BOOK REVIEW

A portrait of the Joker as a chilling villain resurfaces as a 1988 graphic novel is reissued in anticipation of a new Batman movie.

THE recent death of Heath Ledger called attention to the fact that his final completed role, as the Joker in the upcoming Batman film, "The Dark Knight," is a dark interpretation -- a far cry from the amused, ironic figure Jack Nicholson played in 1989. Ledger, however, is hardly the first to explore the character's psychotic side. As we see in a deluxe reissue of the 1988 graphic novel "The Killing Joke" (DC Comics: 64 pp., $17.99) -- timed to anticipate the movie -- Alan Moore and Brian Bolland imagined a chilling villain whose skeletal grin and appetite for sadism are definitely not for children (nor some adults).

"The Killing Joke" retells the Joker's origins somewhat faithfully (his start as a failed comedian and small-time crook who takes a skin-changing plunge in a vat of chemicals). But Moore and Bolland's story also features a horrific vendetta against Gotham City Police Commissioner Gordon that is marked by unspeakable acts committed against his daughter, Barbara. About this, Bolland writes in an afterword: "I must admit I had to grit my teeth a couple times during the drawing of it."

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There's something about Batman -- as vigilante, as avenger -- that pulls storytellers into lurid depths. "The Killing Joke" goes deeper than most in exploring the darkness of this contemporary passion play.

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Nick Owchar