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After the surprising success of my Dark Knight Returns Fanfix, several people asked me if I'd tackle The Killing Joke and I saw that somebody else had beaten me to it. I watched it and, with all due respect, there's several choices the faneditor made that I don't agree with. So I decided to create my own version.
It was a more difficult project than I originally thought it would be, as the graphic novel is definitely made to be read, as each brilliant page is presented to the reader as a whole and not a series of sequential images (although it's certainly that as well). Therefore adapting it in sequential order needed some creative editing which sometimes isn't literally faithful to the comic but a "true" adaptation of the story and its themes.
EDITS LIST:
- Replaced the godawful Warner Bros Animation logo with the much nicer one from Dark Knight Returns.
- Cut the first half hour as it's pure invention and extrapolation from the graphic novel and even offending (Batgirl has an affair with Batman??).
- Kept a single shot of the rain on the ground as this is how the graphic novel actually begins and ends but it's inexplicably missing at the "real beginning" of this adaptation which is at the 30 minutes 56 seconds mark. that entire 30 minutes is removed from the edit as it isn't in the graphic novel.
- Added a very light rain effect when Batman arrives at Arkham Asylum, the way it looks like in the graphic novel.
- Spruced up the bat mobile engine with a race car engine. It's the bat mobile, not a Toyota Camry.
- Turned down the saturation on the flashback scenes to match the graphic novel.
- Cut the jazz music during the Joker flashback scene when he explains he's a failure to his pregnant wife. Why is relaxing smooth jazz playing? Because that's what you do in a cartoon, you MUST have music everywhere. I replaced the jazz with noise from the street making it even more clear that he lives in a shit apartment in a shit part of town.
- Why did they remove the beautiful Alan Moore transitions from the graphic novel? How difficult would it have been to follow the book? Sadly, this can't be fixed but I did find a nice transition from flashback Joker to carnival Joker to Barbara in the hospital.
- Removed the doctor pricking Barbara with a needle to check her sensitivity while she's sleeping. That is not how medicine works.
- Removed the jazzy music in the shitty bar / restaurant.
- Made a fade transition from the Joker's wife's death to tortured Gordon. like all the other transitions. This transition also fixes the sequence of events that they changed for the adaptation for some reason.
- Removed the entire judge wig sequence as it's not in the graphic novel. It also gives voices and opinions to Joker's lackeys which isn't in the graphic novel either.
- Removed most of the music during the singing Joker sequence and left it as an echo. The sequence works in the graphic novel because we don't hear the music, we pay attention to the lyrics and the point that the Joker is trying to make. However in the context of moving images and sounds, it feels like a Disney musical number. By removing the music and leaving just an echo of it, it lessens the misplaced humor and reinstates the scene as truly horrifying and reinforces the Joker as a megalomaniac.
- Removed Batman saying "I'm gonna count to ten - one, nine. Is he scolding a child? My mom used to do that. Also, it’s not in the graphic novel.
- Removed Batman asking thug to swear to him instead of god. Why would Batman ask this?? Removed most of the dialog but left just enough to let the audience know that Batman is looking for information on the Joker’s whereabouts. The scene is silent in the graphic novel but in the adaptation it just appears as if Batman is randomly beating up thugs. The dialog I left in makes Batman's investigation clear.
- Reconstructed the music and sound effects for the entire Batman pummeling for clues sequence.
- Removed night club mob boss talking to Batman. You don't say "You done?" to Batman beating up your thugs. Also, not in the graphic novel. Also removed the rest of the dialog, just like in the graphic novel.
- Removed the dialog between Batman and the prostitutes. Here it’s a full scene, in the graphic novel it’s a single panel without dialog.
- After Batman receives the circus tickets, changed the transition from a fade in from black to a hard cut to Gordon point of view in the roller coaster car.
- Removed establishing shot of the factory and made a hard cut after Joker says "Time to reflect upon life and all its random uncontrollability" to flashback Joker reflecting on the factory fence.
- Added a glass distortion effect to the Red Hood's point of view to further limit flashback Joker's ability to see in a similar way to the graphic novel.
- Created a new "Alan Moore transition" from Joker laughing maniacally after falling into the vat to Batman's head.
- Deleted Batman's confrontation with Joker's thugs. He meets the Joker right away, just like in the Graphic novel.
- Deleted Batman's fight with the bat midgets. He seemingly kills two of them in the spiked pit, but Batman doesn't kill. Also, not in the novel.
- Deleted Joker's line: "By clinging to reality, you're denying the reality of the situation.". It's clumsy and not in the novel.
- Added police sirens as Batman stated they were on their way, and they do come in the graphic novel as the camera pans down.
