Batman: The Killing Joke – Deluxe Edition
Written by Alan Moore
Art by Brian Bolland
Published by DC Comics
What can be said about The Killing Joke that hasn’t already been said? It routinely pops up in various lists as one of the best Batman tales and it's very dark and somewhat disturbing. One of the key characters suffers a fate that had repercussions across the Bat universe, which remains in place. It includes a possible origin for the Joker, and Batman attempts to prevent one of them having to kill the other. All this and it’s only 48 pages long.
Oh, and Alan Moore hates it.
It’s long been out of print, which given all this is surprising, but as I already had a copy, news of the reprint didn’t bother me too much. Never mind the hardback cover and extra story, or that Brian Bolland had re-coloured it the way he wanted; I wasn’t going to let DC make me shell out again.
Then I found a display copy and saw the “flashbacks” had been redone in a muted grey with only one or two items in red, the shrimps from the bar scene, or the Red Hood’s, er, red hood whereas before the scenes were in a sickly yellow tint.
So I picked it up, enjoyed the story again, and then compared the difference in the colours between the new version and the original. What a difference. Gone are the yellows, which permeated the original version, and the whole thing in now toned down to a much more muted and naturalistic lighting effect, but where the colours are vivid, they are of a much more dramatic impact.
The new hardcover format is nice, and there’s also a well written Tim Sale foreword, and Bolland afterword.
Even the short story at the end “An Innocent Man” written and drawn by Bolland is quite chilling.
All in all, an excellent product. If you don’t own a copy of The Killing Joke, or just have the original version, pick this up. You’ll either enjoy a fine tale for the first time, or a much improved version of the same.
Last edited by Web of Fear on Sun Aug 24, 2008 10:34 pm; edited 2 times in total
In an interview I read, it's because he doesn't own it, and DC can do whatever they want with it without consulting him. Here's the excerpt
Quote:
P: Speaking of Brian Bolland, did you see he redid the colouring on Killing Joke?
AM: I didn’t because I had told DC never to send me anything again that wasn’t money, and I didn’t even know that there’d been a new version of The Killing Joke, and, after the way that I was treated, and continue to a certain extent to be treated…
P: I was just wondering if, I think he’d always said he was unhappy with the colouring work on it and he’d completely redone it. DC are still milking your back catalogue, and they were bringing out a hardback version…
AM: They just don’t send me them any more, and that’s fine by me. To a certain degree I’ve detached myself from all that stuff. I would be quite happy if I never heard the names of those books ever again.
P: I’m very sorry for bringing it up.
AM: I’m not saying anything about you, its because obviously I did write them, it’s just that they’re all owned by DC Comics, and DC stole them from me, much the same as they stole everything else that they own, so all of these toys with Alan Moore and Brian Bolland’s Killing Joke commemorative, which I’d only seen when I go into a shop; if they’d asked me I wouldn’t have had my name on those.
I’m quite happy with the work that I actually own, which means that ninety per cent of my work I have effectively disowned, which of course was painful, but it’s a small price to pay if it means that I have to have nothing to do with those people ever again. I think I might have signed a couple of the books when I down at the local Waterstone’s earlier on, but I didn’t even look at them then, I was doing a favour for the manager.
Great article. Lots to look forward to there for the coming year, that's for certain.
I certainly applaud what Alan Moore and Melinda Gebbie were trying to achieve, although it didn't really work for me. The set of hardbacks is a gorgeous collection though.
It's very difficult about these rights issues from back in the earlier years of comics. By today's standards these contracts would be considered unfair, and no one would sign them, but if that was the deal you were prepared to accept then, well you can't really expect companies to fall over themselves to undo something that made them a lot of money.
Of course, you might think that maintaining good relations with some of the best talent in the world so that they will continue to work for you, and not blacken your name to consumers and new creators entering the field might be worth more in the long run
It doesn't sound to me like he hates the work he did, though, just that he disowns it on principle.
The new Killing Joke is truly a lovely thing though. It makes it difficult to buy things where you know the creator is not happy/compensated...but I am weak and want the pretty things. _________________
Anyone who asks me for a comic recommendation will inevitably have me enthusing about both The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen and Bone within seconds.
So when I was in London the other day I picked up two things which interested me as a fan of both works, Jeff Smith: Bone and Beyond and Scarlet Traces. Here’s my musings on both.
Jeff Smith: Bone and Beyond
Various authors
Published by Wexner Center For The Arts
The Wexner Center in Ohio recently hosted a display of the same name as this book. As my chances of getting to the exhibition were always rather slim, I was pleased to read that the exhibition catalogue was available, so I got a copy off the shelf as soon as I saw it.
It’s a nicely presented hardback book, and a good companion volume to Dark Horse’s Art of Bone book. While the Art book contains lots of sketches and the like, it’s somewhat light on analysis of the 1,300 plus pages of dense story. This book is almost the polar opposite. Very little (if any) artwork I haven’t seen before, but lots of discussion about the storytelling and artwork in Bone, and a good look at the influences, particularly newspaper cartoon strips.
