Batman: The Dark Knight Returns 30th Anniversary Edition
-
-
4.5 • 4 Ratings
-
-
- $18.99
-
- $18.99
Publisher Description
Celebrate 30 years of one of the most influential stories ever told in the comics medium with the anniversary edition of the undisputed graphic novel masterpiece BATMAN: THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS. Writer/artist Frank Miller completely reinvents the legend of Batman in this saga of a near-future Gotham City gone to rot, 10 years after the Dark Knight�s retirement. Forced to take action, the Dark Knight returns in a blaze of fury, taking on a whole new generation of criminals and matching their level of violence. He is soon joined by a new Robin-a girl named Carrie Kelley, who proves to be just as invaluable as her predecessors. But can Batman and Robin deal with the threat posed by their deadliest enemies, after years of incarceration have turned them into perfect psychopaths? And more important, can anyone survive the coming fallout from an undeclared war between the superpowers-or the clash of what were once the world�s greatest heroes?
Customer Reviews
One of Batman’s Defining Stories!
The Dark Knight Returns has become a renowned classic for its writing, artistic restoration of Batman’s pulp-fiction-roots and brings a distinctly 1980s-neo-noir-dystopia that defined Frank Miller’s career here onward.
The story’s been leveraged countless times for Batman movies and tv shows, but reading the story itself shows that key moments have been sprinkled throughout everything ranging from Batman (1989) to Batman: The Animated Series, to The Batman (2022); and there’s gonna be more callbacks to this iconic story at some indefinite point (or maybe a full-blown live-action adaptation).
The Dark Knight Returns was indeed a true and high-concept return to form for Batman, and since 1986 every single one of his stories has reinforced Frank Miller’s imprint on the character either by reverence to it, or reinforcing the ‘badass and broody’ vibe of Batman himself. Sure the book definitely could have used a little more levity, but leaning too deeply into funny stuff would have made the book a tonally confused hodgepodge.
Thankfully the book’s a focused narrative that balances the grounded-ness with high-concept fantasy elements like Superman and company, all mixed together making it seem like natural territory for Batman to be a part of.
Sure some of the story seems dated (the Cold War stuff kind of conflicts with the high-tech stuff in the story) and maybe there could have been slightly more levity throughout, but its overall plot and characters still stand strong today.
For a character as remixed as Batman, this story is a clear example of the many genres he can fit into naturally, like the gloves on his fisticuffs.