introduced one of Swamp Thing's most important characters - Abigail Arcane. The niece of Anton, she grew up with telepathic and empathy, living in terror of her evil uncle. However, her empathy powers allowed her to understand that the Swamp Thing meant her no harm, and had a kind heart. She would later travel to the US, and in the future marry Alec. The first run of Swamp Thing ended after 24 issues in 1976 - the last two issues saw Alec lose his powers and have to fight as a regular human. The promised fight against Hawkman at the end of #24 consequently never happened.

The Alan Moore Run

In 1982, a movie adaptation of the first volume by Wes Craven, who also made Nightmare on Elm Street and The Hills Have Eyes, was being released, so DC decided to bring Swamp Thing back. Now called The Saga of Swamp Thing it was written by Martin Pasko and drawn by Tom Yeates. Swamp Thing had now become an urban legend in the Louisiana swamps, and travelled across the world fighting demonic threats - including a resurrected Anton Arcane. However, by issue 20 it was quickly losing popularity so DC decided to take a chance and give a little known British writer free reign. This writer was Alan Moore - the creator of Watchmen, V for Vendetta, and The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen among others - and his run would become one of the greatest runs in comic history. Swamp Thing had always had a darker tone compared to other comics, but Alan Moore decided to expand on this aspect by ignoring the Comics Code of Authority. Moore, as a spiritualist, was also keen to expand on the magic and monstrous aspect of the Swamp Thing comics. The Saga of the Swamp Thing #21 opens up with the monster being captured and dissected only for it to be revealed that he doesn't have organs. Swamp Thing was never a human; a collection of plants took Holland's dying consciousness so the creature which emerged believed itself to be formerly human. We also find out about the Green. The Green is an elemental force connecting all plant life, and Swamp Thing is the protector of the Green - he has to prevent humanity from devastating the foliage of the world. Not only that, in order to connect the current comics to The House of Secrets, there have been other defenders of the Green - Alex Olsen was one previous defender of the Green. As Swamp Thing protects the Green he gets his powers from it, and cannot be killed as long as plants exist. One time he managed to come back to life using tobacco leaves.

Constantine and Swamp Thing

Moore's run further engaged with magic seeing the Swamp Thing becoming closer to Abby Arcane, so much so that they would become married. The foul-mouthed, Liverpudlian wizard John Constantine, whom Moore has claimed to have personally met, was introduced in issue 37; originally introduced as a way to explain Swamp Thing's status as a Plant Elemental, Constantine would become one of DC's best known magic users. We also have the Parliament of Trees - a group mind of former Plant Elementals, including former Swamp Things, who, once their time has ended, join this collective. Moore's run ended with issue 64 in 1987, and various other writers would take over including Doom Patrol's Grant Morrison and Mark Millar, the creator of Kingsman and Wanted. When the Vertigo imprint was created in 1993 to publish DC's darker stories Swamp Thing was moved there. The series ended with issue 171 when Swamp Thing became the master of all elementals.

Tefe Holland

The next volume of Swamp Thing came out in 2001 in a series written by Brian Vaughan, and drawn by Roger Peterson and Giuseppe Camuncoli. Instead of focusing on Holland, it instead focuses on his daughter Tefe. When Holland was believed dead the Parliament created a Sprout to form a new protector, but when he was found to be alive the Parliament decided to destroy the Sprout. Holland and Abby wanted the Sprout saved, so Constantine allowed Holland to take over his body to impregnate Abby with the Sprout. Tefe was born as a result - she was half-Elemental and half-human. While her parents hoped she could mend the divide between two worlds, or just lead a regular life, the Parliament wanted to use her to wipe out humanity for destroying the planet. Making things more complicated, Constantine had demon blood flowing through him at the time when Tefe was conceived so she also has demonic blood in her veins making it harder to control her powers. Initially ignorant of her powers and heritage, Tefe lost control at her prom when her boyfriend and best friend attempted to betray her. Her powers resulted in their deaths, and made Tefe go on a journey to find her origins. She eventually meets her father who had lost contact with the Green, and the next volume dealt with their lives in relation to the Green.

