Posted in: Batman, Comics, DC Comics | Tagged: Alan Moore, Avant Garde Edition, brian bolland, killing joke
Batman: The Killing Joke Gets A Very Expensive Black-And-White Version
Batman: The Killing Joke by Alan Moore and Brian Bolland gets a very expensive black-and-white Noir Edition as well
Article Summary
- Batman: The Killing Joke Noir Edition is an officially licensed fine press release limited to just 47 signed copies.
- This black-and-white Batman: The Killing Joke Noir Edition is letterpress-printed on archival cotton paper by hand.
- Each volume features goatskin binding, a new Brian Bolland introduction, plus bespoke extras and a clamshell case.
- Collectors can also order a custom Arkham Case, a padded concrete-resin housing with locking metal cell door.
I previously scooped the world on Bleeding Cool about the existence of the Batman: The Killing Joke Avant-Garde fine art edition, with only 47 copies worldwide, metallic paper, aluminium covers, hand-bound by Argent Comics in Croatia, signed by Brian Bolland, and using both Bolland’s and the original John Higgins colour files, held in a recreated camera and camera case to mirror the comic book all for a mere $11,750 in your hands. Pretty little baby….
I also said they planned a “Noir Edition variant” printed letterpress on cotton paper. And now that is coming to pass as well. Batman: The Killing Joke is an officially licensed fine press comic book: letterpress-printed on 100% cotton mould-made paper, sewn and bound by hand in goatskin, and limited to 47 numbered copies, each hand-signed by Brian Bolland. Again, strictly limited to 47 numbered copies for sale, the edition is letterpress-printed and hand-bound to the standards of classical bookmaking. Applications to purchase can be made here… though after spending as much money on a comic book as this, you may need a padded cell for yourself.
Dino Šertović
Dino Šertović
Dino Šertović
Dino Šertović
The Noir Edition draws from the 2016 black-and-white edition of Batman: The Killing Joke by Alan Moore and Brian Bolland. Every page is printed on a Heidelberg cylinder press onto 300gsm archival 100% cotton Hahnemühle mould-made paper, creating a tactile relief that allows the artwork to be felt as well as seen. The volumes are hand-sewn and bound at Aurelian Hands, Pigment Collective’s in-house atelier in Zagreb, using the finest goatskin leather on both the exterior and interior of the boards, with extensive foil stamping. Handmade marbled endpapers provide the sole splash of red in an otherwise monochrome object.
Each copy includes a newly written introduction by the original artist, Brian Bolland, and is personally hand-signed by him. Additional features comprise a detachable letterpress-printed playing card (produced in eight colour passes) that depicts Batman and the Joker sharing a single face, one upright, one inverted, a letterpress bookmark modelled on carnival tickets from the story, and a clamshell case lined with clinically white padding reminiscent of a padded cell.
Only 47 copies will be offered for sale, a number chosen because it is the atomic number of silver (argentum), the element that inspired the imprint’s name. Five additional archive copies, clearly distinguished from the commercial edition, will be produced for internal use by DC Comics and Argent Comics and will not be sold. The project is published under official license from DC Comics.
Collectors seeking a more elaborate (and more expensive) presentation may commission the optional Arkham Case, a concrete-resin housing fitted with a functional metal cell door, complex lock, and two keys. The interior is fully padded; the reverse features the Joker’s line about madness as “the emergency exit” rendered as graffiti. Each Arkham Case is numbered to match its accompanying book and is made only to order.
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