COMICS: Grant Morrison's Interpretation Of THE KILLING JOKE Ending (Spoilers??)

COMICS: Grant Morrison's Interpretation Of THE KILLING JOKE Ending (Spoilers??)

On Kevin Smith's Fatman on Batman podcast, Grant Morrison explained the ending of The Killing Joke. Needless to say, you might never see this story with the same eyes again.

News
By isee - Aug 16, 2013 01:08 PM EST
Filed Under: DC Comics
Source: Bleeding Cool

No matter where you stand on Grant Morrison's run on Batman, there is no denying that the man knows his Batman comics. So when a man like that, with such excessive knowledge of the history of the character goes on record explaining how a classic like The Killing Joke actually ends, it's worth a listen.

The Killing Joke has been a timeless Batman tale that counts amongst the best. If you're a seasoned comic book and/or Batman fan, chances are you have read this book. If not, then you undoubtedly googled it once or twice and you've read the final page, where The Joker tells Batman and joke and they share a laugh.



Well, here's how Grant Morrison sees it:

"Batman kills the Joker, that's why it's called The Killing Joke. The Jokers tells the killing joke at the end, Batman reaches out and breaks his neck and that's why the laughter stops."

Oh my god. Mind blown.

Seeing that final page again now, with Grant Morrison's take in mind, personally, I can't not see it any more, and I can't believe I hadn't before.

You can watch the full video on the link below.

What do you guys think? Did you always notice it? Do you see the ending differently now?

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Fastestmanalive
Fastestmanalive - 8/16/2013, 1:50 PM
I dont really like Morrison but thats a great take and now that I see it I like it. Great ending considering the rest of the story.
TheManFromMars
TheManFromMars - 8/16/2013, 1:50 PM
Makes sense
AshleyWilliams
AshleyWilliams - 8/16/2013, 1:50 PM
Isn't this story canon?
jarel93
jarel93 - 8/16/2013, 1:51 PM
But, here's the problem.....The Killing Joke was canon for the DC Universe for a long time. It was the telling of how Barbara became paralyzed and it was incorporated into the universe's chronology. So, I have to disagree with Mr. Morrison here. Wouldn't be the first time, but ya know.
jarel93
jarel93 - 8/16/2013, 1:52 PM
@NightAvenger My thoughts exactly.
GRAYSHOT
GRAYSHOT - 8/16/2013, 1:52 PM
oh wow.
isee
isee - 8/16/2013, 1:54 PM
@jarel - I completely agree that it is canon, with Barbara Gordon and all, but it's still an entire new spin on the story nonetheless as it could be considered a somewhat standalone one-shot
sameoldthing
sameoldthing - 8/16/2013, 1:58 PM
Sure it can be interpreted as Bats killing him but its not fully clear as what happens since the final images show characters "off panel".

That's intentional. You could also interpret it as Bats just knocking him out/shutting him up since its his method not to kill.

Only Alan Moore can decide what the actual ending is..he wrote the story NOT Grant Morrison.
ABH1979
ABH1979 - 8/16/2013, 2:02 PM
DC decided to make it canon, but that does not mean that that was Moore's intent...

You know, someone should really ask Moore what he thinks of Morrison's interpretation of his book... ;)

Anyways, another interpretation is that at the end, Batman realizes what the Joker already knows, which is this is all just a story -- Batman is looking right at the reader when he begins to laugh (and possibly lose his mind). He could still end up offing Joker here, since it doesn't really matter either way.
oldnoname
oldnoname - 8/16/2013, 2:05 PM
That's exactly what I thought the first time I read it. It was only later when I read the other versions that I considered that Batman was just laughing at the joke with the Joker.
jarel93
jarel93 - 8/16/2013, 2:08 PM
I think it's also worth noting that there are police cars arriving in the background. It could be that they came and just took Joker away.


.....I'm getting way too into this conversation. Haha
isee
isee - 8/16/2013, 2:12 PM
Just notice that the second to last panel, the beam of light... Could be like in Joker's joke, the light bridge. And in the last panel, it's gone. Light's off. Joker's dead.

LOL sorry now I'm the one getting way too much into this
ruadh
ruadh - 8/16/2013, 2:31 PM
Ugh. I remember arguing with another nerd in high school about that ending, and he swore the part where Batman's hand on Joker's shoulder was Batman snapping his neck. I of course thought he was an idiot.