Brightest Day

Swamp Thing would not properly return until Brightest Day, but we need to quickly explain Blackest Night. In DC, there are the Lantern Corps representing different emotions connected to colours, and then a new one was introduced - the Black Lanterns of death. A representation of death, Nekron, used Black Lantern rings to resurrect dead heroes and villains in order to wipe out all life in the universe. He was defeated and a new corps was created - the White Lanterns of Life. Brightest Day focuses on the heroes who were fully resurrected by the White Lantern rings, and there was a specific story focusing on Swamp Thing. During the Blackest Night the Green had become corrupted, and now its protector no longer believed that it was Alec Holland; instead it viewed itself as being Nekron and had a new goal of wiping out all life. Constantine, however, enlisted the resurrected heroes to solve the issue. They needed a new Guardian Entity, so they resurrected Holland. Instead of being a mass of plants who thinks that it is Alec Holland, this new Swamp Thing was to be actually Holland. As a result, this new Swamp Thing's last memory was jumping on fire into the swamp. The new Swamp Thing destroyed the corrupted original, and began restoring dead regions of the world to life. Since then he has made a few appearances, but no major ones.

Thank you for reading and I hope you found it interesting. For future blog updates please see our Facebook, or catch me on Twitter @LewisTwiby.

Comics Explained: V for Vendetta

V for Vendetta

November 5 in the United Kingdom is Bonfire Night marking the anniversary on a failed plot to assassinate King James I and VI, and blow up Parliament. It is also the opening of Alan Moore's and David Lloyd's fantastic graphic novel V for Vendetta. V for Vendetta was published in the late 1980s by an imprint of DC Comics called Vertigo, and it happens to be my second favorite comic by Alan Moore, (the first being Watchmen). The novel is set in a dystopian England in a 1990s where the UK managed to avoid annihilation during the Third World War, but at the cost of a fascist regime monitoring the public in an Orwellian way. Unfortunately the film adaptation, (although good in of itself), changed the idea that Moore wished to get across making the protagonists fight for liberty which has made many people get the wrong end of the stick in what V for Vendetta is truly about. Let's though first delve into the story of V for Vendetta.

Book 1: Europe After the Reign

November 5 1997 in London two figures get ready to go out at night. One is a dingy apartment while the other is in a room covered in film posters and book shelves. As they get ready the government radio, The Voice of Fate, informs the public that a heatwave is on the way, meat rationing may come to an end, a terrorist ring had been discovered in Birmingham, and that the census forms have to be filled in. Financially strapped sixteen year old Evey Hammond goes out and solicits a group of men for sex only to find out they are Fingermen, a Gestapo like organization. They inform Evey that prostitution is illegal and then proceed to molest her until a figure steps out of the darkness wearing a Guy Fawkes mask, a cloak, and a hat speaking strangely. Quickly he grabs Evey and takes her away but leaves a bomb behind which kills one of the Fingermen. Upon a rooftop Evey thanks the figure for rescuing her. He tells her it is a special night saying: Remember, remember the fifth of November, the Gunpowder Treason and Plot. I have no reason why the Gunpowder Treason...should ever be forgot. Big Ben and Parliament then explode as fireworks shoot up in forming a V in the sky.

A new Gunpowder Treason

The government meanwhile meets to discuss what happened. The Leader, Adam Susan 'The Head', has branches of government surveillance, (the Eyes, the Ears and the Nose), tell him who did the bombing but they have no answers. Derek Almond, head of the Finger police force, visits Roger Dascombe, head of The Mouth (propaganda), to oversee covering up the destruction of Parliament. While there he sees Lewis Prothero, the Voice of Fate. Fate is the computer system which rules the country for Susan and the government uses Prothero to pretend to be the computer, and is so good that people honestly believe him to Fate's actual voice. While this is happening the figure takes Evey to the 'Shadow Gallery' full of contraband items. On his shelves are banned books like Frankenstein, The Iliad, I am Legend and The Divine Comedy while Evey is in wonder of a duke box playing 'Dancing in the Streets'. The scene then cuts to a train where Lewis Prothero is regaling some old stories to his bodyguards. Suddenly the train stops and the power goes out. When Prothero turns on his lighter he finds his bodyguards dead and a man in a Guy Fawkes mask sitting in the carriage. Eric Finch of the Nose investigates this and finds that the guards were choked to death, and a V in a circle had been carved on the carriage wall with a single rose left behind.

