Merciless: The Rise of Ming

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1606 ... ref=snp_dp

That's the best title I've seen in ages

I'll be having that methinks...

Batman - Killing Joke

Spoilers for those who haven't read it in the last 25 years.

I recently came across an online article concerning this well-known Graphic Novel and in particular its ending. The author was talking about a comics podcast featuring Grant Morrison who said that Batman did indeed kill the Joker at the end of Killing Joke and that no-one at DC had noticed.

Well nor had I.

Here's the final page:



What Morrison said was :



Now I'd never thought that. It seemed to me that Alan Moore wanted a way of simply 'fading to black' in a graphic way just as he used in Watchmen. So I'm interested in whether any comic book readers here interpreted things the way Morrison did. Once you take his idea on board it is quite persuasive.




Incidentally Morrison is wrong and here's why.

His hands weren't near his neck for one thing, and the cops would be after Bats for another.

I think the cops would turn a blind eye to Batman snuffing out the Joker. Commissioner Gordon might not though even after what happened to his daughter...

The Joker has been nowhere near that level of menace since IMO.

I don't go for it. Batman's hands are plainly on Joker's chest not round his neck.I appreciate the point that the laughter stops abruptly but that's all there is to suggest it. In the last frame with only the shoes Joker is plainly still on his feet. When (spoiler) Batman does finally kill Joker in 'Dark Knight Returns' it's not because the Joker has passed some rubicon, it's because Batman realises he's getting too old and soon he won't be able to protect Gotham from him. Batman knows it's effectively the end of the line for both of them. Killing joker is an act of desperation, not vengeance.

It's a nice line to go with the title and maybe if Moore believes it it must be the case by definition because it's his story after all. But dramatically it doesn't really work. But given Morrison had nothing to do with it as far as I know, it's just a theory on his part.

Also, Morrison's a pretentious dick

The podcast interview with Grant Morrison turned out to be quite good. Hearing him speak in his native Scottish accent removes much of the pretentiousness you'd expect to have to suffer. He's starting a new Wonder Woman series and his thoughts behind the character are a bit off the wall but I might be interested enough to take a look. If anyone's interested you can get the podcast here.

Others in the series include earlier interviews with Morrison as well as Jim Lee and many others. I'll report back when I've listened to them.

Cheers for that, I'll give it a go.

I've now listened to the two earlier Morrison interviews and they are really good. You get to hear how his early life and first readings of comics shaped who he is, how he got into comics professionally and why he loves Batman so much. There are some great anecdotes too. Kevin Smith really grovels before Morrison though, to the point of embarrassment. Well worth a listen.

Part 1 here.
Part 2 here.

Cheers! Morrison has a book on similar lines IIRC, Gods Among Us or something.

I've now listened to the two Jim Lee podcasts as they are worth a listen if you're familiar with his work, though not as amusing as the Morrison ones. I thought I did a lot of comic artwork when I was young but Jim went about it with a ferocious passion. Hear him describe how he designed the tread pattern on Batman's boots....it gets that nerdy!

From The Producer Of SPIDER-MAN: TURN OFF THE DARK Comes THE MARVEL EXPERIENCE!!

http://www.aintitcool.com/node/63803

@ April, though I love the Turtles in that pic, it's rare to see promo materials that try something a bit different like that.

#WheresSerenity?

http://www.darkhorse.com/Blog/1460/wheresserenity