Batman: The Killing Joke · 1988
Smile for the camera.
Brian Bolland’s Joker aims his camera straight at the reader. Trace the grinning close-up through sinister portraits, playful character swaps and self-referential tributes.
The origin pointBatman: The Killing Joke · Brian Bolland
The original cover
Batman: The Killing Joke
Brian Bolland’s Joker aims his camera straight at the reader. Trace the grinning close-up through sinister portraits, playful character swaps and self-referential tributes.
This catalog follows the original cover’s composition across published comics and announced editions. Trade dress, virgin, foil and sketch treatments are described in edition notes. Connecting sets identify their participating issues and panels.
Verified records have source support for the exact cover and target. Partial records retain attribution or edition gaps. Reprints, interior-scene homages, different targets and unresolved references are listed separately below.
Native 1600×2466 first-printing scan with green lettering and original DC bullet. No outer mat or photographic background. Natural print texture and intentional cream highlights preserved without recoloring. Brian Bolland cover art/colors are distinguished from John Higgins interior colors. A close-cropped Joker grins around a camera aimed at the reader, with one eye hidden by the lens.
Batman: The Killing Joke collection
Browse the lineage
- Homage entries
- 24
- Verified
- 20
- Qualified
- 4
Search by title, artist, publisher, character or edition. Entries may represent an individual panel or a documented connecting set; the count is not a count of unique complete panoramas.
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Research & releases · Reviewed October 21, 2026
New editions and open questions
No exact-target comic homage with a confirmed release after October 21, 2026 was located. Kolchak’s Editor’s Edition is a September 2026 publication with exact fulfillment day unconfirmed. MegaCon 2026 Batman/Deadpool foil repeats the 2025 drawing. The December 2026 Ben Oliver fine-art print follows a later anniversary slipcover rather than the 1988 frontal cover and is retained only as a related-art lead.
Undisclosed print quantities, ambiguous credits and conflicting edition dates remain identified as unknown. This catalog can grow as publishers, artists and collectors provide new evidence.
Reprints, interior-scene homages and references (4)
- Sink #1
Original-art reference, not a separately printed published variant. No publisher or artist announcement of a manufactured edition was located.
Research source ↗ - Batman: Three Jokers #3
Source combined main cover and 1:25 purple treatment incorrectly. Retained as a reference; Premium G Hawaiian Shirt & Camera is the separately cataloged exact edition.
Research source ↗ - Cheesecake #2
Art Pop Comic Expo July 2023 record retained as unverified reference. CCL supplies a sanitized placeholder, not the actual cover. Do not confuse with Silver Ray Gun Cheesecake #2 from November 2025.
Research source ↗ - Previews #230
November 2007 catalog; exact day unconfirmed. Reproduced art/merchandise reference, not a newly drawn cover homage.
Research source ↗
Research changes and source notes
- CL-BKJ-0001: Cover homage
Cover date October 21, 2003; GCD lists September 24 on-sale for the base issue. Exact variant distribution day remains unconfirmed.
- CL-BKJ-0002: Cover homage
DC confirms December 12, 2007 on-sale. Cover colors are credited to Brian Miller, distinct from interior-team shorthand.
- CL-BKJ-0003: Cover homage
March 5, 2008 on-sale corroborated by retailer and contemporary shipping list; May is the cover date. The 1:20 ratio is edition metadata, not a print quantity.
- CL-BKJ-0004: Cover homage
Apocalypse Comics exclusive, reported 1,000 copies by contemporary Transformers index. Camera identity is not resolved as a named Transformer.
- CL-BKJ-0005: Cover homage
Cover-specific Roux attribution corroborated by Key Collector; DC confirms November 12, 2008 on-sale. This is a looser visual adaptation, not an exact camera redraw.
- CL-BKJ-0006: Cover homage
March 2, 2011 on-sale corroborated by GCD and contemporary release review. Cover B uses Darkwing and a gun and is a distinct drawing, not a production treatment.
- CL-BKJ-0007: Cover homage
September 26, 2012 date retained from supplied exact listing. This is Wonderland (UPC73621143319000321), not Alice in Wonderland #3 from March 2012. Reflected woman identity awaits confirmation.
- CL-BKJ-0008: Cover homage
December 5, 2012 on-sale confirmed in GCD. Cover cast is not separately indexed; interior cast is not substituted for the depicted person.
- CL-BKJ-0009: Cover homage
Corrects supplied March2014 to confirmedFebruary19,2014 on-sale date. GCD edition-specific maincover credits BrunoBessadi pencils/inks, explicitly identifies KillingJoke homage and afterBolland signature. RetailerProductDEC131110 cleanmaincovermatches. Character is DeadEnd(Jack), a maskedblondprotagonist holding smartphone, not Joker. KenHaeser secondprinting/reorderMutiehomage is XForce1composition and NOT interchangeablewiththismaincover. InteriorcoloristGaetanGeorges is not asserted ascovercolorist absentexactcredit. Publisherlegacyproductpage currently returnsgenericpage; originalSquarespace review imagefiles are300×300 missingimage placeholders, rejected. Chosenretailernative566×849 fullcover has no exteriorborder.