- Added back Alan Moore’s name in the credits. He asked for them to be removed but he might appreciate this fanedit. Although he has stated that the story is too violent and that the best Batman adaptation was the 1960s Adam West version. Go figure. Alan Moore is a mad man.
It was a more difficult project than I originally thought it would be, as the graphic novel is definitely made to be read, as each brilliant page is presented to the reader as a whole and not a series of sequential images (although it's certainly that as well). Therefore adapting it in sequential order needed some creative editing which sometimes isn't literally faithful to the comic but a "true" adaptation of the story and its themes.
EDITS LIST:
- Replaced the godawful Warner Bros Animation logo with the much nicer one from Dark Knight Returns.
- Cut the first half hour as it's pure invention and extrapolation from the graphic novel and even offending (Batgirl has an affair with Batman??).
- Kept a single shot of the rain on the ground as this is how the graphic novel actually begins and ends but it's inexplicably missing at the "real beginning" of this adaptation which is at the 30 minutes 56 seconds mark. that entire 30 minutes is removed from the edit as it isn't in the graphic novel.
- Added a very light rain effect when Batman arrives at Arkham Asylum, the way it looks like in the graphic novel.
- Spruced up the bat mobile engine with a race car engine. It's the bat mobile, not a Toyota Camry.
- Turned down the saturation on the flashback scenes to match the graphic novel.
- Cut the jazz music during the Joker flashback scene when he explains he's a failure to his pregnant wife. Why is relaxing smooth jazz playing? Because that's what you do in a cartoon, you MUST have music everywhere. I replaced the jazz with noise from the street making it even more clear that he lives in a shit apartment in a shit part of town.
- Why did they remove the beautiful Alan Moore transitions from the graphic novel? How difficult would it have been to follow the book? Sadly, this can't be fixed but I did find a nice transition from flashback Joker to carnival Joker to Barbara in the hospital.
- Removed the doctor pricking Barbara with a needle to check her sensitivity while she's sleeping. That is not how medicine works.
- Removed the jazzy music in the shitty bar / restaurant.
- Made a fade transition from the Joker's wife's death to tortured Gordon. like all the other transitions. This transition also fixes the sequence of events that they changed for the adaptation for some reason.
- Removed the entire judge wig sequence as it's not in the graphic novel. It also gives voices and opinions to Joker's lackeys which isn't in the graphic novel either.
- Removed most of the music during the singing Joker sequence and left it as an echo. The sequence works in the graphic novel because we don't hear the music, we pay attention to the lyrics and the point that the Joker is trying to make. However in the context of moving images and sounds, it feels like a Disney musical number. By removing the music and leaving just an echo of it, it lessens the misplaced humor and reinstates the scene as truly horrifying and reinforces the Joker as a megalomaniac.
- Removed Batman saying "I'm gonna count to ten - one, nine. Is he scolding a child? My mom used to do that. Also, it’s not in the graphic novel.
- Removed Batman asking thug to swear to him instead of god. Why would Batman ask this?? Removed most of the dialog but left just enough to let the audience know that Batman is looking for information on the Joker’s whereabouts. The scene is silent in the graphic novel but in the adaptation it just appears as if Batman is randomly beating up thugs. The dialog I left in makes Batman's investigation clear.
- Reconstructed the music and sound effects for the entire Batman pummeling for clues sequence.
- Removed night club mob boss talking to Batman. You don't say "You done?" to Batman beating up your thugs. Also, not in the graphic novel. Also removed the rest of the dialog, just like in the graphic novel.
- Removed the dialog between Batman and the prostitutes. Here it’s a full scene, in the graphic novel it’s a single panel without dialog.
- After Batman receives the circus tickets, changed the transition from a fade in from black to a hard cut to Gordon point of view in the roller coaster car.
- Removed establishing shot of the factory and made a hard cut after Joker says "Time to reflect upon life and all its random uncontrollability" to flashback Joker reflecting on the factory fence.
- Added a glass distortion effect to the Red Hood's point of view to further limit flashback Joker's ability to see in a similar way to the graphic novel.
- Created a new "Alan Moore transition" from Joker laughing maniacally after falling into the vat to Batman's head.
- Deleted Batman's confrontation with Joker's thugs. He meets the Joker right away, just like in the Graphic novel.
- Deleted Batman's fight with the bat midgets. He seemingly kills two of them in the spiked pit, but Batman doesn't kill. Also, not in the novel.
- Deleted Joker's line: "By clinging to reality, you're denying the reality of the situation.". It's clumsy and not in the novel.
- Added police sirens as Batman stated they were on their way, and they do come in the graphic novel as the camera pans down.
- Added back Alan Moore’s name in the credits. He asked for them to be removed but he might appreciate this fanedit. Although he has stated that the story is too violent and that the best Batman adaptation was the 1960s Adam West version. Go figure. Alan Moore is a mad man.
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