We go back to the Shadow Gallery where Evey is crying as the figure left suddenly. They have a formal introduction and the figure turns out to be called V. Evey tells V about her childhood. She lived in London and lived through the Third World War. We learn more about what happened to the world: Africa was wiped out, Britain survived as it had American missiles removed, weather fluctuations caused by the bombs led to the Thames Barrier bursting, Evey's mum died from poisoning when the sewers flooded and floods destroyed Britain's crops, and riots broke out as the government fell. Then a far-right group called Norsefire took over and restored order, but established a totalitarian regime. As Evey's dad had been in a socialist group when he was younger he was arrested and Evey was sent to a workhouse. V tells her that she is safe with him; safe from government cruelty. Meanwhile, Prothero wakes up in prison uniform outside a mock Larkhill Resettlement Camp. V arrives to give him a tour and marches him past Prothero's collection of dolls, (all in prison uniform), and they pass the medical wing with numbers on the doors. Prothero once worked at Larkhill and realizes V was the man behind door five. V then takes Prothero to a oven with some of his dolls inside and proceeds to burn them despite Prothero's wails. As the daily broadcast seems strange to the public Prothero is found with his face painted like a doll, and muttering the word mama. Later, V arrives at the Old Bailey where he talks to the statue of justice, (not wearing a cloth over her eyes), saying that she is a harlot and he has a new mistress: anarchy. He then blows up the Old Bailey.

V and Justice

When he returns to the Gallery Evey begs V to take her with him on his next outing. We then cut to Westminster Abbey where Bishop Anthony Lilliman is giving a sermon denouncing the terrorism. However, it turns out he is a pedophile and has been having girls come to his room. Today it transpires that Evey is the girl. As V is killing Lilliman's guards Evey smashes a lamp across Lilliman's face as he tries to grope her. V then arrives. Eric Finch and Derek Almond later arrive at Lilliman's residence finding a rose, a V carved on the wall, and Lilliman dead by ingesting sacramental bread laced with cyanide. At the Shadow Gallery Evey is distraught that he used her to kill Lilliman which he consoles her on while at his home Derek Almond hits his wife when she disturbed him looking at evidence. We then cut to Dr Delia Surridge who had worked at Larkhill and is friends with Finch who has flashbacks to a man standing in fire. In the night Dr Surridge wakes to see V standing in her room and she thanks God that he's come for her expressing remorse about her medical experiments at Larkhill. V informs her that he had injected her with cyanide as she slept and as a last request she asks to see his face; something which she remarks as being beautiful. Almond, meanwhile, realizes that Surridge is the next target, and after drunkenly abusing his wife leaves to get V but upon arrival he is quickly killed by V. Finch finds Delia's diary revealing a horrific tale of medical experiments on ethnic minorities, homosexuals, and political opponents at Larkhill which kills all but five patients. In the diary she expresses both hatred for Lilliman and Prothero, but also fondness for the patient in room five who is allowed to keep a garden. However, she notes his tendency to pile certain chemicals, fertilizers and powders together is odd. One night there is a massive explosion and, we find out that the patient had been making mustard gas and napalm to escape. 

Book 2: The Vicious Cabaret

Book Two opens with V performing magic tricks for Evey and then dancing with her. Evey even starts to wonder if V is actually her father. He takes her to the surface, reveals he is not her father, and vanishes leaving her alone. Rose Almond, Derek Almond's wife, starts going into depression as she realizes how alone she is now that her abusive husband is no longer there. Later, V infiltrates the headquarters of the Mouth and plays a video both revealing himself to the world, and chastising the public for allowing Norsefire to go unchallenged for so long. Armed police fire on V, but it turns out to just be a costume. In reality V had dressed Dascombe as himself and let the police shoot him. At the scene Finch meets the new head of The Finger, Peter Creedy, whom he punches when Creedy makes a remark about his friendship with Delia. Finch is then given forced vacation. 

V and Dascombe

The day after V's broadcast we find out that Evey had become romantically involved with an older man called Gordon who she is living with. As they regularly attend a cabaret they come into contact with Creedy, (where we find out the government uses retirement homes to murder pensioners), Scottish gangster Alistair 'Ally' Harper, (where we also find out that Scotland declared its independence and now Norsefire is leading a brutal war of conquest against it), and Rose Almond. Rose had been pressured into a relationship with Dascombe after Derek's death but with Dascombe killed she wad forced to work as a dancer at the cabaret. Thanks to Gordon's bootlegging he comes afoul of Ally Harper who kills him. Furious she goes to kill Harper but is kidnapped. After waking up from a surreal dream she finds out she is in a government cell with only a rat for company. She is shaved, tortured and waterboarded. However, in a crack she finds a letter from an actress called Valerie Page who gives details of her tragic story. Valerie was born in Nottingham and fell in love with a girl. When she came out to her parents was forced to move to London where she became an actress meeting the love of her life, Ruth, on the set of The Salt Flats. Ruth was kidnapped by Norsefire and later they came for Valerie. 

