Does it Hold Up?: The Dark Knight Returns

I missed a lot from comics in the 80’s and early 90’s. That’s why I decided to go back to the classics. I’ll be writing a series of articles/reviews of classic comics and movies that I have never seen before. I’ll be looking to see if they “Hold up” to the hype that they’ve accumulated over the years.

I’m starting with the seminal bat-book that helped mold Batman into the dark brooding hero that we know and love, The Dark Knight Returns. 

Acclaimed as one of the best Bat-books ever written, The Dark Knight Returns is among the top 5 of many professional writers, artists, and bloggers. Broken down into four maxi-issues for the astounding price of $2.97 each, The Dark Knight Returns received immense praise from the comic community and opened the doors for a darker, deeper storyline in comics.

The Dark Knight Returns also stands out as a pivotal book because of its mature nature. Stepping beyond the target audience of children and young teenagers, DKR grabbed the attention of adults that had long put down comics and invited them to come back. Books from Grant Morrison, Alan Moore, and Neil Gaiman would later keep that audience with their own stories.

The Dark Knight Returns: Part 1
(For those of you who may have seen the DC animated movie The Dark Knight Returns: Part 1, the entire story can easily be broken down into two halves, so it makes sense to break down a review the same way.)

The story begins with an aged Bruce Wayne searching for “a good way to die.” Bruce is written as morose and detached. Long gone are the days of the billionaire playboy, instead remains the shell of an obviously tortured man. Gotham is described as bleak and dystopian through wordy text and starkly color contrasted art. Even though he has since retired some 10 years ago after the death of Jason Todd (which hadn’t actually happened in continuity until 2 years later), Bruce still walks the city streets as if he still wears the cloak and cowl. He’s drawn as a physically imposing character, muscular and bulky, which stands out compared to most other characters. It’s clearly not a normal body for a 55 year old man to have.

Miller uses A LOT of text to help move along his story. By using the inner monologue from Bruce and several TV personalities that appear throughout the book, Miller attempts to add tension and backstory. Despite the wordy pages, many of the monologues are filled with great lines that would make Schwarzenegger jealous. Here Miller makes commentary on the current society. Even though the story is set in the future, it is obviously modeled after the then current 80’s. A lot is said about the delinquent youth culture and the inept media. There are no punches pulled as reporters are made out to be air-headed and superficial. They care less about the actual news and more about fashion and gossip, much of what we still see today.

Much of the youth in Gotham have fallen into a gang called The Mutants, led by a single man who revels in brutality. Muggings, rape, and murder appear to be almost commonplace. The GCPD are impotent to do much about the amount of crime in the city, and an elderly Commissioner Gordon is at the end of his run, afraid that he’ll leave Gotham worse off than when he arrived. It’s the state of Gotham and the drive of the bat that pushes Bruce into almost unknowingly putting on the cowl again. Once Batman steps back into the shadows of the city, a storm begins to churn. This leads to the return of Two-Face, a showdown between Batman and the new gang leader, and the awakening of his greatest foe.

Although Batman is usually 3 times the age of many of the young punks around Gotham, he still manages to dish out a severe beating to nearly every mutant gang member he comes across. Not without consequences though, as Batman describes his loss of physical conditions, speed, and strength. He knows he’s not the man he used to be, but blind arrogance and white hot anger at what his city has become drives him headstrong into battles that are executed amazingly through Miller’s writing and artwork. All the action that current Bat-fans are used to is seen in Miller’s rough and sketchy art while his writing brings the realization of the greater risk that rests in the cowl now that Batman is more vulnerable. The concern over Batman’s ability adds weight to the drama of the story.

The Dark Knight Returns: Part 2

The Dark Knight Returns can easily be broken down into simple story arcs. Although the first arc of Batman’s return and battle against the Mutants isn’t what you would want to read in a book described as influential, the ground work that it lays for “Part 2” would almost be worth skipping. Not that it’s bad, but it’s simply not great. “Part 2” however, is amazing.

As the US government has taken notice of Batman’s return, Superman enters the story as a secret solider answering to a Ronald Reagan type presidential figure. The perfect storm builds as Batman’s return from retirement incites the return of The Joker as well. Miller comments again on the softness of criminal rehabilitation and ego as Dr. Bartholomew Wolper releases Joker as he had done previously with Harvey Dent.

The Joker is darker than he had ever been before. Portrayed as so cold and conniving, that had it not been for the similar path of writing the Joker in the years since, I would have been stunned and repulsed by the extreme nature of the megalomaniac Clown Prince of Crime. He is so purely evil that it’s astounding that The Joker’s standoff with Batman still isn’t the climax of the story.

It’s when the city falls into darkness and the streets turn to chaos that the perfect storm finally falls upon Gotham. Joined by the Sons of Batman, a militia formed by former mutant gang members, Batman takes to the streets to quell the uprising. Again in a stirring speech Batman rallies his troops and Miller’s writing stands out. The eye of the storm comes to a head when Batman and Superman arrange a meeting that is doomed from the beginning. Clearly not a match for the Kryptonian in his youth, all thoughts question how long Batman would last against such a powerful opponent.

The second half of The Dark Knight Returns is devoted less to building story and more to the two key scenes of Batman facing off against The Joker and Superman. Neither moment disappoints in the least. While some of the storytelling techniques would be considered cliche by today’s standards, it only serves as a mild annoyance and a disruption to Miller’s sequential art and writing. The resolution, however, did personally leave me feeling a little let down. Even though I already knew what the outcome would be due to the age of the story itself, I was lost in the book by the end and had forgotten what I had already known.

The Results:

If you’ve made it this far than you’re more than likely to know that The Dark Knight Returns still holds up as an amazing Batman story. While still dated in both content and storytelling, Miller still puts together a story that feels about as epic as all the hype would make it sound. Unfortunately the biggest impact this book could make on a reader is lost on anyone who’s reading DKR for the first time. Miller’s influence on the character has carried through two and a half decades of comics as well as being a major influence on Nolan’s Batman Trilogy. It’s impossible for current readers to go to this story and feel like this take on Batman is new.

If you’re like me and missed out on some of “the classics” then I’d definitely recommend The Dark Knight Returns. It still holds up as a great Batman story if not for how the character would be portrayed for years to come. I would also HIGHLY recommend that you read it and not watch the animated movies that are being released. As good as they are, I feel that a lot is lost by the decision to omit the inner monologue of Batman. Through those words Miller conveys all of the struggles that Bruce faces by putting on the costume again.

Thank you for reading and please stick around as I’ve already started X-Men: The Dark Phoenix Saga for the next “Does it Hold Up Review”. If you have a suggestion for another classic comic/movie/other that I may not have seen then please put it in the comments below, and we’ll see if it still holds up to a fresh look.