The Dark Knight Strikes Again: Frank Miller

 

Let’s be honest, Frank Miller is one of the comic book greats. “Batman: Year One”, the “Sin City” series and “The Dark Knight Returns” all prove his mastery of art and storytelling that so personifies his work. So everything that he does is great – right?

Erm….

Well frankly (no pun intended), no. There is the odd clunker in his work, and I’m afraid that I now have to review one of them, and just to add insult to injury it follows probably his best. I refer of course to the sequel to his seminal Batman classic “The Dark Knight Returns”, called “The Dark Knight Strikes Again”, or “DK2”.

I read this straight after I read DK1, an obvious move that had the unfortunate effect of highlighting all of the problems this book displays. Miller’s story is OK, but it lacks depth, and sometimes feels like it began life as a convoluted script device to bring as many DC characters into it as possible. In DK1 there is a sense of the future decaying, and we feel empathy with Bruce Wayne as he sees his city brought low by crime and events, but in DK2 there is no sense of this, or anything else for that matter. In truth the story seems a bit chaotic, probably because of the sheer number of characters that have to be managed by the unwieldy events that ensue. It’s entertaining, but it doesn’t grab you in the same way DK1 does.

That would be forgivable, if the artwork made up for it, but it doesn’t. I usually love Miller’s graphic art style, but here it seems lost and out of place. I think primarily the problem is Lyn Varley’s colouring – as I’ve said before Miller has a very “graphic” kind of style which suits flat colours, but Varley’s 3d gradient style just doesn’t mesh well with it, creating a pseudo psychedelic mush which grates on the visual cortex. I really believe that DC should give this book another colour job – it would improve it no end.

The end result then is an OK story, encased in a multi-coloured garish soup. Sadly, ultimately unsatisfying.

Batman: The Dark Knight Returns – Frank Miller & Klaus Janson.

In the world of graphic novels and comics, there are stories that for their respective characters, don’t just become canon, but completely change how that character is perceived and portrayed by both comic book creators and the general public. Such was the impact of Frank Miller’s “The Dark Knight Returns”.
Before this series was published in 1986, DC’s “Batman” was in deep trouble. Despite sterling efforts from the DC creative team at the time, sales were dropping, and talks of cancellation were being circulated. Like many of the DC characters of the time, Batman needed re-energizing and quickly, before the character vanished forever. Frank Miller’s vision of Batman not only gave the character the necessary impetus to survive, but secured Batman’s future, and arguably the future of the entire DC universe for the following decades to come.
Without “The Dark Knights Returns” there would be no Batman films, possibly no DC films or TV at all – yes, it’s THAT important. Frank Miller’s wonderful storytelling is complemented by Klaus Janson’s impressive artwork, which was so good that almost all the modern versions of Batman take something from it.
Miller’s story starts 10 years after Batman’s retirement from crime fighting, and follows Bruce Wayne as he takes up the mantle of the Bat once again to save his city once more from the doom that threatens it. I won’t say any more, as I wouldn’t want to spoil the story for you, but I’ll just say this - there are 3 Batman books that every fan should read. “The Dark Knight Returns” is the first of them.
Do yourself a favour and get a copy. Then sit back, and wallow in its gloriousness.