Joker

If the Joker movie has you hungry for more dark and twisted Joker tales, these graphic novels are your best bet.

Batman: The Killing Joke<br><br> The end credits for Joker list artist Brian Bolland as inspiration. That's hardly a surprise, as Bolland illustrated Batman: The Killing Joke, one of the most famous Joker stories ever published. The Killing Joke is also the most significant example of a comic attempting to explore the Joker's murky origin story. <br><br> The Killing Joke chronicles a formative showdown between the Dark Knight and the Clown Prince of Crime, one that infamously resulted in Barbara Gordon being shot and paralyzed. But even as the two eternal enemies battle it out in the present, a series of flashbacks show who Joker was before his descent into madness. We see a struggling comedian and family man driven insane by the worst day imaginable, which isn't so different from how the movie handles Arthur Fleck's character arc.

The Dark Knight Returns<br><br> The Dark Knight Returns may well be the most popular Batman graphic novel in existence. It's certainly had a heavy influence on recent Batman movies like The Dark Knight Rises and Batman v Superman. And that influence carries over into the Joker movie, which features a scene directly inspired by the comic. <br><br> Written and drawn by Frank Miller, The Dark Knight Returns features an aging Bruce Wayne coming out of retirement and waging war on the criminals of a decaying Gotham City. And naturally, wherever Batman arises, Joke is never far behind. TDKR's bleak tone and visuals inspired countless Batman comics that followed, and it spawned several sequels (including the upcoming Dark Knight Returns: The Golden Child).

Joker<br><br> Conveniently debuting alongside 2008's The Dark Knight, Brian Azzarello and Lee Bermejo's graphic novel Joker presents what is quite possibly the bleakest take on Joker and Gotham City ever. In this story, Joker is released from Arkham and ventures back into Gotham's criminal underworld to rebuild his empire. Largely presented through the eyes of Joker's new chauffeur and confidant, Johnny Frost, this graphic novel downplays the superhero trappings of Gotham City in favor of painting Joker and his peers as gaudily dressed, emotionally unstable gangsters. <br><br> Tonally, you'll find no better companion to Joker the movie than Joker the graphic novel. It's also worth checking out Batman: Damned, a pseudo-sequel that's equally grim but more supernatural in nature. Damned, you may recall, was responsible for that infamous Bat-penis controversy in 2018.

Batman: Going Sane<br><br> Long-time DC creator J.M. DeMatteis is also credited as an inspiration during the end credits for Joker. While DeMatteis has explored Batman's world in a number of stories, we're assuming his work on Batman: Going Sane most directly influenced the movie. <br><br> Originally published in the monthly series Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight, Going Sane explores what happens after Joker seemingly kills Batman. With no arch-nemesis left to inspire his criminal rampages, Joker unhappily retires and takes up a new civilian identity as Joe Kerr. Obviously, that retirement is short-lived, but Going Sane offers a unique look at Joker's mindset and his co-dependent relationship with Batman.

Batman #23.1: The Joker<br><br> This standalone Batman comic from writer Adam Kubert and artist Andy Clarke offers another possible version of Joker's origin story. Here, Joker reminisces about his childhood and growing up under the tyrannical reign of his abusive Aunt Eunice. Hellbent on ridding her nephew of his attachment to a monkey puppet called Gaggy, Eunice went so far as to scrub his skin with bleach. In the present, Joker forms a fleeting attachment to a gorilla he names Jackanapes. <br><br> In terms of plot, there's not much crossover between this story and the Joker movie. But again, tonally, there's a very clear connection between the two.