Batman: The Dark Knight Returns

197 pages

English language

Published Dec. 24, 1996 by DC Comics.

ISBN:: 978-1-56389-341-4
OCLC Number:: 36640494

(2 reviews)

"Together with inker Klaus Janson and colorist Lynn Varley, writer/artist Frank Miller completely reinvents the legend of Batman in his saga of a near-future Gotham City gone to rot, ten years after the Dark Knight's retirement. This masterpiece of modern comics storytelling, BATMAN: THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS, brings to vivid life a dark world and an even darker man. The Dark Knight returns in a blaze of fury, taking on a whole new generation of criminals and matching their level of violence. He is soon joined by a new Robin--a girl named Carrie Kelley, who proves to be just as invaluable as her predecessors. But can Batman and Robin deal with the threat posed by their deadliest enemies, after years of incarceration have made them into perfect psychopaths? And more important, can anyone survive the coming fallout from an undeclared war between the superpowers -- or the clash of what …

"Together with inker Klaus Janson and colorist Lynn Varley, writer/artist Frank Miller completely reinvents the legend of Batman in his saga of a near-future Gotham City gone to rot, ten years after the Dark Knight's retirement. This masterpiece of modern comics storytelling, BATMAN: THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS, brings to vivid life a dark world and an even darker man. The Dark Knight returns in a blaze of fury, taking on a whole new generation of criminals and matching their level of violence. He is soon joined by a new Robin--a girl named Carrie Kelley, who proves to be just as invaluable as her predecessors. But can Batman and Robin deal with the threat posed by their deadliest enemies, after years of incarceration have made them into perfect psychopaths? And more important, can anyone survive the coming fallout from an undeclared war between the superpowers -- or the clash of what were once the world's greatest heroes? Celebrate thirty years of one of the most influential stories ever told in the comics medium with the undisputed classic BATMAN: THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS, now with a new cover and introduction"--

10 editions

Ashwin reviewed Batman: The Dark Knight Returns by Frank Miller

Review of 'Batman: The Dark Knight Returns' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

(Crossposted from my blog: daariga.wordpress.com/2015/10/24/batman-the-dark-knight-returns/)

Batman: The Dark Knight Returns is the graphic novel by Frank Miller credited with starting the era of the dark superhero. Batman hung up his cape a decade ago and Bruce Wayne now wears the moustachioed face of a middle aged man, albeit with a ripped body. Gotham city is slowly being overrun by a criminal gang called the Mutants. When the life of his friend, James Gordon the police commissioner, is threatened, Batman returns in a glory of stiff joints and aching muscles. When he puts the Mutants back in jail, the talking heads on media start questioning why Batman should be above the law. The Commissioner puts out an arrest warrant for Batman. At this time, the Joker is released from prison and proceeds to unleash a high body-count rampage on the city. While he pushes Batman to the edge …

(Crossposted from my blog: daariga.wordpress.com/2015/10/24/batman-the-dark-knight-returns/)

Batman: The Dark Knight Returns is the graphic novel by Frank Miller credited with starting the era of the dark superhero. Batman hung up his cape a decade ago and Bruce Wayne now wears the moustachioed face of a middle aged man, albeit with a ripped body. Gotham city is slowly being overrun by a criminal gang called the Mutants. When the life of his friend, James Gordon the police commissioner, is threatened, Batman returns in a glory of stiff joints and aching muscles. When he puts the Mutants back in jail, the talking heads on media start questioning why Batman should be above the law. The Commissioner puts out an arrest warrant for Batman. At this time, the Joker is released from prison and proceeds to unleash a high body-count rampage on the city. While he pushes Batman to the edge of his no=kill policy, citizens start protesting against Batman, citing that it is his very existence that makes criminals to creep out of the woodwork.

This is no teenage comic-book world. The characters, motives and actions are multi-dimensional and complex. Threads about a hero returning, having to question his own principles and actions, the change in tide of public opinion on heroes and villains, the story is full of these.

Where I started to lose the plot was in the second half. Superman enters the picture fighting a Russian nuclear attack, fails and plunges Gotham into darkness. He has his own personal rules questioned. When the police do not give up their chase of Batman, he ends up leading the Mutants as a vigilante force! It all starts to roll up into one holy ball of mess.

This novel inspired Christopher Nolan to bring a darker hero for his The Dark Knight Trilogy, to much critical and commercial success. And much like I felt about those movies, while I enjoyed the vision in this novel, it ends up becoming a bit too confusing and implausible. Unlike works like Watchmen by Alan Moore, I came away feeling that to really enjoy Frank Miller you have to be someone who is deeply invested in the Marvel/DC universe, which I am sadly not.

Jesse Atkinson

rated it

Jan. 3, 2014

Subjects

Batman (Fictitious character) -- Fiction