OneMetal.com book ARTICLE:
Must Read: Batman: The Dark Knight Returns

This week in Must Read, OneMetal finds out what happens to superheroes past their prime in Batman: The Dark Knight Returns.

In Short:

A retired and aged Bruce Wayne, moved by the way that Gotham City has descended into lawlessness during his ten year retirement, and frankly with very little else to do in his life, puts the cowl and cape back on again to take on a new generation of villains. Yet the return of the Dark Knight also triggers the re-emergence of some of his oldest enemies, and leads to a definitive end point for one of comics best loved rivalries…

Why Is It So Good?

Frank Miller, taking on both writing and art duties on this four issue mini-series from DC, takes his readers into somewhat uncharted territory with his exploration of the life of a 55 year old Bruce Wayne. Admittedly, Miller wasn’t the first writer or indeed the last to explore what life might be like for Batman after hanging up his batarang, but he was the first to suggest that Wayne might not be living the idyllic dream life previous comic books have suggested. Less ambitious writers ran with story arcs where the former Batman would beam with pride as a Robin graduated to wearing the cool Bat suit, or tell tales of his crime fighting days whilst handsome kids sit enthralled by the fireside. As the title suggests, Miller takes us on a much, much darker journey than that – and it’s all the better for it.

It's Miller time: Frank's version of the iconic Batman

This Batman is still struggling with the death of his parents, around 40 years after the event. That’s a lifetime of animosity, grief and anger, built up in the now slightly heavier, slower Batman. He’s aimless, listless, and becoming more and more obsessed with his own mortality. There’s no Robin around to share war stories with. In fact, it’s the death of the second Robin Jason Todd that forced this version of Batman to retire in the first place. The only constant or companion in his life is Alfred, now in his mid 80s. All heroes with the exception of Superman, who is now essentially a super powered federal agent for the US government, have been forced into retirement, with the general public turning against their once protectors. It’s not much of a golden age for a man who spent his best years helping others.

Batman and his new Robin, Carrie Kelly

If the years haven’t been kind on Batman, they’ve been positively cruel on some of his enemies. The Joker has been wasting away in a comatose state in Arkham Asylum (brilliantly rebranded by Miller as the Arkham Home for the Emotionally Troubled), whilst Harvey Dent has been undergoing cosmetic surgery to give him back his original face, and rehabilitation to bring back the man he once was before his disfiguring accident. It’s here that Miller starts making the not-so-subtle link between Batman and the villains that gravitate around him. It’s a TV news announcement that Batman has been sighted again that stirs something within the catatonic Joker, and triggers more mayhem and murder from the green-haired one. With the return of Two Face, the links are strengthened even more: heroes need villains, Miller states through his stories and art, and conversely these two villains plainly need their hero, rebooted again – necessary again – because of the return of the Bat.

An older, wiser Batman

There’s a real sense of building momentum throughout the four issues of this run too (The Dark Knight Returns, The Dark Knight Triumphant, Hunt The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Falls) with many key players moving into alignment with one another. Commissioner Gordon is just one month from forced retirement. Alfred is slowing down, showing the strain of supporting Wayne for an entire lifetime. Batman questions how many more people will die before he finally finishes the Joker off. It’s like an elaborate pre-fight ritual, that you just know is going to get messy once it finally kicks off. And kick off it does.

The Man of Steel on a collision course with Batman

Batman spends much of the first two chapters finding his crime fighting feet again and facing down a gang of thugs that have been terrorising Gotham: The Mutants. One of the highlights of the whole series is a bone-crunchingly brutal fight between Bats and the leader of the anarchist Mutants, which leads to the breakdown and splintering of the group into smaller unorganised pockets around the city – and sets up a really surprising twist near the end.

Just like Watchmen, Dark Knight is a child of the 80s: Cold War paranoia is prevalent through the book, with a backstory of conflict between the US and USSR intertwining with the main story. Also like Watchmen, this conflict directly impacts on the main plot too, distracting Superman from his original task of bringing the vigilante Batman to justice, and delaying the inevitable conflict between the two iconic superheroes.

Also of note is the introduction of a new female Robin which injects new life into Batman along the way. The acrobatic young girl, for whom the Batman was little more than a legend, fits in to Bruce Wayne’s crimefighting perfectly, and comes to his aide more than once in the midpoints of the story. It’s also the first time that the closing theme of the books – one of Batman relying more on others to fight crime – is hinted at.

Then there’s the final fight between Batman and Joker, which is as manic, ridiculous and tragic as you’d expect it to be. Credit has to go to Miller for using what would be the climactic moment of any other story arc as a trigger for the real climax of the story that would come one issue later. There’s little that I can say about it here without spoiling things, but suffice it to say that one of the combatants doesn’t walk away from the fight.

That’s just one of the armful of memorable moments you’ll find in Dark Knight Returns. Miller’s artwork provides iconic images of Batman’s re-emergence after his self-imposed exile, stunning scenes of Batman and Robin charging towards criminals on horses, of all things, and proof that time can change even Superman – albeit with just a hint of grey hair on his head. The story is intricate, the dialogue real, and the closing moments provide a genuinely unexpected twist, that more than justify the place that Batman: The Dark Knight Returns holds on our list of the best comic books ever made.

The Legacy

In a very similar way to our last Must Read (Batman: A Killing Joke), Dark Knight Returns took the character of Batman and developed it in new and interesting ways. By giving Miller the freedom of working with a future Batman (and one from an alternative universe, no less), he had total artistic licence to do what he wanted with Bats and co. without worrying about how it would impact on the continuity of the wider DC universe. This freedom echoes throughout the entire book, and delivers one of the most memorable story arcs in modern comic book history.

But ultimately the main reason why this book is so important to comicbook fans the world over isn’t the signature Miller artwork and story. It’s not seeing a young woman filling Robin’s boots for the first time. It’s not even, amazingly, the climactic final battle between Batman and the Joker, so if there’s something in a book that can upstage even that, it’s got to be good.

Most importantly of all, and the biggest part of the legacy that Dark Knight Returns leaves behind, is that it definitively answers an age old geek question that was debated for years before, and critiqued in the years that passed: just who would win in a fight between Batman and Superman? That’s the real legacy of this weeks Must Read.