346 KILLRAVEN
sympathetically, comic historian Les Daniels notes that the vileness of the villain’s
actions in Th e Killing Joke may have diminished readers’ relish in his antics. Daniels
also suggests that it was convenient for DC to have Barbara Gordon/Batgirl crippled
by the Joker, as a lone Batman was in vogue at the time. Although many critics, readers,
and comics professionals hail Th e Killing Joke , Moore himself considers it to be one of
his weaker works. Moore has said in interviews that, unlike his Watchmen and V for
Vendetta , which comment on power and anarchy, respectfully, Th e Killing Joke fails to
address any real issue. Ultimately, according to Moore, Th e Killing Joke is simply a story
about Batman, the Joker, and their relationship, and—since the characters are not really
symbols for anything—therefore it says nothing about the real world or existence.
Nevertheless, Th e Killing Joke still succeeds as a complex and intelligent superhero
story that continues to defi ne the Joker and his relationship to Batman. Moreover, the
graphic novel is well crafted by Moore and beautifully rendered by Bolland. Th e story
has infl uenced not only comic professionals, but also artists working on Batman in
other media. Former president of DC Comics Jeanette Kahn recalls that director Tim
Burton showed licensees for his 1989 fi lm, Batman , a copy of Th e Killing Joke and said,
“Th is is what the fi lm will look like.” Also, Th e Killing Joke was reportedly one of the
few comics used as research by actor Heath Ledger for his chilling performance as the
Joker in 2008’s Th e Dark Knight. Moore is correct that—despite some commentary on
the tenuous divide between sanity and madness— Th e Killing Joke is primarily a story
about Batman and the Joker, with little connection to real world issues. Regardless of
Moore’s own criticisms, Th e Killing Joke stands as a pivotal book, especially in Batman’s
publication history, but also in the development of superhero comics aimed at a mature
readership.
Selected Bibliography: Daniels, Les. Batman: Th e Complete History. San Francisco:
Chronicle Books, 1999; Moore, Alan. Batman: Th e Killing Joke. New York: DC Comics,
1988.
Jackson Ayres
KILLRAVEN. Th e character of Jonathan Raven, or “Killraven,” fi rst appeared in Marvel’s
Amazing Adventures #18 in 1973. Marvel writer/editor Roy Th omas had been struck
by a chapter in H.G. Wells’s 1898 novel Th e War of the Worlds which speculated on life
after a Martian invasion, with some humans living underground as rebellious freedom
fi ghters, while other humans acted as quislings, serving the invaders to ensure their own
survival. Th omas proposed that he write a series wherein the Martians had reinvaded
Earth 100 years after their original attack and enslaved humanity; 20 years after the sec-
ond invasion the book would follow a band of human freedom fi ghters rebelling against
the Martian masters. Th e concept was approved by Marvel, and Th omas recruited Neal
Adams , with whom he’d previously worked on both X-Men and the Avengers , to pencil
the art. Adams liked the idea but had his own spin on how it should play out; however,
Th omas felt that Adams’s ideas, though excellent, were incompatible with his own and
