Batman: The Killing Joke Trivia Quiz

Answer: He is afraid that, if their feud continues, he will kill the Joker, and he does not want murder on his hands

The morality of killing the Joker, as well as Batman's inflexible code against killing under any circumstances, has long been debated among Batman aficionados - and, apparently, the writers at DC Comics. Batman's refusal to countenance killing led to a split between Wonder Woman and the Dark Knight in 2005's cross-title story "Identity Crisis", but during 2003's "Hush" story arc, Batman had to be restrained from beating the Joker to death.

Answer: He doesn't; he murders the owners after coercing one of them to sign over the deed

The ensuing theatre of the grotesque that the Joker stages may be based on any number of cultural predecessors, including John Barth's short story "Lost in the Funhouse" or the films "Freaks" and "Carnival of Souls". More probably, Alan Moore may have just thought the amusement park to be a perfect habitat for the Clown Prince of Crime.

Answer: Comedian

The Joker was an engineer who struck out on his own to become an atrociously unsuccessful comic. Unable to get a gig and with a six-months-pregnant wife at home, he is the picture of pathos and desperation. This condition frames one of the central issues of the book: will absolutely extreme circumstances push absolutely anyone to madness?

Answer: Barbara (Batgirl) Gordon

As of this writing, nearly twenty years later, this character remained in a wheelchair. Though she has been thoroughly reinvented as the computer genius "Oracle" (best known for her role in the acclaimed title"Birds of Prey") and another character has assumed the role of Batgirl, Moore's bold move effectively terminated the run of one of the most recognizable figures in comics. Of course, it could be argued that Oracle has proven to be a much more versatile character than the Barbara Gordon Batgirl.

Answer: The Red Hood

That the Joker had previously been the Red Hood had been an established comic convention since the early 1950s. The details of who the Red Hood was, however, had been shrouded in mystery until the Alan Moore story. Moore's construction of the Red Hood as a revolving inhabitant of a mob-controlled mirrored helmet jibed very well with that character's seemingly impenetrable past.

Answer: All of these happened to him

Before the robbery, the Joker learned of his pregnant wife's death and the hospital's inability to save their son. Though he tried to back out of the robbery at that point, he was coerced into continuing under threat of death. After swimming to freedom through the caustic chemicals, the Joker saw his now-iconic features in a river.

This, the story imputes, was the proverbial last straw.

Answer: All of these

In a very narrow sense, the Joker's thesis actually is borne out by clinical research on post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Most of the literature on the subject does indicate that preexisting personality traits do not predispose a person to mental illness following a stressful event; a much stronger correlation can be drawn between the incidence of PTSD and the perceived imminence of death.

However, though it may be true that "anyone" can get PTSD, this condition should not be confused with the sort of homicidal psychosis exhibited by the Joker. (I knew that BA in Psychology would come in handy one day.)

Answer: False

The Joker never shares his story with anyone, though years later, again during the "Hush" storyline, it is revealed that the Riddler witnessed at least part of the Joker's tribulation. In a semantic twist, author Alan Moore even leaves open the possibility that the whole thing never happened.

As the Joker raves: "Sometimes I remember it one way, sometimes another. If I'm going to have a past, I prefer it to be multiple choice."

Answer: False

Gordon does cry when Batman finds him, but he regains his composure very quickly and tells Batman to forget him and go after the Joker. Gordon goes so far as to loudly admonish Batman to bring the Joker in "by the book" in order to "show him that our way works".

Answer: He chuckles, then ends up laughing heartily

The joke goes like this: two guys in a lunatic asylum decide they want to escape, so one night they sneak out of their cells and get to the roof. One of the guys jumps to freedom to the rooftop across from the asylum, but the other guy hesitates, fearing that he won't make it. "Hey, I've got an idea!" says the first guy. "I'll shine my flashlight across the gap, and you can walk across the beam!" "What do you think I am, crazy?" replies the second guy, "You'd turn the flashlight off when I was halfway across!"

This is one of the most cryptic endings in the history of graphic novels. Though Moore has downplayed the story as lacking "real human importance", it is difficult to escape some examination of the human condition as one sees Batman enjoy a joke with an enemy who has just brutalized two of his closest friends. One possible interpretation is that Batman realizes that the Joker is beyond rehabilitation and that the only compassion he can appreciate is laughter. More cynically, according to Wikipedia at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batman:_The_Killing_Joke, the joke is an allegory of the relationship between Batman and the Joker. Batman is the first inmate, offering the seemingly impossible: redemption and a life free of crime. The Joker is the second inmate, who recognizes that Batman's proposition is crazy, albeit in a sick, twisted trick of perception. The idea that Batman, noble as he may be, is not mentally stable (which, considering we are talking about a man who dresses as a bat to fight crime after seeing his parents murdered, is not out of the question) would become a leitmotif in Batman stories for years to come. In addition to the crippling of a major character, Moore's questioning of superheroism's basic sanity (and that of Batman in particular) arguably changed the way comic books would be conceived ever after.