*DC: One of the most influential one-shots of the 1980s, themselves a transformative decade for the comics medium is in our Batmania spotlight this week. The Killing Joke had humbler beginnings, having been intended originally just to be a regular Batman Annual. As the months crept on and it became evident illustrator Brian Bolland wasn’t going to get the job done in time, (shocked face), plans were altered and it became one of the earliest Prestige Format one-shots – and in so doing, gained a place in comics history. Alan Moore’s script explored and redefined the origin of the Joker, and kicked off a chain of controversial events which transformed Barbara Gordon, the then-retired Batgirl, into the covert intelmeister Oracle, a pivotal figure in the DC Universe. Bolland’s illustrations are superb; Alan Moore’s script is generally highly acclaimed, and the whole package is acknowledged as hugely significant in the ‘maturing’ of comics. This first printing copy is a superb NM-, with very little sign of age or having been read.
PICTURED: BATMAN: THE KILLING JOKE NM- £60 SOLD