One day the guards tell Evey that they'll execute her if she doesn't tell them who V is, and where he is. She refuses. Instead of being killed she is given freedom. Her guards turn out to be mannequins with radios, the rat was in a cage, and the entire prison was in the Shadow Gallery. She launches a tirade against V calling him evil and sadistic. In response he told her that he set her free; England was the true prison, Gordon was simply stabbed by another inmate, and that by refusing to talk she had freed herself. V also tells her that Valerie was a real inmate of Larkhill. Evey slowly forgives V. We then find out that V has hacked Fate and has been slowly driving Leader Adam Susan insane. 

Book 3: The Land of Do-As-You-Please

Book 3 opens up with an insane Susan begging Fate to say that it loves him again. As this is happening V is conducting over the skyline of London. Suddenly the Post Office Tower, (home of the Ear), and Jordan Tower, (home of the Mouth and Eyes), both blow up killing the head of The Ear, Brian Etheridge. Before the government can respond V is on the radio telling the people that the people will not be watched for three days. Riots break out all over Britain. V tells Evey that it is chaos and not anarchism, the Land of Take-What-You-Want not the Land of Do-As-You-Please. As this is happening the leader of the Eye, Conrad Heyer, is being convinced by his abusive wife, Helen, to use the discord to become Leader. Creedy and Ally Harper instead are using their street thugs to suppress revolutionary protests in the hope that this would give them good standing to lead a coup. However, Helen Heyer is also meeting with Harper to use him to propel Conrad Heyer to power. Meanwhile, Finch visits Larkhill and takes LSD to relieve his lost past and put him in the place of a Larkhill prisoner. He breaks down in anguish about the genocide of ethnic minorities and homosexuals that Norsefire did, and finally realizes what V is about. His assistant, meanwhile, realizes that all along V had been hacking Fate giving him forewarning about Norsefire's actions, as well as slowly destroying Susan's mind. V stacks of dominoes knowing that end is soon near...

Dominoes

Finch realizes that V's hideout is in the abandoned Victoria Station. Helen Heyer starts having an affair with Ally Harper to get his allegiance in the upcoming power play which V manages to record, and send to Conrad. As part of Heyer's plan Harper's thugs then kill Creedy. Susan decides to actually go out and meet the people realizing that if he wants to be a stern leader he has to show himself. At first he loves it being greeted from his car by rapturous applause from the public. Rose Almond, however, is in the audience and has broken down from the life under the regime. When Susan goes to shake her hand she pulls out a gun she had bought to kill herself with and fires. Finch goes down into Victoria Station seeing a carriage lined with roses...and V. He fires but sees no blood. V then replies in possibly my favorite ever comic book quote: Did you think to kill me? There's no flesh or blood within this cloak to kill. There's only an idea. Ideas are bulletproof. 

Evey and V

V leaves but Finch spots a trail of blood realizing that he had mortally wounded V. Finch resigns from the Nose as a power play following Susan's death starts. In anger Conrad Heyer manages to murder Ally Harper but is badly cut by Harper's razor. Angry Helen leaves her husband to bleed to death. In the Shadow Gallery V dies asking for Evey to place his body in the carriage for a Viking Funeral. After debating whether to look under his mask she places his body on the carriage. Evey dresses up as V and addresses the public as Downing Street blows up. Evey manages to rescue Finch's assistant from the explosion and introduces him to the Shadow Gallery...

Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed it.

Comics Explained: The Killing Joke

The Killing Joke cover

As of writing an animated adaptation of The Killing  Joke will be given a limited release in cinemas worldwide. For those who do not know The Killing Joke was written as an Elseworlds story; Elseworlds are DC Comics stories set in parallel universes to the mainstream DC universe. Created by Alan Moore, (of Watchmen and V for Vendetta fame), Brian Bolland and John Higgins this story has managed to become part of the mainstream DC Universe, however, it also remains as the most controversial and dark Batman story. For the intense violence and sadism done by the Joker in this story, as well as the trauma of his origin, this story gained fame for being the definitive Joker story. The creators have even stated that they went too far with what they did in the story. Most of the criticism is directed to the treatment of Barbara Gordon, which is extremely well justified, and Alan Moore has criticized it at least three times. For this reason before we begin I will give a warning that The Killing Joke contains many moments which people may find upsetting. At the most traumatic parts I shall not go into detail or show images from the comic but, it is still very graphic. All images shown are owned by their respective companies and authors with no copyright infringement intended.

