Origin Stories

Batman: The Killing Joke graphic novel serves as a cautionary tale against the dangers of extreme moral relativism. Moore and Bolland’s creation is widely lauded as pivotal cannon in the DC universe, providing both a backstory that invokes an uncomfortable sort of empathy and a villian that is terrifying in his relatability, further reinforcing the use of Joker as a warning. 

​

David Sims of The Atlantic explains in his critique that  “The Killing Joke helped cement the villain’s reputation for nihilism, forging a modern template for a man once portrayed as a vicious trickster.” This is despite regrets by both the artist and the writer on the more severe elements of the comic, mainly the treatment of Barbara, Commissioner Gordon’s daughter who is shot and stripped naked so the photographs can be used during the Joker’s torture of Gordon. Sims explains his reservations as such: “I’m not the biggest fan of The Killing Joke’s place in Batman lore. Its plotting is too glib and undercooked to warrant its severity, putting Barbara through an unspeakable ordeal to make a fairly ordinary point. Still, I admire it mostly as a distillation of the relationship between the Joker and Batman. The Joker spends the entire comic insisting that they’re two of a kind, both men driven to aberrant behavior after a terrible tragedy; Moore emphasizes that the triumph of Batman’s character is that he resisted abandoning hope and embracing anarchy, as the Joker did” 

​

While I agree that the maiming of Barbra was graphic, particularly in context with the other Batman comics at the time, I believe that it was crucial to build the true nihilistic character of the Joker and  makes Commissioner Gordon’s triumph more meaningful.  It illustrates both the Joker’s depravity and the lengths he would go to in order to see his ideal succeed in Gotham. It also shows the fortitude of Commissioner Gordon’s character, who doesn’t submit to lunacy as the Joker intends, but instead still requires Batman to act within the parameters of the Law.  Batman: the Killing Joke has very little to do with Batman, and everything to do with the Joker and Commissioner Gordon. Even the ending is morally ambiguous, with the reader left to question whether Batman would’ve brought the Joker in by the book or killed him, had the police not shown up in the very last frame. 

​

Solomon defines Moral relativism as “whatever a culture of a society holds about right and wrong is therefore correct, at least for them. From an extreme individualist point of view, this could be interpreted as implying that you are right if you sincerely think you are” (Solomon 256). The last part is particularly relevant for understanding the Joker’s actions.  Although titled Batman: The Killing Joke, this graphic novel is truly about establishing the origin of the Joker’s amoral ideals and his desire to impose those ideals, through suffering, on society. He does this by torturing Commissioner Gordon, first explaining to him that lunacy is freedom and  “We aren't contractually tied down to rationality. There is no sanity clause. So when you find yourself locked onto an unpleasant train of thought, heading for the places in your past where the screaming is unbearable, remember there is always madness. Madness is the emergency exit. You can just step outside and close the door on all the things that happened. You can lock them away.” 

​

The Joker continues to serenade Commissioner Gordon while showing him enlarged pictures of Barbra, shot and stripped naked, in an effort to get an emotional reaction and induce madness. He signs “When the World is full of care and every headline screams despair, when all is rape, starvation, war and life is vile...then there’s a certain thing I do which I shall pass along to you, thats always guarenteed to make me smile...I go loony. When the human race wears a gloomy face, when the bomb hangs overhead, when your kid turns blue, it won’t worry you.” (Moore 25) This dramatization of moral relativism portrays the problem discussed in The Big Questions: “If morality were truley realtive, how could we continue to condemn the horrors committed against innocent covilians in Nazi Germany or the policy of apartheid in South Africa? We need some standard or standpoint from which we can affirm one morality and reject another. Naturally, atrocities never are acceptable to all members of any society.” (Solomon 259)

​

Commissioner Gordon is rendered catatonic after being tortured.  The Joker, while staring pensively into his reflection, says “Take him away and put him in his cage. Perhaps he’ll get a little livilier once he’s had a chance to think his situation over...to reflect upon life, and all its random injustices”(Moore 28) Following this is a flashback that is the final piece of the Joker’s origin story, one where he is duped into being the fall guy by career criminals and through a series of unfortunate circumstances escapes Batman by jumping into a chemical bath at ACME Chemicals (Moore 31) This scene creates the link between his intentions and his torture of both Barbra and Commissioner Gordon. It also shows the  parallel between the failure of distributive justice in the creation of the Joker and his attempt to force that injustice on another.  In the flashback, the Joker hadn’t actually committed a crime yet when he is intercepted by Batman, and by cornering him, Batman allows the other true criminals to escape punishment. Solomon explains that the key concept of distributive justice is that criminals are caught and sentenced, with the punishment fitting the crime (Solomon 292). 

​

Commissioner Gordon represents when Solomon defines moral absolutism or the belief that there are universal moral values that apply to everyone and those who act against those values are not moral(Solomon 256). Arguably, Gordon is the true hero of The Killing Joke, representing moral absolutism and the ensuing struggle with the Joker representing the dissension between moral absolutism and moral relativism. Commissioner Gordon’s moral fortitude and sanity are tested by the Joker and his treatment of Barbra, however he remains unwavering in his loyalty to the law. After being rescued and in a semi-catatonic state, he instructs Batman “I want him brought in...and I want him brought in by the book” going on to explain “we have to show him that our way works”.(Moore 37) It is worth noting that he demands this without even knowing whether Barbra is alive or if the Joker has killed her.

 

References

Moore, Alan, and Brian Bolland. Batman: the Killing Joke. Panini Comics, 2009.

​

Sims, David. “The Comic That Explains Where 'Joker' Went Wrong.” The Atlantic, Atlantic Media Company, 7 Oct. 2019, www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2019/10/killing-joke-and-joker/599512/.

​

Solomon, Robert C. The Big Questions: a Short Introduction to Philosophy. Cengage Learning, 2017.