From: "The Killing Joke" by Alan Moore & Brian Bolland It might seem self-serving to include two entries from the same book, but each deserves the attention individually. Commissioner Jim Gordon has been absent from this list until now, but this moment from "The Killing Joke" makes up for all of that. He's a mainstay of the Batman mythos, an everlasting part of the story alongside Alfred, Robin, the Batcave, and the rest of it. He was also the best part of Frank Miller's "Year One", probably because he consistently showed how badass he could really be. As with any established mythos, it's the shaking up of the parts that makes for the most compelling reading, the sudden changing of the status-quo such that it can't be repaired - and the Joker certainly does just that. My summary will be brief, because you really should read it for yourself: after kidnapping, stripping, and torturing the Commissioner, the Joker pays his daughter Barbara Gordon - the former Batgirl - a visit. Jim Gordon is forced to see his daughter shot and crippled for life and is unable to do anything about it besides scream with rage and despair. It's brutal and it's hard to read. For a while DC started pasting a little box on the bottom-left corner of their issue covers that said "DC COMICS AREN'T JUST FOR KIDS!", and in reading a comic book like this, one wonders if they wouldn't have gone ahead and eradicated the "JUST" part. "The Joker Breaks Gordon" may be a bit misleading, because although we see Gordon dragged to the bottom of the pit of despair, he remains a steadfast rock on which Batman can rely. This event is horrific for the implications and for the way it all plays out in unflinching, all-too-real detail. But Gordon is more than a mainstay of the Batman mythos - very often, he is a mirror for the reader, trusting Batman against all authoritative decree, fighting to see the good in a city so enveloped by shadow. To see that character tortured both physically and emotionally is heartbreaking. To see him ultimately rise above it is the reason I read these books. Which haunting moments have been forgotten? Submit them in the comments below.
