10 Incredibly Dark Batman Moments To Haunt Your Dreams
4. The Killing Joke
From: "The Killing Joke" by Alan Moore & Brian Bolland. How do you solve a problem like Alan Moore? The man writes something as good as "The Killing Joke" and then all but disowns the thing. Of course, this has slightly less impact when you consider that he's also disowned every film adaptation of his comic works, every film adaptation of any comic work, anyone over or under the age of 40 who enjoys such works regardless of the medium, and any work from any time period from any artist that dares pack less of a thematic punch than Shakespeare himself. I digress. There is an obvious event, for those of you who have read "The Killing Joke", that stands out as the climactic tragedy of the story (the list isn't over yet). But the falling motion after this brutal event is laudable as a dark moment in its own right. On the final page of the story Batman has confronted the Joker, offering him rehabilitation, and the latter tells a winding and symbolic joke about two insane men. He laughs at the punchline and Batman, in one of the few times we see his stoic exterior crack, slowly begins to laugh as well. They each appear to take an awkward step toward each other, and then, as they seem to embrace, as their laughter moves between the thin pylons of falling rain... €the book ends. What happens? Is Batman hugging the Joker or is he killing him? Everyone has their own theories on the ending - there is an excellent one regarding a certain poison needle from earlier in the book - but the unsettling fact remains that none of these can ever be declared "correct". This kind of stuff bothers me, and I actually think that's the point. To paraphrase the King of Ambiguity Henry James, from a note on ambiguity in his works, such uncertainty leaves room for infinite possibilities, for things so dark and terrible they defy any attempt to explain them. The readers are forced to "think the evil", to make it for themselves, and thereby are only limited by their own minds. Perhaps this moment wouldn't make your cut, but personally the uncertainty presented at the end of this already soul-crushing tale is a perfect example of how truly twisted a comic book can get.
