Batman: The Dark Knight Returns
I had my doubts coming into this, not being a real fan of Miller's work in '300' and the few 'Sin City' comics I had read becoming less interesting as I thought more about them, but, with 'The Dark Knight Returns' Miller has brought 'Batman' to its full, dark potential.
Set in a vague near-future (on Earth-31 for those of you who keep track of that thing), Batman has been retired ten years, since the death of Jason, the second Robin. The other superheroes, with the exception of Superman, have retired or disappeared as well. Gotham City is overrun with a ruthless gang called The Mutants and there seems to be little that can be done with an ever-ineffectual mayor and Commissioner Gordon weeks away from an enforced retirement.
Some of the books concepts are dated, an inevitable outcome for something so timely, with its cold-war subplot and Reaganesque cowboy president, not to mention the fashion. If only street gangs were as prone to fluorescent colored jumpsuits. It'd be a cinch to catch them all.
I liked the new Robin as well, even if she looks like a teenage Dexter from 'Dexter's Lab', I was tempted to read all of her dialogue in his weird accent. She generally knew what she was about and acted about her age, which is a hard thing for a sidekick to do.
In general the book was a downer, duh, but there was plenty of humor ("No spud! I'm a slicer-dicer!") and Miller incorporated enough other DC characters to give a shape to the universe without seeming like he was trying to incorporate as many appearances as possible, which can happen. Lana Lang was a nice touch. That reason makes this graphic novel/limited series/whatever accessible to those who don't have a handle on 50+ years of comics continuity and allows room for a real story to develop.
I think that any comics fan is going to enjoy this as well as anyone whose willing to accept that the comics can provide as subtle and absorbing a story as any traditional novel.
Dark Knight
Next: 'The Dark Knight Strikes Back'
