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And perhaps the most important one. Do the means justify the end.
If anyone thinks that Batman comics are just for kids, this is the one that will demolish that thought. It's a grippingly-told, amazingly-illustrated novel.
In your life. It's a book that will make you re-examine beliefs and pose questions.
would you like to have a Batman in your town. What problems can you solve with violence.
why can't everyone see that Batman is way cooler than Superman.
The biggest, overlying tale is the continual war with the russians raging on in the background; a war that takes an even darker turn towards the end. I wait until they've been compiled and bound into more lengthy volumes and then shipped to the book stores) I still know enough to say that this is a truly great comic.I've heard that it revolutionized batman, and made it darker and more serious; and it certainly is serious.Set in a time after Batman has retired, following a government bill which has affected the ability of all superheroes to perform their vigilante duties, Gotham city is in the grip of crime once more, held sway beneath a terrible gang called 'The mutants'. I'm sure there are people who can more elegantly, or more intelligently say why this is a good comic book; people who've been reading batman since its first incarnation ever, or who can point to those comics that have followed after, and say how The Dark Knight Returns affected them and brought deeper, more serious issues into batman comics.But, even from the position of only a moderate comic reader (I never buy comics as 'comics'. The tension is always building, and the great climactic end is a pleasure to read again and again.As for the art, I've always lauded Frank Miller as one of my favorites. Naturally, batman decides he's had enough, and once more begins his duties as the masked hero.The stories are solid, but could have been ruined in lesser hands. As it was, Frank Miller penned a dark tale with issues aplenty to study. Nitty and gritty, Superman and Batman have never looked so tough before or since. The image of Gotham and everyone throughout it is constantly a dreary, gloomy colour, which breeds an atmosphere of just how far the city has fallen (though of course, Gotham was never exactly known for being a utopia).With great storytelling and great art, this is a must-have for anyone who ever claims to be a batman fan.
And its true, the story is driven by the writer not the artist so you have to read it at a different pace than modern comics but if you do you will be blown away. I got this because everyone raves about it so I felt obligated as a comic fan. I was not a fan of Sin City or 300 and found Miller's Daredevil kind of slow. I was AMAZED at Miller's ability to write an action sequence. Don't expect the faster page turning of a Jeph Loeb Batman story and focus more on the writing than the art and you will find one of the most bad-ass comic stories ever.
I'm glad I'm not the only one who didn't like this story. 1: Public Enemies, plus many more. So when I got TDKR, I figured I'd like it too, right. First off, I LIKE Batman comics, I really do. I have the same problem with this comic as I did with Batman: Arkham Asylum (15th Anniversary Edition), only worse. The only reason I'm not hardcore is because I'm a grad student, and let's face it, I simply just don't have the time (or money). I read the numerous 5 starred reviews at the beginning and began doubting myself, but then I perused the 2 stars and under section and felt a lot better. I'm not a newbie to this world.
I liked Batman: Year One, and I liked Batman: Hush, Vol. 1, along with Batman: The Man Who Laughs and Superman/Batman Vol. NOPE. The art is too spastic; the design is too creative; my brain just isn't able to make the leaps in logic that are apparently required to make this all into a storyline that flows in some kind of understandable manner.
But Bruce is not able to stay retired and be happy with it; almost endorsing the idea that he suffers from a kind of schizophrenic-psychosis, Bruce is "called" back to duty by the spirit of the bat that refuses to relinquish its hold upon him. And last-but-not-least, the Joker - upon hearing of the return of his "Darling" - comes out of his catatonia and through the manipulation of his coddling doctors is able to stage an escape/mass murder during one of the late-night Gotham talk shows; promising a world of death and destruction to welcome back the good-old-days. In his absence from crime-fighting, Gotham has become the stomping grounds for a massive gang of teenage thugs who call themselves mutants, and the arch-criminals of the city's infamous past have either been set on the road to recovery (like the seemingly reformed Harvey Dent/Two-Face) and the Joker; who in Batman's absence has lost his sense of purpose and retreated into a self-imposed catatonic state one level of functionality above a vegetable. Batman: The Dark Knight Returns is a collection of four stories by acclaimed comics creator Frank Miller (Batman: Year One, Sin City) that details a world in which Batman comes out of a 10 year retirement grudgingly forced upon him and the world's super-heroes by the government when the suffering masses cry out for salvation. Additionally, Batman's own visual design has him looking less healthily muscular and more hulkingly bulky and wearing a devious grin that would put the Joker to shame half the time that he isn't scowling. Third Batman gets himself a new partner, the unofficial third Robin of Miller's world, a teenage girl named Carrie Kelly; literally a red-headed whipper-snapper (Batman comes to accept her after she saves his life).
Second, after extremely brazen attacks against mutants, he faces off against their leader who makes a declaration of war against Gotham; and specifically Gordon, Yindel, and of course Batman.
Despite the years since he returned, he has lost little of his physical prowess as he makes as dramatic a comeback as would be expected of the great and powerful Batman.
The Joker hardly conforms to past incarnations, appearing to have more muscle-mass and slightly feminized facial features and mannerisms that for a die-hard fan of his "homicidal maniac" incarnation is, frankly, insulting (even more-so following the character's next major renovation for The Dark Knight ).
In this world, Batman/Bruce Wayne is now in his mid-to-late-50's, his dual-identity common knowledge to long-time friend/ally GCPD Commissioner Jim Gordon - soon to retire and be replaced by the no-nonsense Ellen Yindel - and former criminal Selina Kyle/Catwoman; now the manager of an escort service to high-society.
Also, Superman makes an appearance as the government's trained lap/attack dog who is now a secret from the public, covertly deployed to deal with international crises as well as take down his old friend and ally; lethally if necessary.My biggest problems with this series was the visual design combined with its setup on the page.
Upon his return, so too do his Rogues Gallery; or at least the ones worth putting in this series.
First, Harvey Dent relapses into his Two-Face persona and comes up with a plan that eerily parallels the 9/11/01 terrorist attacks 15 years before they happened.
While the idea of the Joker/Batman relationship as crime-fighter/arch-nemesis has occasionally hinted at homo-erotic undertones, never before have they been so obvious (additionally, the Joker's ruby-red lips here are the result of lipstick).; at least the idea of them representing ultimate duality (over villain Two-Face) was 'innocent' enough.
I personally did not care for this story; but if you can forgive the haphazard-looking artistic style (use the "look inside" feature), then don't let this review deter you from getting this graphic novel.
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