Comic Book references in movies Part VI: 'The Dark Knight'

Every writer of the Batman movies had either an extensive prior knowledge of the Batman comic books or did an extensive research before writing the script. Each and every one of the theatrical Batman movies has numerous subtle and not so subtle nods and references to the comic books and reveals an impressive knowledge of the comic book back catalog.
One of the last posts focused on differences and deviations from the comic books from each movie, listing the number of things which were changed to fit the story more and serve it better (http://gothamalleys.blogspot.com/2011/03/list-of-changes-in-movies.html). This time we'll focus on all the references and similarities to showcase the writers' knowledge of the Batman stories and to point out what was taken from the comics

THE DARK KNIGHT

The Dark Knight continues Batman Begins' tradition of drawing primarily and heavily from the graphic novels, one shots and limited series' of the late 1980's and 1990's, but this time the writers also went all the way back to the roots, to the earliest issues of the Batman comic book. In addition to the same sources Batman Begins drew, some of the cited influences for The Dark Knight are the first two issues of Batman and The Killing Joke. To read more about this particular portrayal of Joker check http://gothamalleys.blogspot.com/2010/09/complete-history-of-joker.html

1. Disguised Joker robs a bank and when he's about to leave he reveals his identity. The same happens in 1942's Batman #9

It's not a comic book reference, but the mask Joker is wearing is very reminiscent of the mask Joker was wearing in the 1966 TV show in an episode called "The Joker is Wild"

2. In the 1970's Bruce moved into a penthouse 

3. And had an underground bunker in the city that served as a secondary batcave

4. Very often during the late 80's Batman was depicted as having scars and bruises after his nightly outings

5. Batman, Harvey Dent and Commissioner Gordon are shown as a powerful, united and uncorrupted trio. They all meet together on the rooftop next to the bat signal. This, as well as the "I believe in Harvey Dent" line, comes from 1999's The Long Halloween

Batman disappears and Dent is surprised. Gordon says "He does that". This also comes from The Long Halloween

6. Since Silver Age on, Batman was freely allowed to witness the crime scenes and have a full access on the site

7. The idea of a dead Batman impostor comes from two different sources. One is 1978's Detective Comics #476, and the other one is 1999's Batman: Dark Victory where victims were hung by a villain called the Hangman who used to pin his identity on them

And perhaps 1981's Detective Comics # 504 was also an influence

8. The term "squealer" and the idea of cut faces smeared with lipstick most likely comes from 2001's Gotham Noir

9. In the Modern Age, Joker has been most often depicted as having a haggard and unkempt hair. He was also depicted as a young man in The Killing Joke

Also, while the Modern Age depicted Joker as having an inhumanly large smile, the idea of the frozen smile which was there since the character's inception through the Bronze Age was starting to get toned down eventually disappearing completely

10. Joker is known to leave his card

11. Joker tells multiple versions of his past. The preference of having a choice comes from The Killing Joke

12. However, what he says is a lie. Alan Moore confirmed the flashbacks in The Killing Joke to be the canon story that doesn't contradict the established canon, which brings us to another influence. In 1999's Batman: Mad Love, the story about the abusive father was a lie told to gain sympathy from Harlene Quinzel. The second story about an unhappy wife is influenced by The Killing Joke

As Joker said himself, he's a liar

13. Batman often traveled oversees to apprehend criminals (Panel from 1990's Detective Comics #620 and #590)

 

14. Batman often left notes for cops stuck to the tied criminals (panel from 1990's Detective Comics #615)

15. Joker announces his next move on TV. (Panel from 1977's Detective Comics #469)

16.  Batman often used some help from his computer to select suspects (panel from Detective Comics #629 and #618)

17. Harking back to Batman #1, Joker dresses up as a cop to get to his victim, at the same time his "smile" still gives away the character

18. In  The Long Halloween Dent pretends to be killed in order to then return later as a part of strategy to outwit the enemy. That's what Gordon did in the movie

19. Batman's known to scare thugs with dropping them from small heights. Panel from Batman #237

20. One of the goons tries to take off Batman's booby trapped mask. This happened in 2003's Batman #609

21. Even when in jail, Joker knows he won't be there for long. Also, his identity remains a secret and there's no record of him at all

22. The scene when Batman loses his temper over Joker was inspired by the scene with the decoy from The Killing Joke

23. While Two Face origins where always depicted as being caused by Moroni's vial of acid, Dent became Two Face for the second time because of an explosion in 1954's Batman #81

24. Two Face's scarred side is depicted as bold in The Long Halloween

25. Joker talks about his relationship with Batman and how he doesn't want to kill him. It was restated few times, and just like in the movie, despite what Joker says, he has every intention of killing Batman afterwards

26. Batman tend to break when failing in saving someone's life. Alfred is always there for moral support (panel comes from 1991's Legends of the Dark Knight #16)

27. The idea of hostages disguised as Joker's men or Joker comes from 2000's Batman #754

28. Joker using knives trying to stab Batman and then hitting him with a plank comes from The Killing Joke

29. Batman uses the sonar eyes in his cowl. (Panel from 2006's Batman #647)

30. Joker is trying to prove that under pressure everyone will become homicidal lunatic

31. Joker falls to his death yet is laughing. (Panel from Joker #4)

32. In Batman #1, Batman saves Joker from falling to his death

33. In 1986's Batman:Year One, Gordon's family is kidnapped and his son is saved from the fall by Batman

Special acknowledgment to fellow Batman historians BatmAngelus and SilverNemesis