- Pencils
- Brian Bolland (credited)
- Colors
- ?
- Letters
- Richard Starkings
- Genre
- superhero
- Characters
- Batman [Bruce Wayne]; Joker
Image is from story’s last page, fifth panel. A green-toned image has been documented; the printing on which this image appeared is unknown. The eleventh printing displays a foil-debossed, purple image. The eighteenth printing’s cover is black, and the image is debossed without foil or added color.
- Script
- Alan Moore (credited)
- Pencils
- Brian Bolland (credited)
- Inks
- Brian Bolland (credited)
- Colors
- Brian Bolland (credited)
- Letters
- Richard Starkings (credited)
- First Line of Dialogue or Text
- There were these two guys in a lunatic asylum...
- Genre
- superhero
- Characters
- Batman; Commissioner Gordon; Barbara Gordon [Batgirl]; Harvey Bullock; Alfred Pennyworth; Joker (also as the Red Hood in flashback); Two-Face (cameo); Penguin (cameo)
- Synopsis
- Batman visits the Joker in Arkham Asylum only to discover he has been replaced by a double. As Batman attempts to track the villain down, the Joker shows up at the house of Commissioner Gordon where he promptly shoots Barbara and captures her father. The Joker takes Jim to a modified carnival where he tries to drive him mad (partially by showing him pictures of his naked and bleeding daughter). Batman arrives and starts beating on the Joker who attempts to reason with him in his own insane fashion. As things wrap up and the police arrive, the Joker finally tells Batman a joke that he gets.
- Reprints
- from Batman: The Killing Joke (DC, 1988 series) ([July] 1988) [recolored]
- in Batman: A Piada Mortal (Panini Brasil, 2009 series) (janeiro 2009)
- in Batman - The Killing Joke (Panini France, 2009 series) (août 2009)
- in Batman The Killing Joke (RW Uitgeverij, 2013 series) (2013)
- in Batman - Killing Joke (Urban Comics, 2014 series) (mars 2014)
- in Absolute Batman: The Killing Joke The 30th Anniversary Edition (DC, 2018 series) ([November] 2018)
- in DC Comics - A Lenda do Batman (Eaglemoss Collections, 2018 series) #5 - O Homem Que Ri e A Piada Mortal (2019)
- in Killing Joke édition limitée (Urban Comics, 2019 series) (septembre 2019)
- in Batman: The Killing Joke The Deluxe Edition (DC, 2019 series) ([November] 2019)
- in Killing Joke (Urban Comics, 2022 series) (août 2022)
Story tells a comprehensive origin of the Joker based on the story “The Man behind the Red Hood” from Detective Comics (DC, 1937 series) #168. The story remains controversial for the crippling of Barbara Gordon.
Originally colored by John Higgins, art for this edition was recolored and reconstructed by Brian Bolland.