You’re Wrong Morrison!!! Batman Doesn’t Kill the Joker in THE KILLING JOKE


So the most recent comic book buzz comes from a theory brought up by Grant Morrison in a recent podcast with Kevin Smith.  In the podcast, Morrison claimed that the famous conclusion to the classic Alan Moore story, The Killing Joke, is secretly about Batman murdering the Joker by snapping his neck, stating specifically:

“No one gets the end because Batman kills The Joker. That’s why it’s called The Killing Joke. The Joker tells the ‘Killing Joke’ at the end, Batman reaches out and breaks his neck, and that’s why the laughter stops and the light goes out, ’cause that was the last chance at crossing that bridge. And Alan Moore wrote the ultimate Batman/Joker story — he finished it.”

This story started to pick up significant steam with many people wondering whether or not this might have actually been Alan Moore’s original intention.  It would hardly be the first time Moore’s writing has taken on a more subtle context right?  Well, for all those who started to get excited about this fan theory, allow me to burst your bubble and state this as simply as possible.  No, Batman doesn’t kill Joker in the Killing Joke.  This was confirmed earlier yesterday by the letterer of The Killing Joke, Richard Starkings, who dismissed the theory on facebook as basically reading too much into it.

No.  They are laughing.  Batman is laughing so hard he leans on the Joker for support.  The End.

Brian described it to me that way when this craziness first came up

in 1986

For clarification, Starkings is referring to Brian Bollard, the artist who drew The Killing Joke.  So it looks like not only is the theory wrong, but it’s also not the first time it’s been brought up.  So I guess this theory is another to throw in the “Not true, but fun to think about” category of fan theories.  That being said, it’s actually disappointing that this theory was dismissed so quickly.  Thrown out there and torn down on the same day?  Come on, Starkings, at least give it a week for fans to get hopeful before you take that hope away.  It’s more fun that way!

SOURCE: Cosmic Book News