The Killing Joke; what matters is the punchline

Next month will see the release of the animated adaptation of Alan Moore's milestone graphic novel "The Killing Joke". In order to flesh out the story, and provide the movie with more length than the story would otherwise provide DC are adding a whole new section into the story before the events of the comic. I think that this is a good thing. There are elements of the story that need to be worked on. However I do think that by focusing on the beginning of the story the writer and animators are putting their attention in the wrong place. If you are looking at the Killing Joke with a view to improving it the beginning isn't what matters, what matters is how it ends.

This is because the chief problem with the Killing Joke isn't that Barbara Gordon is attacked and paralysed. The chief problem is that she is attacked, paralysed and then promptly ignored by the story. We see little of how Barbara feels about what has happened to her and the attack is purely motivated as a way to affect male characters (in this case James Gordon and Batman). This is something that is very important to remember when discussing this type of story (dubbed women in refrigerators by Gail Simone). The attack on Barbara kick starts the events of the Killing Joke but this story is not about Barbara. The story is about Batman and the Joker, Barbara is used as little more than collateral damage by the story.

 But how does this tie in with how someone would go about adapting the Killing Joke? Simple. If you want to flesh out the Killing Joke you need to transform it from a story in which Barbara is paralysed into a story about Barbara being paralysed.

You might be wondering how I would suggest that could be done. Firstly more attention needs to be put on how Barbara reacts to the news that she will no longer be able to walk. A proper scene in which the character was given the news and began to process it would go a long way towards making Barbara more involved in what should be her story, and it would provide a quieter scene in between the assault and Batman's visit to the amusement park.

The second thing that the adaptation would need is to have Barbara involved in taking down the Joker in some capacity. Now I will admit that this could be tricky to pull off. The whole point of anything the Joker does is that he wants Batman to know that he did it. In the Killing Joke he also wants Batman to know exactly where to find him. Batman doesn't discover the Joke in the Killing Joke, he is invited. The writers would also have to consider the fact that Barbara would be physically and emotionally devastated by the attack and also be undergoing pretty heavy duty medical care.

The way to get around this would be to have the confrontation between the Batman and the Joker take place as the middle of the story rather than the end and to expand the scale of the Joker's plan. Doing so would enable Barbara to recover somewhat to the point from which she could affect the story and expanding the Joker's plan would give her something to thwart without changing the original intent behind the story.

In the Killing Joke the Joker sets out to prove that anyone can be driven mad by one bad day and plans to use James Gordon as an example. One route that the adaptation could go down would be to have Jim Gordon be the first example rather than the only example. The movie could depict this as something that the Joker intended all along or as a plan B for him to fall back on.Either way it would be resolved by Barbara figuring out that there was more to the Joker's plan and using the skills that she would go on to employ as Oracle and to point Batman in the right direction.

Finally we need to see what will come next for Barbara. When Barbara Gordon was originally payalysed in the Killing Joke there was no plan for the character. If it hadn't been for the efforts of writers Kim Yale and Jim Ostrander the character would have been discarded. Since the Killing Joke many stories have dived into how the experience shaped Barbara and how she grew into the role of Oracle. The best way for the adaptation to end would not be with Batman and the Joker laughing on the roof (as great as that ending is) but with Barbara vowing to apply herself in a new direction rather than give up on the fight against evil. If they did that then it would truly become her story.

Post mortem: Thomas Wayne of Earth 2 (New 52)

This article contains content that could be considered spoilers for  Earth 2 #1, Earth 2 Annual #2 and Convergence #3

One thing that we do not suffer a lack of in superhero comics is character deaths. It would be an exaggeration to say this is on the same level as, say Game of Thrones but they happen enough that a superhero dying has become a recognisable trend of comic books, especially in a big event.

The goal of a post mortem article is to look at character deaths in comic books and examine whether or not they were any good. It should be stated that I will not be looking at the merit of the stories that the deaths occur in, merely the deaths themselves. In my opinion there is no better way to illustrate that distinction than by looking at the death of Earth 2's (New 52) second Batman, Thomas Wayne.

The Thomas Wayne of Earth 2 was killed off in the third issue of recent mini series, Convergence. He dies fighting against various Batman villains from the pre-Flashpoint DC universe. He puts up a fight but is quickly overcome and sets off an explosion, killing the villains but also himself. In my opinion it is a fitting end for the character, one that brings his story threads to a natural end rather than disrupt them.

So why do I think this? The answer can be found in Thomas' back story.

Thomas' back story, as well as his motivation are explained in Earth 2 annual #2. In that issue the reader is shown that Thomas is a character defined by regret. Martha was murdered in front of Thomas and Bruce because of Thomas' connections to, and involvement with Gotham's organised crime (specifically the drugs trade). Batman chose a life as Batman, in part because Thomas faked his own death and Bruce did not find out that he survived the shooting until much later. Because of his decision to stay away from his son and pursue revenge his son disowned him when they were eventually reunited. To put it simply, every major decision Thomas Wayne made in his life only served to hurt, and fragment his family. He attended his son's wedding in secret and could only see Bruce and his family from afar. He was unable to make amends before Bruce's death in Earth 2#1. It is because of his regret that Thomas takes on the mantle of Batman. As a character he is defined by this regret. The character is so consumed by this desire to make amends that he uses Miracolo, effectively a superhuman steroid. The character has a history of drug addiction and is aware that Miracolo is a new addiction but claims he wouldn't be able to be Batman without it. Just like Bruce Wayne's Batman is consumed by his desire for vengeance, often at the cost of his own health, Thomas Wayne is consumed by a desire for redemption.