The main chunk of the book is a frank interview with Smith himself about his influences and crafting his magnum opus, which I found fascinating. Neil Gaiman offers a retrospective, while Scott McCould makes some prudent observations about the subtleties of the artwork.
What I did find a slight oddity in the book is a lengthy chapter about Carl Barks’ Uncle Scrooge stories (not something I’m familiar with). It traces how these influence the creation of the greedy Phoney Bone, as well as the dynamic of his relationship with his cousins Fone and Smiley. However, it also recounts quite of few of the duck’s adventures, and could have been shortened a bit. However, this is only a minor quibble, and I did gain some insight from this.
Nonetheless, I will certainly be adding this to my recommendations for those who want to know more about the origins of Bone.
Onto my second purchase.
Scarlet Traces HC
Written by Ian Edginton
Art by D’Israeli
Published by Dark Horse Comics
As a fan of H G Wells’ The War of the Worlds, Victorian crime stories as well as the LEOG, this seemed ideal. Set ten years after the Martian Invasion is over, England has recovered. Not only has it recovered, Britain is stronger than ever. Martian technology has been salvaged and mastered by the British, so now homes are heated by the heat ray, and cars and hansom cabs scuttle along on spider like legs. Britain uses the technological superiority to (rather ruthlessly) maintain the Empire.
When mutilated bodies start to wash up in the Thames, retired soldier Robert Autumn and his manservant Archie Currie are drawn into a conspiracy that leads to a dark secret at the heart of the Empire (don’t they aways). The story is slim, so to say more will give too much away.
The artwork is bold, clean and colourful. The project was originally going to be a web based animation that fell through, and that shows in the art. The adaptations of the Martian technology are ingenious (including some mini tripods cleaning London’s flying rats away).
The story is clever, and I like many of the concepts, but frankly moves too quickly. I read it all on the train on the way back home. This is my main gripe with the book – it’s too short. Everything moves along at a breakneck speed, and there seems like there’s hardly any time to get to know characters, or for those characters to develop. Perhaps other than the relative twist in the ending, the characters did seem a little clichéd.
Plus, the conspiracy seems to be unravelled with such relative ease that one wonders how the regular authorities missed it, or how it was covered up to begin with.
In fairness, there is another volume that takes up events after this story that I have yet to read. I probably will get this in due course, but I wasn’t so gripped by the story that I wanted to rush out and get hold of it immediately. This just wasn’t as satisfying a read as I had hoped for. _________________
Madame Mirage TPB
Written by Paul Dini
Art by Kenneth Rocafort
Published by Top Cow
Quick review here.
Picked this up from my LCS for a reasonable price and it’s quite good value for money. This collects 6 issues, an entire arc, with a complete cover gallery in a nicely presented trade.
It’s set in the future where meta humans have been banned, and the bad guys hire out their services to the highest bidder. That is until Madame Mirage shows up. She’s a buxom brunette (hardly surprising in a Top Cow comic) in anachronistic 40’s clothes, who’s capable of kicking serious bad guy ass.
It’s pretty clear that she’s out to take down the bad guys, and has more than a secret or two of her own to share as she works her way up the bad guys food chain.
There’s lots of action, and Mirage’s abilities make her an unpredictable opponent in fights. Rocafort’s artwork is nice, but somewhat typical of the Top Cow “house style” for want of a better phrase.
Overall, I found the story a bit slight, but nonetheless enjoyable.
Nothing outstanding, but nothing awful either. _________________
Last edited by Web of Fear on Fri Mar 20, 2009 9:21 pm; edited 1 time in total
Scarlet Traces: The Great Game HC
Written by Ian Edginton
Art by D’Israeli
Published by Dark Horse Comics
On a trip up to London for a really dull work related meeting, I wandered into the comic shop where I bought the first volume of this story and its Martian related hi-jinks, and decided that I may as well get the second volume and see what I made of it.
So here’s my not very anticipated sequel review, of a sequel I myself wasn’t much anticipating.
The first volume ends with the British Empire declaring war on the Martians, and this picks up the story 20 years later. The war has ground to a bloody standstill, and Britain is becoming politically isolated on Earth, as the death toll mounts and there is no end in sight. Other countries wish to withdraw from the Empire, so they can recall their troops. Yes, I know …..
Hero from volume one, gentleman adventurer Robert Autumn, reappears and commissions our plucky heroine, photographer Charlotte Hemming to go to Mars and find out some fundamental truths about the war. Like the first volume, there’s a nasty secret to unearth …
Once more the artwork is nice, and again there some creative uses of human adaptation of Martian technology, as well as some Dan Dare references and some superb Martian vistas. There’s even a couple of Doctor Who in jokes …
What let the first volume down for me were the speed of the plot, and the lack of character development. With one main character in this story I found that story aspect more satisfying. The pace also seemed more relaxed, but I still think it raced to something of a conclusion in the final chapter. Don't get me wrong, it's best that a story isn't padded, but this still seemed hurried.
Nor did I think that the political subtext about the Martian war was anything particularly insightful, or anything that hadn’t been attempted in other media.
