Graphic Novels

The Dark Knight Rises is hitting UK cinemas on 20th July, and I for one can't wait. Watching Christopher Nolan's films, it's almost possible to forget Batman started in comics because they're so complete and self-contained.

So while we're on the topic of graphic novels (kind of. This segue was a lot less awkward in my head, I swear), here's three of my favourites.

Watchmen - Alan Moore and David Gibbons

The superheroes are ordinary people, susceptible to pride and evil just like the rest of us. The film was great, but there's no beating the original. This is a tale with a painfully poignant message: humanity is incurably rotten. People commit terrible crimes everyday, from murder all the way down to simply telling a lie. Even the ending is satisfyingly bleak.

V For Vendetta - Alan Moore and David Lloyd

If I'm being honest, this is one of very few books where I preferred the film adaptation. I thought Hugo Weaving and Natalie Portman brought humanity to two very complex roles.

But there's no dismissing the genius of the original - this is not a book to be skipped over. And there's plenty of new material for those who have seen the movie; the ending is completely different. It came as a huge surprise to me!

Batman: The Killing Joke by Alan Moore and Brian Bolland

I fell, as Tim Burton says he did, completely in love with this book. It's a curious tale; an origin story for the Joker. The author himself says it is not the origin story, but one that the Joker has convinced himself could be true. It gives him some much-needed humanity, thankfully, but is to be taken with a pinch of salt. It also brings us Barbara Gordon, son of the Commissioner and an unfortunate victim, as any fan of the old comics will know.

This is so well written and drawn, and now it's been recoloured so it looks even more fantastic than it did originally. The flashbacks are black and white with just a touch of yellow in each panel, darkening gradually to red and adding a sense of menace.

I knew before writing this post which books I wanted to cover - it's not until I finished, however, that I realised they were all written by Alan Moore. Whoops! Oh well, he's clearly a genius, and I'm happy to tell people that.