Comic Book Review: The Dark Knight Returns
One of the first things I wanted to do upon graduating from Augsburg with my MFA was get into comic books. My friend Lucas lent me a couple seminal Batman comics, and so I began my dive into the comic world with The Dark Knight Returns. This review will avoid major spoilers. If you are completely unfamiliar with The Dark Knight Returns and DC in general, and want to avoid spoilers, skip the following synopsis.
The Dark Knight Returns is a formative installment in the mythology of Batman. It was faithfully adapted into a pair of R-rated feature length animated movies (available on HBO Max), but its fingerprints are heavy in Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Rises and Zack Snyder’s Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice.
The Dark Knight Returns is a formative installment in the mythology of Batman. It was faithfully adapted into a pair of R-rated feature length animated movies (available on HBO Max), but its fingerprints are heavy in Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Rises and Zack Snyder’s Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice.
Synopsis
It is the mid 1980s, and Bruce Wayne, once the Batman, is now retired, having hung up his cape and cowl for a suit and tie. However, as Gotham City descends into chaos as a result of the rise of a powerful new street gang called the Mutants, Bruce finally gives in to his darker impulse: it is time for the Batman to return.
However, Batman is not the only notable figure coming out of retirement. Classic Batman villains Two-Face and the Joker also reemerge from Arkham Asylum to wreak havoc on the city even as the Mutants gain power. To make matters worse, Batman’s old ally, Commissioner Jim Gordon, has recently stepped down from duty, and the new police Commissioner immediately puts out a warrant for Batman’s arrest, as he is a vigilante who has committed a great number of textbook crimes (breaking and entering and aggravated assault, for example).
Throughout the comic, Batman struggles to find the physical strength to do what he must for Gotham. Having been in retirement for a number of years, his physique is a shadow of what it used to be, and several times during the story he has to reckon with being slower and weaker than he once was.
As Batman’s presence in Gotham grows to unprecedented magnitude, he eventually becomes a national security threat. Given that this takes place during the 1980s, the Cold War still looms over the world. Struggling to balance international and internal affairs, the President eventually decides that in order to save face, he has to put the Batman down, so he sends a powerful government asset to put an end to the Dark Knight’s return. The result is a showdown that fundamentally reshapes Batman’s very legacy.
However, Batman is not the only notable figure coming out of retirement. Classic Batman villains Two-Face and the Joker also reemerge from Arkham Asylum to wreak havoc on the city even as the Mutants gain power. To make matters worse, Batman’s old ally, Commissioner Jim Gordon, has recently stepped down from duty, and the new police Commissioner immediately puts out a warrant for Batman’s arrest, as he is a vigilante who has committed a great number of textbook crimes (breaking and entering and aggravated assault, for example).
Throughout the comic, Batman struggles to find the physical strength to do what he must for Gotham. Having been in retirement for a number of years, his physique is a shadow of what it used to be, and several times during the story he has to reckon with being slower and weaker than he once was.
As Batman’s presence in Gotham grows to unprecedented magnitude, he eventually becomes a national security threat. Given that this takes place during the 1980s, the Cold War still looms over the world. Struggling to balance international and internal affairs, the President eventually decides that in order to save face, he has to put the Batman down, so he sends a powerful government asset to put an end to the Dark Knight’s return. The result is a showdown that fundamentally reshapes Batman’s very legacy.
Strengths
The summary that I provided is remarkably abridged. The biggest strength of The Dark Knight Returns is its gripping narrative. The dialogue and internal narration is well-written superhero drama, the internal bittersweet song of aging, and clever political satire all at once. The political environment of The Dark Knight Returns is eerily reminiscent of modern times, with questions of order vs. freedom and freedom vs. anarchy feeling even more relevant today than ever before.
In addition to the powerful narrative and dialogue, I was impressed with the scope of what the comic medium can achieve. By coloring the Joker’s dialogue bubbles green, for example, a certain inherently creepy voice was conveyed in everything that he said. (Though, it is absolutely possible that I just read it in that voice having seen Heath Ledger, Jared Leto, Mark Hamill, and others portraying the Joker in live action and animated films.) Similarly, as a prose fiction writer I have wrestled with how to convey trauma in a character’s narrative. Early in The Dark Knight Returns, Bruce Wayne experiences the quintessential Batman flashback where he relives witnessing his parents murdered in an alleyway. By drawing out this moment in excruciating detail across several panels (individual pictures on a comic book page), the reader is grounded in this memory. Later, when certain objects, locations, and events trigger this memory again, the writers inserted a single panel from the memory amid whatever is happening currently, offering the reader a glimpse of the layers of trauma with which Bruce Wayne still wrestles.
In addition to the powerful narrative and dialogue, I was impressed with the scope of what the comic medium can achieve. By coloring the Joker’s dialogue bubbles green, for example, a certain inherently creepy voice was conveyed in everything that he said. (Though, it is absolutely possible that I just read it in that voice having seen Heath Ledger, Jared Leto, Mark Hamill, and others portraying the Joker in live action and animated films.) Similarly, as a prose fiction writer I have wrestled with how to convey trauma in a character’s narrative. Early in The Dark Knight Returns, Bruce Wayne experiences the quintessential Batman flashback where he relives witnessing his parents murdered in an alleyway. By drawing out this moment in excruciating detail across several panels (individual pictures on a comic book page), the reader is grounded in this memory. Later, when certain objects, locations, and events trigger this memory again, the writers inserted a single panel from the memory amid whatever is happening currently, offering the reader a glimpse of the layers of trauma with which Bruce Wayne still wrestles.
Weaknesses
I personally was not a big a fan of the inking and illustrations, especially compared to the comic I’m currently reading (Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth), but that’s personal aesthetics. Yes, the inking and illustrative style of a comic is a significant part of the whole, but in this case the stylistic decisions are something I’m happy to overlook in light of an excellent bigger story.
Takeaways
My one takeaway from The Dark Knight Returns is simply a plea to any skeptics who have read this far in my review (thanks for sticking with me!). If you have dismissed comics as just for children, or uninspired, or dismissed them in any other way, please reconsider. Comic books are unorthodox compared to the tried and tested forms of prose, poetry, and journalism, but they are equally legitimate mediums for storytelling and deserve to be treated as such. If you have never read a comic, just give one a try! If it’s not for you, then it’s not for you. The beautiful thing about various storytelling mediums is that more mediums will appeal to more people in different ways. Personally, I have found that comic books speak to me powerfully, and I am eager for the many thousands of pages I have yet to turn.