Overall, the two volumes do make a good story, but not one that in all honesty I think will be high on my list of comics to reread anytime soon. _________________
Last edited by Web of Fear on Fri Mar 20, 2009 9:21 pm; edited 1 time in total
Published by Aspen
Written by Michael Turner and Bill O'Neil
Pencils by Michael Turner
While Top Cow’s Witchblade was the late Michael Turner breakout title, Fathom was his first creator owned title.
Fathom debuted in 1998 and I imagine was originally greenlit by Top Cow to capitalize on the success and popularity of Turner’s style on Witchblade, but Aspen Matthews (the main character) and her undersea world were taken by Turner and used as Aspen Comics flagship title when he went solo in 2003 (after some legal wrangling with Top Cow). The title was co written by Turner, who was no stranger to writing having assisted with the plotting of Witchblade.
This Definitive Volume could be Fathom: The Top Cow Years. It collects pretty much everything published under the Top Cow banner; issues 1 to 11, and extracts of 12, 13 and 14. In addition, there are some rarities; issues 0, 1/2, Aspen: The Extended Edition (launching Aspen Comics in 2003), cover galleries, swimsuit editions, trading cards, and a few sketches. Additionally there are introductions and forewords from Michael’s co collaborators. Phew!
From her introduction in the first nine issue story, Fathom may seem no different to the titles typical of the time. Aspen Matthews is a young, attractive, sassy brunette. She’s a marine biologist, surfer and a former Olympic swimmer – so there’s lots of opportunity to draw her in her swimwear. However, I don’t think you have to get too far into this to realize that this distinguishes itself quite nicely from other 90’s “bad girl” titles.
For starters, she’s not really a “bad girl”. The opening sequence shows Aspen’s first memory – appearing on a ship that’s been missing for 10 years. She wasn’t on the ship’s manifest. She feels a strange bond to the water, leading her to her chosen vocation and hobbies. Aspen is offered the chance to participate in a research project at the bottom of the sea, and discovers some startling truths.
There are two worlds, the one we know, and the one below – to quote Full Circle, the prophetic poem that runs thematically through the story. Humans aren’t the only people on the planet. The undersea world is also occupied. And these undersea dudes aren’t happy with what we’ve been pumping into their backyard, and they’ve decided enough is enough.
Of course, there are more than a few humans who know about this and have decided that a spot of pre-emptive action is required. And one of those humans is a US Navy Admiral with some serious hardware at his disposal.
So with the two sides poised, it really doesn’t help that due to a serious f**k up by a Navy pilot who disobeys orders, the research facility Aspen has newly arrived at is destroyed with the loss of all life – except Aspen.
It turns out that Aspen is in reality one of the underwater race (known as the Blue in Volume 2), though brought up by humans; child of two worlds (another theme of the poem). And various factions are after her – the enigmatic Cannon Hawke, the charismatic Killian, and the goofy Chance, the pilot who destroyed the research facility. Aspen becomes involved with all of them, and the mysterious Blue Sun.
Once all this is resolved there’s a second two part story, a light hearted tale as Aspen investigates strange sea creatures with the help (or quite possibly hindrance) of a schizophrenic seafarer and his bizarre ramshackle submarine. All good, silly fun.
The third story is extracts from the final three Top Cow issues. The original comics saw Aspen team up with Sara Pezzini, the wielder of the Witchblade and Lara Croft, everyone’s favourite Tomb Raider. Presumably for copyright reasons, the story has been reworked to remove both Sara and Lara, and it’s now Aspen on her own in the chilly Arctic waters. Perhaps a little disappointing it’s not the full story, but one has to be realistic about these things, and the reworked story does hold together quite nicely.
Finally there’s then the Aspen: Extended Edition story – effectively a short set up for Volume Two, which was published under the Aspen banner – seeing the introduction of Kiani and the Black, another undersea race.
Of course, what Michael Turner was most well known for was his artistic style, and that’s is on display in abundance in this volume, there are pages of creativity in the designs of the undersea people’s costumes and weaponry, bizarre sea monsters, human hardware, underwater vistas and tranquil ocean sunsets. It may be a cliché, but I do regard Michael Turner’s creative vision as being unique.
Then there are the ladies. Yes, they make look like they all have an eating disorder, but most of the men look like they spent all their waking time working out. Comic artwork has never been about photo realism, and for me anyway, the whole thing just looks so good on the page, especially with the fantastic colouring throughout, it’s never been something that I’ve been bothered by.
Credit also has to be given to the writing. The main story is really quite a complex tale, of discovery, shifting allegiances, complex morality and international tensions, and there’s a nice sense of humour at play in the short story. The pages are full of dialogue, and it’s good to see a comic writer, well, write. It was such a shame that Michael Turner passed away, as I would have loved to see what other worlds he had in mind in the years to come.
This is my favourite Turner work, and I’m glad to see it receive such top notch treatment. It is a fine tribute to the talents of Michael Turner, as both writer and artist. Of course, this wasn’t a one man show, and there were many other outstanding collaborators (got to mention the colours again) on the project, who all contribute to make this what it is, but from reading the forewords, it seems that this was Michael’s baby (and I hope I’m not out of place in say that).
For me, this certainly justifies the price tag, and there’s plenty to get to grips with, both to look at and to read.
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