The Killing Joke is considered one of comic book legend Alan Moore’s crowing achievements in superhero comics. Right alongside his classic works like The Watchmen, The Killing Joke attempts to tell the story of Batman’s most notorious nemesis, the Joker.
The Killing Joke ended on quite the nebulous note, leaving whatever happened in the end open for interpretation. This was true for the animated adaptation of the comics as well, one that was headed by Bruce Timm as the executive producer. The iconic superhero media legend talked about what he thought about the ending of the story way back when he first encountered it.
It was unclear if Batman killed the Joker at the end of The Killing Joke
At the end of Alan Moore‘s The Killing Joke, after the Joker has traumatized Barbara Gordon and put Jim Gordon through some harrowing torture, the Joker tells Batman a joke. The joke is revealed to the audience, and Batman starts laughing along with the Joker. Both of them laugh into the night before the laughing abruptly stops, as the focus moves away from Batman and the Joker. Given the title, The Killing Joke, the audience is left wondering why the laughing stopped. And if Batman was successful in killing the Joker, finally snapping and proving the Clown Prince of Crime right.
The film echoes this set piece, leaving the audience with the same question, albeit bungling the story a little along the way. However, this question has never gotten a clear answer from its creator. The closest we have come to is another fan of the comic, Bruce Timm, being a part of the team that got the opportunity to adapt Alan Moore’s seminal work for animation.
Bruce Timm believed that Batman never broke his no-killing rule
Bruce Timm, speaking with Bleeding Cool, opened up about his interpretation of the ending. He said:
“I remember looking at the staging and thinking it was odd. And thinking, ok is he (Batman) breaking his [Joker’s] neck or is he just leaning on him, because he’s laughing. And I think I… I voted in my own head that yeah, I think he is just leaning on him like he’s laughing. But that’s what I thought back then. Don’t ask me what I think now.”
The idea that the story is called The Killing Joke has led many to speculate that Alan Moore wanted the audiences to assume that Batman has snapped, and that the Joker’s thesis that all it takes is one bad day to send someone over the edge, is actually true.
But the fact that it failed to corrupt Jim or Barbara Gordon is a testament to the fact that the Joker does not know what he is talking about. It is without a doubt that Batman has some problems that he should work out in the therapist’s office, but corrupting Batman might not be as easy as the Joker makes it out to be. Bruce Timm‘s initial assessment of the situation makes perfect sense in the context, and ending the laughter would not just be a narrative twist, but a solemn way to end a solemn and dark story.
