DC Finest: Batman: The Killing Joke and Other Stories

Alan Moore is perhaps the most acclaimed writer in the graphic story medium, having garnered countless awards for works such as Watchmen, V for Vendetta, Swamp Thing and Miracleman. He is also the mastermind behind the America’s Best Comics line, through which he has created (along with many talented illustrators) The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Promethea, Tom Strong, Tomorrow Stories and Top Ten.

Mike W. Barr has written for some of pop culture’s most enduring icons, including Sherlock Holmes, Ellery Queen, Doc Savage, the Shadow, Captain America, the Hulk, Batman, Star Trek, Star Wars, and The Simpsons. He also created some icons of his own, including the comic book series Camelot 3000, Batman and the Outsiders, The Maze Agency, and Mantra. He has written for the online sites Icebox and Stan Lee Media (and lived to tell the tale), and co-created the web comic Sorcerer of Fortune. In 2003 Barr published the Star Trek novel Gemini, and he was a contributor to the Trek e-novel Mere Anarchy, published in 2009. His book on science fiction comics of the Silver Age, The Silver Age Sci-Fi Companion, was published in 2007 and was followed by the encyclopedic The Wolverine Files in 2009. In 2010 his original science fiction novel Majician/51 was released by the Invisible College Press.

After making his professional debut in 1975, Brian Bolland perfected his clean-line style and meticulous attention to detail on a series of popular strips for the British comics magazine 2000 AD, most notably its signature feature Judge Dredd. He went on to illustrate the 12-issue maxiseries Camelot 3000 and Batman: The Killing Joke for DC before shifting his focus to work almost exclusively on cover illustrations. Since then, he has earned a reputation as one of the best cover artists in the industry, and his elegantly composed and beautifully rendered pieces have graced a host of titles, including Animal Man, Batman, The Flash, The Invisibles, Wonder Woman, and many more.