The Killing Joke is one of the most controversial Batman stories of all time, as it depicts the brutal marring and potential rape of Barbara Gordon, the Silver Age Batgirl. However, if you are able to look past the sexism in this story, its actually a brilliant character study of the Joker and his origin. Written by comic book legend Alan Moore in 1988, after the Crisis On Infinite Earths reboot, The Killing Joke served as the first pos-Crisis Joker origin. And to this day, it's considered to be one of the most influential Batman stories of all time. This story depicts the Joker as an engineer at a chemical plant named Jack* whose life-long dream was to become a stand-up comedian. So he quits his job and tries his luck at comedy only to fail miserably. Unable to support his pregnant wife, Jeannie, Jack agrees to help two criminals who are planning to rob the chemical factory where he used to work. However, during the planning of the crime, he is informed by the police that his wife died in an accident. Grief-ridden, he tries to back out of the heist, but his partners threaten and force him to continue with the plan. Because Jack is the inside man for the job, he is forced to take on the Red Hood persona. This leads to the appearance that he is the leader of the criminal outfit, thereby allowing the real leaders to escape if need be. As they enter the plant, the gang is caught by security guards, and the two ringleaders are killed in a shoot out. Batman then arrives on the scene and confronts Jack. While trying to escape, Jack jumps over the rail and into a vat of chemicals. He resurfaces in a Gotham reservoir, and upon doing so, he discovers that his skin is chalk white, his hear is bright green, and his lips are now ruby red. This causes him to have a mental break and go insane thus the birth of the Joker. *NOTE: Although Moore never names the Joker, in Batman: Gotham Knights #50-55 its revealed that his version of the Joker is named Jack.
Since childhood, Bryant has been an avid fan of superheroes, and he has been reading comic books since 2006. His full name is "George Bryant Lucas"; however, after enduring countless Darth Vader jokes, he has chosen to go by his middle name. Born and raised in the United States, Bryant is currently living with his lovely wife in the country side of Wiltshire County, UK. Bryant does suffer from a mild case of dyslexia; misspellings and homonyms are to be expected on occasion.
