The short answer
No. Joker (2019) is not based on a comic book. Warner Bros. and DC presented it as an original story written for the screen by Todd Phillips and Scott Silver, with Joaquin Phoenix playing a character who becomes the Joker but who does not follow any published origin. If your goal is to buy the printed material closest to the film, two books cover almost everything the movie borrows: Batman: The Killing Joke by Alan Moore and Brian Bolland, and Batman: The Man Who Laughs by Ed Brubaker and Doug Mahnke. Buy those two before you buy anything else marketed as a "Joker movie comic," because most of that shelf is reprint packaging rather than new material.
What the film borrows and what it invents
The clearest debt is to The Killing Joke, published in 1988. The film takes the idea of a failed comedian pushed toward violence by a bad day, and it takes a talk show as the stage for a public breakdown. It does not take the story. Barbara Gordon, the carnival, and the chemical plant climax are absent. The Man Who Laughs, a 2005 one-shot, supplies the notion of a criminal who treats his crimes as performance, and it is the book most often cited as the first meeting between Batman and the Joker in modern continuity. Phillips has described the screenplay as a character study built from outside continuity, closer to Taxi Driver and The King of Comedy than to any DC arc. The 2024 sequel, Joker: Folie à Deux, is also an original screenplay, so nothing on the comic rack is a direct tie-in to either film.
What to look for when you buy the source books
- Creative team on the cover. The Killing Joke should name Alan Moore as writer and Brian Bolland as artist. The Man Who Laughs should name Ed Brubaker as writer and Doug Mahnke as penciller.
- Format. The Killing Joke exists as a slim hardcover, a trade paperback, a deluxe edition, and an absolute edition. The interiors are the same story in all of them. Pick the format you will actually read, not the thickest one.
- Printing and era. Later printings of the trade paperback correct the coloring that Bolland reworked for the 2008 edition. If you care about that detail, ask the seller which printing is in hand.
- Condition for older copies. Single issues of The Man Who Laughs from 2005 are thin and easy to crease. Check spine stress, corner blunting, and whether the copy still has its original bag and board.
- Language and region. Translated editions carry the same story with different lettering. Confirm the language before checkout if you are buying outside your home market.
Parameter bands that matter
Story length: The Killing Joke is a single short graphic novel, roughly 48 pages of story. The Man Who Laughs is a single issue, not a collected volume. Expect a short read, not a long saga.
Publication era: 1988 for The Killing Joke, 2005 for The Man Who Laughs. Anything dated outside those windows is a reprint, an anniversary edition, or a different book entirely.
Continuity: both books sit inside DC continuity. The film sits outside it. Do not buy either expecting page-for-page scenes from the movie.
Price expectation: a standard trade paperback should cost about the same as any other slim DC trade. A hardcover premium is normal. A large premium should come with a specific reason, such as a sealed first printing or a signed copy.
Pitfalls to avoid
- Treating the film as an adaptation and hunting for a comic that does not exist.
- Buying a movie-cover reprint at a markup when the interior pages are identical to the cheap edition.
- Mixing up the 2019 film with the 2024 sequel and expecting a two-film comic adaptation.
- Buying a novelization or a making-of book when what you wanted was the comic art.
- Trusting a stock photo listing. Ask for a photo of the actual copy, especially on single issues.
FAQ
Is Joker based on The Killing Joke?
No. It borrows a premise and a tone, not a plot. The Killing Joke is a Batman story with a specific origin and a specific ending, and the film uses neither.
Did DC publish a comic adaptation of the film?
No comic adaptation of the 2019 film was released. There are novelizations and art books, but no sequential-art adaptation of the screenplay.
Which comic should I read first?
Start with The Killing Joke. It is the book most people mean when they ask this question, and it is the one that shaped how the character has been written since.
Is the sequel based on a comic?
No. Joker: Folie à Deux continues the original screen story and does not adapt a published arc.