Opening

'Two Guys in a Lunatic Asylum'

The story opens with Batman visiting the Joker in Arkham Asylum. Batman has been thinking about his relationship with the Joker; how two men who know nothing about one another could hate each other so much. Batman also has been thinking about the end of their relationship. Either the Joker will kill Batman or Batman will kill the Joker. Batman wants to help the Joker so this will never come to pass. However, Batman then realizes that the man in the shadows he had been talking to was not the Joker but instead a stooge put there by the Joker as a distraction while he escaped. While this is happening the Joker is buying a carnival, and killing the seller, to enact his plan. Batman returns to the Bat Cave pondering that his and the Joker's relationship is in an endless cycle. The Joker escapes then kills and mains before being taken down by Batman. Later the Joker escapes and the cycle continues. Batman wonders how many have been killed or could have been saved if this cycle was broken. Meanwhile, we see the possible origin of the Joker.

Making a Murderer

A failed comedian

Years ago a stand-up comedian is struggling to find money for his pregnant wife. His comedy career is failing as he fails to remember the punchlines, he misses his cues and the audience remains silent as he tells his jokes. To consul the broken comedian his wife says it doesn't matter as long as he makes her laugh. Desperate for money he plans a heist of the chemical plant he used to work at but during the preparation stage his wife is tragically killed in a household accident. Despite this the criminals force him to continue with the heist that night. The comedian is forced to dress up as the infamous Red Hood he would act as a distraction for the police. During the heist the police gun down the criminals but then a creature of the night arrives. Batman early on in his career arrives at the plant but the Red Hood fears him. He panics and jumps into a chemical waste pound lock. Later on he surfaces but sees that his face has become bleached, hair turned green and body has become disfigured. He starts laughing manically. One bad day was all it took to turn make him insane. 

One Bad Day

Years later he decides to show Batman this.

Another Bad Day

The Joker decides to test his theory on someone who should be able to keep his cool no matter what: Commissioner Jim Gordon. Gordon was visiting his daughter, Barbara, (who was the then Batgirl but Jim was not aware of this), at her apartment. The doorbell rings and when she answers it she sees the Joker standing there with two armed goons.

The moment that changed DC history

The Joker then shot Barbara Gordon in her sternum. Horrified at seeing his daughter shot Jim Gordon panics before being knocked out by the Joker's goons. Barbara later wakes in hospital with Batman standing worried over her. They both realize that Jim is missing and the Joker had left Barbara lying in her own blood which points to the idea that the Joker has plans for Jim. Batman sets off then to find the Joker.

Meanwhile, Jim Gordon wakes up naked in a demonic amusement park. Before him sitting on a throne on top of a mound of dolls, and surrounded by burning dolls, is the Joker. When Jim questions the Joker about what is happening he merely replies 'You're going mad'.

The Joker's Throne

The Joker has Gordon dragged to a room where he is shown pictures of his daughter stripped naked on the floor being abused and bleeding out on the floor, (thankfully these images in the comic are almost fully obscured). While this is happening he is being tortured and jeered at by the Joker and his cronies. Batman soon arrives and frees Gordon. At this moment Batman finds out that the Joker's plan to make Jim Gordon go insane. Gordon pleads with Batman to bring the Joker down as he normally does. Batman immediately tracks down the Joker who then has a brief moment of sanity, (the Joker briefly looks distraught that he shot Barbara Gordon and tortured her father), and then tries to shoot Batman only to realize it was a fake gun. He has realized that he has failed to turn Batman insane as well. The Joker then begins to tell Batman a joke: 

See, there were these two guys in a lunatic asylum… and one night, one night they decide they don’t like living in an asylum any more. They decide they’re going to escape! So, like, they get up onto the roof, and there, just across this narrow gap, they see the rooftops of the town, stretching away in the moon light… stretching away to freedom. Now, the first guy, he jumps right across with no problem. But his friend, his friend didn’t dare make the leap. Y’see… Y’see, he’s afraid of falling. So then, the first guy has an idea… He says, “Hey! I have my flashlight with me! I’ll shine it across the gap between the buildings. You can walk along the beam and join me!” B-but the second guy just shakes his head. He suh-says… He says, “Wh-what do you think I am? Crazy? You’d turn it off when I was half way across!

