The book is especially at its most mundane during the entire chapter devoted to its most unimaginative portion, i.e. the mutant army. The idea started as silly and just continued from there. It climaxes with Batman driving around in an indestructible house-sized tank shooting rubber bullets at a "mutant" army whose headquarters are located in the city dump. This whole scene just reeked of absurdity to me. The influence of the Stallone/Schwarzenegger brand of 80's action is heavily felt here, it's a testament to Miller's ability that this plot arc didn't ruin the whole story for me. Also, although self-admittedly I have never been a fan of the inclusion of most Robin characters, I've never felt it to be as superfluous as it is here. Same bright colors, but now it's a 13-year old armed with a slingshot. Though, to be fair, she does have misfortune of having her introduction to Batman at the junkyard scene, which I already had a distaste for. Nonetheless she stretched believability for me, but once again it is Miller's skill that keeps me with the story, and ultimately her inclusion works. But it never quite overcomes the feeling that she included just for the sake of being included.

On the other side I did enjoy the satirizing of the media. Also Miller's reintroduction of Bats to Gotham, his portrayal of Superman, and the opening & closing chapters were simply Miller at his best. The premise, that Bruce Wayne, after years of retirement has gone a bit insane is played expertly by Miller in these portions. This enjoyment is especially heightened when Batman's character arc is paralleled with those in his rogue gallery of villains. But the story's shift to the Rambo-style antics, especially in the mutant army chapter, drag this book down for me. It was simply a bit too much of Miller drudging me through the inane segments to weave the plot into what makes this book the influence that it was.

Miller deserves and has received his share of praise for reinvigorating the genre and establishing Batman as a darker, psychologically driven character. This is the comic that made comics respectable. This is the comic that made comics mature. But on the same hand, being first, or being "the comic...," is only admirable to a point. Miller's impact will never be denied, but impact alone doesn't make it enjoyable. I found more satisfaction out of the works that have followed Miller's suit (ex. The Long Halloween, Dark Victory, Arkham Asylum, and Miller's own Year One). It's my respect for Miller's work that will always put it at the top of my comic lists, but my respect alone shouldn't sell this book.

But if you're a comic fan and don't own this book, chances are you're here to buy it. So if nothing else take this review is to warn you of high expectations. There are a number of extreme praises here that should be taken very, very lightly. It's good; I would hesitate to say anymore. It's simply good enough.


DKR: short of greatness... but still pretty good   June 15, 2004
 13 out of 27 found this review helpful

After many a year of taking in my fellow comic geeks' word-of-mouth about the "Batman: The Dark Knight Returns" series being one of the greatest stories ever told in the comic book medium-- right up there with Alan Moore's "Watchmen"-- I finally broke down and gave it a read. While I found it fairly solid if somewhat overdone in the inner monologue department, this four-color yarn never really struck me as being one of the all-time greats. For one thing, the somewhat over-the-top End-Of-The-Cold-War-era political & sociocultural satire Frank Miller injected into the story made the whole shebang seem a bit dated. Then there was the artwork, which was of inconsistent quality. `Course, I blame this more on the finishing touches by Klaus Janson, whose artwork-- be it pencils or inks-- usually leaves a lot to be desired in my eyes. I swear, he musta' had a few incriminating photos of Miller with a donkey or something to have stayed his partner-in-rendering all those years.

As for the assertion by many that DKR was the harbinger of the comic book world's `grim-and-gritty-anti-hero' era-- well, if this assertion does have merit, I see it as a good thing. `Cuz back in the day, I really enjoyed reading the adventures of rival Marvel's two grimmest-and-grittiest guys: Ghost Rider version 2 and the Punisher, both of whom got their own ongoing titles shortly after DKR hit the stands. I also liked how Batsy really laid the smack-down on his criminal foes-- especially his crippling of the Joker, who managed to finish himself off immediately after being incapacitated in a most amazing and disquieting manner. And despite his superior strength, speed, and agility, I always figured Batman could hold his own in a knockdown drag-out against Superman-- which he does and the some at the story's climax. I only wish he fought a bit more cleanly than he did, but that wouldn't have been `grim-and-gritty' enough I guess...

The tenth anniversary edition of this TPB includes the original text script to the last issue of this story arc. I found it to be a fairly interesting look at the creative process involved in the conception of a four-color story. I also found it interesting to see the stuff that was originally gonna be put to the Bristol board, and compare it to what eventually did make the cut, and what was changed or removed. If you've ever wondered how they come up with some of those comic stories you're so fond of reading, this bonus feature is a must-read.

Anyhoo, like I stated before, I found Batman: "The Dark Knight Returns" a really good super-hero comic story, but it falls short of being among the all-time-greatest tome that most fanboys have told me it is. I might read this once more in my lifetime, but that's about it. It isn't even Frank Miller's best work on the character in my opinion-- that honor goes to "Batman: Year One", which you can check out at www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0930289331/ref=pd_sim_books_2/002-6135121-8178428?v=glance&s=books. Happy reading!

`Late