- CL-BKJ-0010: Cover homage
Published February 18, 2015. The pictured phone-screen figure is included in character indexing.
- CL-BKJ-0011: Cover homage
ComicXposure exclusive. September 9, 2015 base-issue date retained; exclusive fulfillment date and cover-color credit remain unconfirmed. Symbiote host is not inferred.
- CL-BKJ-0012: Reference / related edition
Original-art reference, not a separately printed published variant. No publisher or artist announcement of a manufactured edition was located.
- CL-BKJ-0013: Cover homage
Forbidden Planet exclusive. August 7, 2019 base-issue date; exact exclusive fulfillment day unconfirmed. Image is a smaller native reference scan.
- CL-BKJ-0014: Cover homage
Trade dress, minimal dress and virgin versions share the drawing, with small dialogue/card differences. October 13, 2020 base-issue date; exact exclusive distribution date unconfirmed.
- CL-BKJ-0015: Reference / related edition
Source combined main cover and 1:25 purple treatment incorrectly. Retained as a reference; Premium G Hawaiian Shirt & Camera is the separately cataloged exact edition.
- CL-BKJ-0016: Cover homage
August 25, 2021. Frosty Mug variant and color-splash virgin grouped. GCD reports 200 copies for this edition; quantities should not be generalized across treatments.
- CL-BKJ-0017: Cover homage
Exact supplied Pooh Believers edition is listed May 2022; earlier Killing Joke editions and CGC records exist. Do not treat May 1 as a verified on-sale day or merge every earlier printing indiscriminately.
- CL-BKJ-0018: Cover homage
July 5, 2022 on-sale confirmed by DC and exact Cover C retailer listing.
- CL-BKJ-0019: Cover homage
August 23, 2022 on-sale. Publisher solicitation names Sook; GCD explicitly credits both Bolland and Sook. Card-stock and later signed editions reuse this artwork.
- CL-BKJ-0020: Reference / related edition
Art Pop Comic Expo July 2023 record retained as unverified reference. CCL supplies a sanitized placeholder, not the actual cover. Do not confuse with Silver Ray Gun Cheesecake #2 from November 2025.
- CL-BKJ-0021: Reference / related edition
November 2007 catalog; exact day unconfirmed. Reproduced art/merchandise reference, not a newly drawn cover homage.
- CL-BKJ-0022: Cover homage
Actual May 7, 2025 shipping list supersedes supplied April 30 date and older March solicitation. Cover E and holofoil flip treatment are one drawing. The exact pictured monster identity remains under review.
- CL-BKJ-0023: Cover homage
Retailer confirms C2E2 Snap Shot trade/virgin options and April 9, 2025 base-issue date. Exclusive event distribution and print quantity remain unconfirmed. The camera flash and reflected cast adapt the original composition. The supplied collector list attributes this to The Killing Joke; visual camera-motif support is retained, but no explicit creator target confirmation was located.
- CL-BKJ-0024: Cover homage
May 21, 2025 release confirmed by distributor order form and exact Cover C listing. Later Dynamic Forces signed copies reuse the drawing.
- CL-BKJ-0025: Cover homage
NYCC 2025 foil colors grouped. Captured Collectibles reports 300 copies for its Picture Perfect offering; do not apply that quantity to every color. A creator-exclusive orange foil is reported separately by collectors but not independently verified. October 15 is supplied listing metadata, not a verified day for all foils.
- CL-BKJ-0026: Cover homage
Base issue November 19, 2025; East Side lists November 24 exclusive distribution, while other retailers use the base date. Exact first exclusive day remains qualified. MegaCon 2026 foil uses the same drawing and is grouped. Retailer-reported quantities apply to named editions only.
- CL-BKJ-0027: Cover homage
Creator’s August 18, 2026 update identifies the homage and credits EV Cantada, Zac Atkinson and Tom Napolitano. IPG lists September 2026 publication for the 188-page Monstrous Books paperback, ISBN 9781946346360. Exact fulfillment day and print quantity are unconfirmed. Earlier 1,000-copy references concern the prior edition and are not applied here.
kolchak-comics.backerkit.com ↗
- CL-BKJ-0028: Cover homage
DC primary announcement confirms Fabok, Brad Anderson and October 27, 2020 release; Lunar exact edition 0820DC035, UPC 76194136015700351, $6.99, matches artwork. Premium G required a minimum retailer order of 50 copies, which is not a 1:50 incentive or total print run. One free compilation/contact cover was offered for ordering 50 copies of each of nine premium variants (450 total); that offer must not be assigned to G. December 2020 is the cover date. No identifiable Batman reflection appears in the camera lens.
- Killing Joke reprints, translated editions and January 2026 facsimile: Reference only
Reproduce the original artwork rather than adding a new homage composition.
- Ben Oliver Killing Joke Reprise fine-art print, December 2026: Related art; not comic gallery
Commercial art print references Bolland’s later anniversary slipcover rather than the 1988 frontal cover.
- Batgirl #41 Rafael Albuquerque Joker variant: Unpublished cover; not counted
Withdrawn before publication; camera-less thematic callback rather than a published edition in this catalog.
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