BUT...apparently we were both wrong. Oh well.
SirEdwardIV
SirEdwardIV - 8/16/2013, 2:38 PM
I've always taken Batman's one-armed movement, in the panel, as him softly punching the Joker on the shoulder, as if to affirm in a friendly way that the joke was funny. I've always felt it was the Batman and Joker's only true bonding moment in their history together.
NightWingNut
NightWingNut - 8/16/2013, 2:58 PM
LOL, I'm not quite sure I'm seeing the revelation here. I thought it was pretty obvious when I read it that what we see on the floor is blood. I always thought the point of it being called "The Killing Joke" was because it was the final joke that was going to do him in. Batman to me looked like he was punching right into Joker's chest, maybe to squeeze his heart. Snapping his neck wouldn't produce blood on the floor like that, and besides, his neck is very clearly higher than that. And besides, if it was a friendly encounter towards the end, why would the last panels be focused on the line? It's meant to show that just as the blood crossed the line, so did Batman...and in the end when the rain as flushed it all away, there's only the same empty darkness.

I do however wonder as you guys have stated about the canon of Barbara being paralyzed. But then again, death has never stopped the Joker...or anyone really. :/
Odin
Odin - 8/16/2013, 3:38 PM
But the story is canon, and Joker is not dead currently.
TelaVizion
TelaVizion - 8/16/2013, 3:40 PM
How can ppl not know this already?
Tymminator
Tymminator - 8/16/2013, 4:46 PM
Nope. It was even mentioned in Batman books after that graphic novel the events in TKJ took place as far as references to the Joker and Bats "sharing a joke". To say that Bats killed Joker then is a ret-con if applied and seriously a personal reinterpretation.
dkhager
dkhager - 8/16/2013, 5:00 PM
i dont see it like that..they shared a joke at the end..its one of my favorite books ever and ive always seen it like that...u can see it out its put by Morrison but only Moore really knows how its meant to be seen..as for me they share a joke and it trails over into the never
Tomontherun99
Tomontherun99 - 8/16/2013, 5:15 PM
I kinda see this book like Year One, it exists both in the main DCU and in it's own little universe with different outcomes, like how in the non-canon Killing Joke Batman kills Joker while Year One also leads into All-Star Batman, Dark Knight Returns and Strikes Again.
Tomontherun99
Tomontherun99 - 8/16/2013, 5:16 PM
Or maybe I'm over thinking this way too much
MrSundayMovies
MrSundayMovies - 8/16/2013, 5:19 PM
Blew my mind when I heard this.
RexDartEskimoSpy
RexDartEskimoSpy - 8/16/2013, 5:39 PM
Moore and Gibbons purposely left it open to interpretation, but I can't believe some of you never saw it this way. Anyway, they never gave a crap if it would be canon or not. DC just decided they'd go with the paraplegic Barbara aspect. Remember how cartoons and textbooks in the late '80s/early '90s always showed kids in wheelchairs?

And if you've never read The Killing Joke turn in your geek card NOW.
BobGarlen
BobGarlen - 8/16/2013, 6:50 PM
It wasn't written to be canon though
SnapperCarr
SnapperCarr - 8/16/2013, 8:40 PM
@Nomis looooooooooooooool!!!!!!!!!!!!
jambabeanjuice
jambabeanjuice - 8/16/2013, 10:02 PM
@RexDartEskimoSpy Gibbons is not involved in the Killing Joke. I think you're referring to Brian Bolland.

I don't agree that Batman killed The Joker at the end of the story. @ Nomis totally agree with you bud.
KurtCrawler
KurtCrawler - 8/17/2013, 7:39 AM
I don't think Batman killed him, it's canon and Moore had to know it was going to be when writing it. Since he was consulting with DC reps, they had to have told him that the story would be canon with the entire DC universe.

Though, if he DID kill him and they decided afterwards, then that's pretty much the most fitting end possible to their relationship.
FlashhGordon27
FlashhGordon27 - 8/17/2013, 2:20 PM
the ending was always meant to be ambiguous... but I always thought that was the most obvious ending, I can't believe how many people never read it that way? I always read it as Batman killing Joker
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