(CBR) As if recent renewed debate about its ending weren”t enough to demonstrate that, after 25 years, “Batman: The Killing Joke” can still spur discussion, now new original artwork has surfaced indicating the scene depicting the torture of Barbara Gordon was initially far more graphic and sexualized.
A photo of the inked page (below, definitely NSFW) was tweeted Sunday by Bill Hynes, a former employee of Gosh! Comics in London, revealing a naked and bleeding Barbara among the montage of images shown to her father James Gordon. In the published comic, by Alan Moore and Brian Bolland, that shot is replaced by a close-up of Barbara”s face.
Bolland confirmed the artwork”s authenticity, writing on his blog, “Here”s a page I drew for “Killing Joke”. I drew what was in the script. That”s my job. I was asked to tone it down a bit. I don”t know how the person who posted it got this image.”
Sue of DC Women Kicking Ass notes, “This isn”t some thumbnail sketch. This is a final inked page. At least someone at DC had some sense to kill it. Because really, how can you claim a book doesn”t sexualize violence when you have stuff like that in print?”
Indeed, whether the Joker raped Barbara Gordon has been long debated, with some readers insisting the violence was physical and not necessarily sexual. This page now may cast the scene, and the already-controversial comic, in a slightly different light.
(via Bleeding Cool)