The Dark Knight Strikes Again

Okay so the dark knight returns is a book that is masterfully written, drawn, inked, and colored and this is a book that's kind of meh.....it's not bad, it's actually pretty good but as a sequel it does not ever come close.

After re-reading this title and seeing what some people had to say about it, I was shocked at the number of people bashing this book; it's great. Sure, when held up against The Dark Knight Returns it doesn't stand in the same light, but coming into a new work by an artist with the intent of comparing it against everything else they've done is lame--people grow and change. Where other people see a sloppy, loose, nonsensical story and horrible artwork, I see an artist blooming and shedding the constraints of the traditional form (like Picasso or Coltrane). Miller's writing and art have turned into a kaleidoscopic, multicolored and expansive expression. The scope of this story has quadrupled in size from the relatively grounded story of TDKR, and for the art to not loosen up and follow in suit would only constrain the story. People complain about the lack of Batman in this story, but it's not about how much time you actually see him in the panels, it's about his influence on the story and setting; which is utterly pervasive. It's a testament to Miller's writing that you don't have to see him in every panel; he's still there. This is a great book and a wonderful, expressive, ambitious followup to TDKR. Hopefully Miller returns eventually with a new Batman book that is even more woolly and wild than this one.

I ordered both the Dark Knight Returns and the Dark Knight Strikes Again at the same time and my excitement at reading them was bursting through the roof. I read DKR first and I was blown away I loved the story and character interpretation, it was amazing. Then I got around to reading DKSA and the first couple of pages were great I thought it would only get better, it did story wise but the artwork couldn't compare to DKR because it got a little sloppier and rushed it seemed, but I still throughly enjoyed the story, even though I thought it focused more on other super heroes than Batman i.e. Superman and Wonderwoman. Nevertheless I like Frank Miller's writing and I still throughly enjoyed the book, I recommend it to all fans of the Dark Knight Returns, it's a bold interpretation of a dark world and a damn good story.

I devoured TDKR when I first got my hands on it and desperately hoped there was more. More thankfully came in the form of this fantastically stylized book. I can understand why old school comic fans are disappointed with this as a follow up, but personally, I prefer it. The art is about as colorful as I've ever seen Miller get, and it's gorgeous. The story, while continuing similar themes as its predecessor, takes them to new outlandish heights. It's the ultimate dystopian fantasy. Instead of leaving you sick to your stomach with this screwed up society of ours, it leaves you cheering on your feet for the old man bringing it all down around him. Miller takes all the old DC characters and flips them on their heads. It's a madhouse of color, conspiracy, and contradiction. I love it.

The Batman is Dead! So it begins with Frank Miller's latest exegesis into the infernal, night-gaunt machinations of Gotham's great Detective: the Black Prince, the Dark Knight, Bruce Wayne, billionaire socialite turned night-stalking Vigilante. Rebel, anarchist, crypto-fascist, psychopath, Terror that stalketh by Night. The Batman. RIP, no less. Anyway, when "Batman: The Dark Knight Strikes Again" lurches into garish, gory life, the Great Detective is no more: hounded to earth by the Feds, hunted as an unsanctioned rogue, scourged from the streets of the City he defended, cleansed, purified, ruled by Terror and Justice. Heart exploded. Vicki Vale writes up his society page epitaph, which means The Batman's death must be real: former Commissioner Gordon sputtering about how the City itself murdered Bruce Wayne, the Penguin blubbering, Selina Kyle telling Gordon to 'preach it', the Mayor, grabbing for a barf bag, bolting for the door. But what, really, is Death? If you're a bat, a creature of the Night and Justice and Vengeance, a scorned Rebel Angel, buried deep, waiting and plotting? DK2 is just plain twisted, warped, wonderful sick brilliance. Some---fans of the original Frank Miller masterpiece, even---have hurled acid barbs at this psychedelic little act of defiant genius, and declared it a contradiction of the Dark Knight Returns's neo-Gothic darkness. Get serious. Next to this little kaleidoscopic funhouse of Hell and High Water, "Dark Knight Returns" is a Boy Scout Jamboree. The Dark Knight Returns---don't get me wrong, a brilliant, wicked-lean piece of work---was an epic of pure, aged, smoldering Rage: Rage at a City whose works were rotten and clogged with Crime. Rage against the Predators tearing the flesh of the Innocent. But this: this, my friends, is a work of Pure Madness. It's something like---the Dark Knight Ends the World. No Deus ex Machina here---just pure Deus Ex. But let's back up for a second and talk about the vision: let's say you're Frank Miller. You---more than anything that came before---are pretty much single-handedly responsible for bringing The Batman back to life. So whaddya do for the second outing? More of the same? Not if you're Frank Miller. You go a little mad: you take risks. You retain colorist Lynn Varley, and you unleash a kind of psychotic aurora borealis of color into your pages, the darkness struck through with screeching greens, purples, reds, the colors of Armaggedon. And you spike this new world with the underpinnings of the Last Days: The Batman striking from Hell's Dark Heart at the Criminal Rulers of a not-so-Brave New World. So in a nutshell: it has been 10 long years since anything has been heard of the Dark Knight---and then, suddenly, his epitaph. Alfred's grave grows thick with weeds: his former Robin, Carrie Kelley, has doffed the cap and elf-boots and taken up the mantle of Catgirl. Crime is way down! Consumer confidence is way up! Democracy is on the March, batting dow