Batman: The Dark Knight Returns: Frank Miller & Klaus Janson
My Review:
The novel starts with A retired Bruce Wayne, almost injured in a car accident, who wishes he had the power to once again become a cape crusader. There follows a domino effect in the narrative as the author describes both his past memories as the cape crusader and helping the citizens of Gotham, as well as the reality of the gang violence occurring in the city, which makes him angry and restless. Additionally, the book explains that after Batman and another member of the Justice League retire, Superman becomes a boy scout or a property of the government and is convinced to follow the government's orders since he is the last surviving Superhero.
Once he sees a reflection of himself in a Bat, he decides to get back from retirement so he can save his city once more. Along the way, he defeats the local thugs and rescues Two-face from an imminent death situation. Also introduced is a new Robin (Carrie) who is assisting Bruce after the fight with the mutant gang leader. Carrie decides to take the helm of Robin's position and help Bruce fight the Joker and defeat the Mutant leader. Superman finally appears at the end of the film in a famous showdown that still gives me chills to this day.
The novel has had a great impact on the superhero genre and can be seen as soon as you open the book. Its mature storytelling and a distinctly new take on a superhero during the Nixon Era made it very accessible for the average reader when it was initially released in 1986. Since then, it has inspired the writings and artistic talent of minds like Jim Lee and Scott Snyder who still consider it as their favourite graphic novel. These two writers are sure to carry the legacy and inspire future workers to write a graphic novel with such respect for their characters and history.
Final Verdict: The conclusion is that this graphic novel needs to be understood deeply in order to fully comprehend the mythology of the Dark Knight as well as why he acts in such a way. Consequently, Frank Miller knows how to describe to the fans the nature of Batman in an incredibly personal, intelligent way in order to explain the character of Batman in all situations and time frames relevant to the modern world. A character like him is also vitally important to the superhero genre since he is a wonderful inspiration for all of the characters who do not possess any superpowers, magic, or other abilities that are not achievable in our world. I would strongly recommend this as an excellent story for every reader.