Surprisingly Batman laughs at the joke. He starts to keel over laughing and places his hands on Joker's shoulders. The last panel just shows one beam of light and the laughter stops.

'Two Guys in a Lunatic Asylum'

Legacy
The Killing Joke has a controversial legacy. Feminist comic book fans and writers have criticized the extreme violence that was done to Barbara Gordon and the fact that I could not show you or go into detail about the violence shows how justified this criticism is. The fact that even Alan Moore has said that he is not happy about what he did just shows how disturbing this comic is. The first time that I read The Killing Joke I found it that discomforting that I had to stop reading and to date it is the only comic that has managed to achieve this. Not even the Crossed comics caused this level of discomfort. Despite the controversy The Killing Joke was well received and was made part of the mainstream DC universe. Barbara Gordon remained paralyzed thanks to the events of the story but, remained a hero in the form of Oracle. With the New 52 reboot of the DC universe in 2011 Barbara Gordon managed to get become Batgirl once more. However, the events of The Killing Joke remained with her as Barbara occasionally suffers from PTSD during gun fights and the cover for Batgirl #41 which was inspired by the story had to be redone due to the horrific imagery on it.

The Killing Joke has greatly inspired Batman related media outside of comic books. The Joker's Hawaiian tourist outfit, which he wears while shooting Barbara, are available costumes in the video games Lego Batman and Injustice: Gods Among Us. The Birds of Prey TV series starts with the Joker paralyzing Barbara and The Batman animated TV series has two references to this story. Detective Ethan Bennett is broken, (and turned into Clayface), by the Joker in the same way the Gordon is as well as the Joker giving the same monologue about having 'one bad day'. Later on in the series there is an episode set in the future where Barbara has become Oracle. Also, every one of the Batman: Arkham games mentions in someway this story, (mostly as in all bar one Barbara appears as Oracle). In Asylum the Joker sits on a throne of mannequins, uses an alias Jack White, (used in this story when buying the amusement park) and he also starts telling the lunatic joke before saying 'you've heard it before'. In City Joker tells the story to Hugo Strange and in Origins you get to see his origin as he gives the 'one bad day' monologue. Finally, in Knight there are several: the Joker repeatedly mentions the story, Batman hallucinates and sees a, thankfully, less disturbing version of Joker paralyzing Barbara and in the DLC where you play as Batgirl the Joker shoots at Barbara, misses and then says that 'the next one won't'. Incidentally Knight also references another controversial Batman story; Death in the Family where the Joker killed Jason Todd who was the second Robin. Both Tim Burton and Christopher Nolan were inspired by The Killing Joke when creating their respective version of the Joker and, Nolan even gave Heath Ledger a copy of the story to read. The Joker's creation scene was also shown in the animated film Batman: Under the Red Hood, (incidentally the film shows Jason Todd's death). My favorite person to play the Joker, the incredible Mark Hamill, only agreed to play the Joker one last time if this story would be adapted, (he is in fact playing the Joker in the new film).

Finally, with the controversy is it worth reading? I would argue yes. In my opinion this comic is not about the Joker trying to break Gordon but rather the extreme lengths the Joker will go to show that he and Batman are the same. The Joker wants so desperately for Batman to kill him as it would show both of them that they are the same. Like the Joker one bad day made Batman go insane; seeing his parents shot in front of him propelled him to becoming the Batman. While Bruce Wayne's bad day led his mania to become a force for good the bad day for a nameless comedian propelled him into a life destined to end all that was good. The Joker, meanwhile, is infuriated that Batman has not acknowledged how similar they are and is willing to destroy Barbara and Jim Gordon to make Batman see this. Like Death of the Family years later this story effectively shows the unhinged obsession the Joker has with Batman. One last note there is a theory about the last scene's imagery, (shown earlier). Grant Morrison, (author of Batman Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on a Serious Earth where he took imagery too far with every page having some hidden artistic meaning on it), has theorized that Alan Moore and the other creators had Batman prove Joker's idea that they were so close to being one another true. The last two shots show the laughter ending and a light going out. Morrison believes that this references the joke the Joker told and that Batman snapped the Joker's neck.

Thank you for reading. The other sources that I have used, (I took some information from the links of the picture captions), are as follows:
-Batman: The Killing Joke by Alan Moore
-DC Comics Year by Year: A Visual Chronicle by Alan Coswill, Alex Irvine, Matthew K.Manning, Michael McAvennie, and Daniel Wallace
-https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a36V6oni9Mw