By the time of his death in Convergence 3# all of this issues have been resolved to one degree or another. Thomas Wayne's death in Convergence serves as a swan song to the character. Without any Miracolo to rely on he his forced to face overwhelming odds on his own strength and dies taking down a sizable chunk of Batman's pre Flashpoint rogues gallery with him. In this fight he is no longer a man seeking to wash away his mistakes as a husband and a father, but a man heroically defending his family.

Thomas Wayne's death also ties into the themes of the story in which it takes place. Convergence takes place in between the destruction of the old (New 52) Earth 2 and the establishment of the new Earth 2 that is the focus of Earth 2: Society. In this series Thomas serves as a brief mentor to Earth 2' Dick Grayson, who is inspired to take up the mantle of Batman after Thomas' death (Batmen drop like flies on Earth 2). Just as Convergence serves to bridge the gap between the original Earth 2 comic book series and Earth 2: Society, Thomas serves to bridge the gap between the original Earth 2 Batman and the new one. His death can be seen within a wider context of the last hurrah of the old series before the coming of the new series.

In my opinion killing off Thomas Wayne was not just a good way to end his story it was the most appropriate way to end his story. Both for the character, and the story. Unlike many character deaths which have been used for pure shock value or to raise the profile of a series Thomas' death genuinely serves the series in which it takes place.

Rather than close with a concluding argument I think I will let Dick Grayon's words from the comic itself explain why I believe the death to be such a fitting end for the character.

Why I actually like the new 52 version of Mr Freeze

As most of you reading this will know, a couple of years ago Mr. Freeze received a new origin by Batman writer Scott Snyder.

In the origin that started in Batman: The animated series Mr Freeze (real name Victor Fries) is a man who can only survive in sub zero temperatures. This came about due to a set of circumstances that involved his wife (Nora Fries), whom Fries put in suspended animation to prevent her illness from killing her before he could find a cure.

In the New 52 version Nora isn’t married to Mr Fries. In fact she was born and put in suspension decades before Victor was even born and they haven’t even met. Victor was working on finding a cure for her and became obsessed with her. When he was found out it led to the events that caused his current condition.

When news of this revised origin came out I didn’t want to read it. Obsessed man in love with a woman he has only ever seen in suspension removes a lot of tragedy from what was the story of a man so damaged in his attempts to save his wife. In my opinion this lack of a tragic element makes this new origin lesser in comparison, and if they were to put Mr Freeze in a new movie I hope that they go with the animated series version.

However, that being said I recently came to see the merit of the new version. In one of the later issues of Batman Eternal Mr Freeze uses his freezing device to create a tableau of the perfect family life. It was this scene that showed me the strength of the new origin story.

The problem with the animated series (as) Mr Freeze is that because all of his actions are for his wife it is too easy to stop conflict. When Mr Freeze is on a rampage all Batman needs to do is figure out if he wants revenge or medical supplies. If it is revenge Freeze wants Batman can bring the man to justice, if it is medical supplies then Batman can easily supply all that. At the end of Batman and Robin George Clooney’s Batman has Nora Fries moved to Arkham Asylum so that Mr Freeze can work on her condition while he resides there. With this action he has completely nullified the villain.

This might be good for a movie but it doesn’t work for a comic book. In a comic book the ideal is to have the villains able to return for as much as you want to use them. Earlier comic tales have killed off Nora Fries but this only causes a delay to the issue.  The problem of as Mr Freeze is that he has a logical finishing point. Either he gets to work on his wife and has need reason to harm anyone or he flames out getting revenge. Too many revenge stories would just see the character growing stale.

New 52 Freeze on the other hand, doesn’t have a logical end point. He believes that Nora is his wife and will kill anyone whom he deems to be coming between them. Unlike as Freeze there is no simply reasoning with this man.

His obsession also creates story possibilities that extend beyond Nora. A story could examine the route of his obsession (the issue that he was revealed in depicted him pushing his mother into a frozen lake because of the condition that a similar accident left her in). A story could show how he operates when he isn’t around Nora or what would happen if he were to make a connection with another person, and if such a thing would even be possible for his character.

I have loved the as Mr Freeze ever since I first saw his episode as a child and I still believe it to be the superior tale. The problem is that it just doesn’t work as a story that can be dragged out and re-examined in the way that a comic series requires. For this reason I have come to the belief that what Scott Snyder did in Batman Annual #1 was the right move for the character. While controversial, the new Mr Freeze has far more story potential than the old.

If you reacted like I did, and rejected the change I urge you to reconsider, and look at the New 52 version of the character with this perspective in mind.