Where Did Frank Miller Come From, and Are More Coming?

I am young. In fact, when the original issues to Batman: The Dark Knight Returns were published I still in diapers. I also am not a big comic collector; I own possibly fifteen individual issues and sixteen trade paperbacks of various titles (mostly Batman and Daredevil). So I couldn't very well compare this to the comics of the time. Well, I could, but I lack the accurate perspective; I cannot really tell you what this meant to comic book readers of the time.

I can, however, tell you what it means to comic book readers of my generation. The ones like me, the ones who recently started noticing just how cool comic books can be thanks to Kevin Smith movies and the recent comic book movie craze. This book gives us an excuse to read comics. If any of my friends makes fun of me for reading comics, I invite him to read part of this (or Daredevil Vol 1, Issue 191). It is such an achievement on so many levels that nobody could deny its power. Some people say that Frank Miller created the modern comic book with this work. This is not true. This book is so far ahead of its time that we have yet to surpass or even come close to equaling it. I seriously doubt we ever will.

The book is set in the future of Gotham City. An incredibly depressing future. If any of you are new comic readers and are wondering why Batman these days is so dark, not just the book but the character, you need look no further than Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns. He saw something lying dormant in this character, the darker human behind the bat that no other writer had been able to capture, and brought it to life.

In this future Batman is retired, thought dead by the public, as is Superman, Green Lantern, and all those other DC heroes you may or may not know. Of course, Batman is fifty-something year old multimillionaire Bruce Wayne, who is now sporting a mustache. Bruce is a very troubled man. His parents were killed right in front of him as a child, and he has dwelt on this event for the forty some years that came after. He spent his young life training to become Batman and after twenty years wearing the cape, he retired, leaving his home city of Gotham to its own devices.

The degradation of society pays an important part in this story. It is what sends Bruce over the edge again. Frank Miller uses newscasters almost as narrators in this story, updating us on what is going on, what has transpired since Batman retired (I'm a poet and I don't even know it), and the atrocities that are being commited everyday in Gotham City. Hearing, (reading?) what we hear, we sympathize with Bruce, we want him to return to his cape and cowl wearing self, fifty though he may be. The city of Gotham needs him.

Batman is presented as almost a different person than Bruce. making us believe that Mr. Wayne borders on the edge of schizophrenia. We see him in stress, contemplating coming back, going insane from everything happening around him and his inability to do anything about it. All of this is inerrupted intermittently by panels of a bat getting closer and closer, until at last we see a close up of its fangs. We know that two seperate entities have now merged again. Very compelling, very symbollic. This all builds up to Batman's return and subsequent battling of the evil that runs amok in the city.

For those of you who have your heart invested in Batman as a strongly moral man who fights for good as hard as he can wothout hurting anyone too bad, you may be in for disappointment. That's not to say that Bruce goes on a killing rampage, just dont expect him to tie up the bad guys and wait for the cops to show up. He is a full fledged rebel for the last three chapters of this four chapter series. The public opinion on Batman is mixed. Police Comissioner Gordon, his longtime friend, retires soon after Batman returns, and the new Comissioner has it out for him. Batman even makes an enemy that may shock you. I won't tell you, but know that he and Batman were once great allies.

The end of this book manages to both pack a punch and set it up for a sequel. The sequel is out now, actually its been out for two years, and it's called the Dark Knight Strikes Again. It took fifteen years after the original for it to come out, but it looks like it was drawn in five minutes; I really don't like Frank Miller's newer art. The wrting is good, but not DKR good. Oh well. That always happens. They set our standards too high and then come out with a Phantom Menace or two.

The Dark Knight Returns raises many questions about the necessity of Batman in a different world and whether what he does is right or wrong. It is presented with some of Frank Miller's best art and some ground-breakingly original page layouts. His inker is Klaus Jansen, who had worked with Miller on Daredevil before this, and knows how to bring out the best in Miller's artwork. If you are not a comic book reader, check this out anyway. It is worth the 15 or 20 dollars to have the reading experience of a lifetime.