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''Batman: The Killing Joke'' is a 1988 one-shot graphic novel featuring the characters Batman and the Joker written by Alan Moore, illustrated by Brian Bolland, and published by DC Comics. Set in the fictional U.S. city of Gotham, ''Batman: The Killing Joke'' provides an origin story for the Joker, an established comic book supervillain and nemesis of Batman. Taking place over two timelines, ''The Killing Joke'' depicts the Joker attempting to drive Jim Gordon insane and Batman's desperate attempt to stop him. Created by Moore as his own take on Joker's source and psychology,〔 the story became famous for its origin of the Joker as a tragic character; a family man and failed comedian who suffered "one bad day" that finally drove him insane. Moore stated that he attempted to show the similarities between the two characters. The story's effects on the mainstream Batman continuity also included the shooting and paralysis of Barbara Gordon (a.k.a. Batgirl), an event that laid the groundwork for her to develop the identity of Oracle. Many critics consider the graphic novel to be the definitive Joker story and one of the best Batman stories ever published. The comic won the Eisner Award for 'Best Graphic Album' in 1989 and appeared on ''The New York Times'' Best Seller List in May 2009. In 2006, ''The Killing Joke'' was reprinted as part of the trade paperback ''DC Universe: The Stories of Alan Moore''. In 2008, DC Comics reprinted the story in a deluxe hardcover edition, which features new coloring by Bolland, with a more somber, realistic, and subdued palette than the original. Elements of ''The Killing Joke'' have inspired or been incorporated into other aspects of Batman media, such as films and video games. ==Background and creation== DC editor Dick Giordano asked Brian Bolland what project he wanted to work on next. Bolland recounted, "I thought about it in terms of who's my favourite writer at the moment, what hero I would really love to do, and which villain? I basically came up with Alan, Batman and the Joker."〔Salisbury, Mark, ''Artists on Comic Art'' (Titan Books, 2000) ISBN 1-84023-186-6, p. 19〕 Bolland's version of the Joker stemmed in part from his having recently seen the film ''The Man Who Laughs''.〔Bolland, "The 1980's - The Killing Joke" in ''The Art of Brian Bolland'', pp. 195–197〕 Giordano's invitation led directly to Bolland working with writer Alan Moore to create a plausible background story for the Joker. Although the story takes pains to stress that it is merely one possible 'origin story,' it has been widely accepted and adopted into DC continuity, and a central mutilation of a long-running character had to be specially approved by editor Wein.〔 Bolland said that he saw "Judge Death () almost a dry run for drawing the Joker." He also recounted that "by the time Alan had finished ''Watchmen'' he had fallen out with DC to a certain extent ... ()n the end, he only continued to do ''Killing Joke'' as a favour to me."〔 The 48-page prestige format one-shot comic took a considerable amount of time to produce. Both Moore and Bolland are well known for their meticulous and time-consuming work; both creators' then-recently finished 12-issue maxiseries titles had seen delays.〔Will Brooker, ''Batman Unmasked: Analyzing a Cultural Icon'' (Bloomsbury Academic September 18, 2001) pp. 268-272. ISBN 978-0826413437.〕 He was aided by the laid back attitude taken by DC, who he says "seemed prepared to let me do it at my own pace." The original editor, Len Wein, left the company, and was replaced by Dennis O'Neil, a "very hands-off sort of guy," with whom Bolland only recalls having one conversation about the book.〔 Bolland envisaged the flashback sequences in black and white, and instructed ''Watchmen''-colorist John Higgins to use "muted November colors". He was upset when he saw the finished comic had "garish ... hideous glowing purples and pinks ... and my precious ''Eraserhead''-esque flashback sequences swamped in orange."〔 The 2008-published 20th anniversary edition of the book featured new colouring by Bolland, restoring his artistic intentions to the palette. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Batman: The Killing Joke」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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