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| Absolute Dark Knight | 
 enlarge | Authors: Frank Miller, Klaus Janson
Creator: Lynn Varley
Publisher: DC Comics
Category: Book
List Price: $99.99
Buy New: $58.50
You Save: $41.49 (41%)
New (23) Used (13) from $52.83
Avg. Customer Rating:  14 reviews
Sales Rank: 94753
Media: Hardcover Comic
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 512
Shipping Weight (lbs): 6.3
Dimensions (in): 12.8 x 8.6 x 1.9
ISBN: 1401210791
Dewey Decimal Number: 741
EAN: 9781401210793
ASIN: 1401210791
Publication Date: August 30, 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
DC Comics Absolute Editions set the standard for the highest quality, most in-depth presentation of classic graphic novels. Each oversized volume is presented in a slipcase and includes unique additional material making each Absolute Edition a cornerstone of any serious comic collection. On its publication in 1986, Frank Millers THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS changed the landscape of the graphic novel irrevocably. With its dark vision of Batmans future and its stunning artwork, THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS set the world on fire. 15 years later, Millers sequel, THE DARK KNIGHT STRIKES AGAIN, further redefined the boundaries of the superhero genre. Now, both of these comics masterpieces are collected in one giant-sized slipcase edition for the first time ever. Frank Miller has provided a new introduction, a new cover and new art for the slipcase. This edition is also filled with bonus material featuring an excerpt from Millers original plot for DARK KNIGHT RETURNS #4, sketchbook material and much more.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 9 more reviews...
 Dark Knight - Absolute August 30, 2006
53 out of 55 found this review helpful
I still remember with stunning clarity when Dark Knight burst (and it did burst, big and bloody) onto the comic book scene. I bought the original 4 issue Prestige Format mini-series, bought the soft-cover collection, bought the hard-cover (a rarity in those days), and was lucky enough to win a signed-and-number special edition of the hard-cover as well. Even had the poster.
That was the impact the series, and the vision of Frank Miller, had on me.
And I couldn't be more thrilled to finally own the Absolute Edition.
It should be noted that 2 very different stories are contained in this edition, the ground breaking Dark Knight Returns of the 1980s, and the more controversial Dark Knight Strikes again of the 2000s. My rating is actual 5 Stars for DKR (a rating I seldom, if ever, give to anything), and 3 for DKSA. This review will focus on the former rather than latter.
Story - The original series deals with Batman coming out of retirement to reclaim his place in legend and to deal with a world spiraling more and more out of control. This is one of the best stories I've read in any medium, with the plot and pacing working in perfect synchronicity with dialog that doesn't seem as much written as channeled. 20 years later, and the quotes still fill my thoughts. Miller fires on all cylinders here, in one stroke eradicating the plague-filled shadow of the Adam West Batman, and creating a vibrantly dark icon for the generation to come. Through the four chapters, we see the Dark Knight return to face an old nemesis in Two-Face, a new threat in the Mutant gang, the parallel return of the Joker, and a final showdown with Superman. It's a scary, almost fascist future, but Miller brilliantly counter-points it all with very human emotion.
Art - Dark Knight marks an artistic departure for Miller. Similar to the departure he took, also post Daredevil, in Ronin, this is not the typical 80s comic art. Miller's figures here are simplified but not simplistic, and have a very real sense of weight and space about them. While they may not be rendered as cleanly or perfectly, they tell the story with great success, and show Miller as a person still growing and experimenting as an artist, even as he hits the height of his skills. Klaus Jansen inks, and Lynn Varley provides what, at the time, were a whole new level of color and color-design to the work.
Bonus - Most Absolute Editions provide considerable bonus material, and this is no exception. Included here are the original outline for what became background material in Dark Knight, and the core of Batman Year One. Script pages and pencils are also shared, along with work for the many covers and even DC Direct toys.
All in all, one of the most important works of the latter 20th century is finally given the Absolute treatment is so richly deserves.
A must for any collection.
 BOTH Worthy Reads January 26, 2007
10 out of 20 found this review helpful
Everybody knows TDKR was a phenominal book. What everybody doesn't know is that The Dark Knight Strikes Again is ALSO a phenominal book. Many readers have their opinions warped by superficial comic book reviewers who critique Miller's sequel because it was not as "dark" or "gritty" as the first book was. Is that it? Is that you're only complaint? Are you so ignorant that you're not going to delve underneath the appearances to look at the thematic significance of the work?
Yes, TDKSA is a departure from its predecessor in terms of style. But it still shines in RELEVENCY. Miller gives us a mind blowing look at what our society is and may become. What is democracy in the media age? Do the people really run a country where a select few that run the major news outlets control everything that the people know and believe? And does it make us feel any better that it is one man, Batman, who is arrogant enough to enforce his social ideology on us?
Don't be fooled. While The Dark Knight Returns is still a significant work in today's literary work, it was a book about yesterday. The Dark Knight Strikes Again is a book about TODAY.
Magnificent November 12, 2006
8 out of 11 found this review helpful
This visionary work of art is among the finest Batman stories I've ever read, and among the finest works of literature I've ever expeirienced. It's complex reflections on human nature, phscology, duality, what citizens owe to society and what it means to be a hero mixed with politics and social commentary make it ambitous, gripping, and meaningful.
Here, Miller virtually reinvents Batman for modern times, first in the 80s then in the 2000s, creating a masrvelous timpiece. The diolouge is beautiful, and the art and coloring unparralled.
Ultimately, I would reccommend this to anyone.
A REAL FRANK MILLER THRILLER! November 9, 2006
7 out of 13 found this review helpful
Pretty much the perfect presentation of one of the best Batman Stories ever told (The Dark Knight Returns), and one of the most controversial (Dark Knight Strikes Back!), with lots of extras like promo art and oversized so you can better appreciate the artwork.
My only complaint is it's too heavy to read comfortably when sitting on the can.
 Perhaps Absolute, But Far From Ultimate June 8, 2008
6 out of 7 found this review helpful
I'm sorry that I have to be the little skunk at this garden party. I can not share the enthusiasm for this edition which many reviewers have expressed. In fact, I discourage you discriminating collectors from buying this, as it is notably flawed.
I was compelled to buy this by the publisher's product description which claimed that it "set the standard for high quality." As a book collector I love buying these ultra-deluxe editions of all types of subject matter. Recent examples in the comics genre would include: The Deluxe Edition of Frank Miller's Sin City; The Complete Far Side; The Complete Calvin and Hobbes; The Completely Mad Don Martin. Each of these sets is packaged in a very impressive manner: cloth-bound; slip-cased; tipped-in plates on the covers, super-high quality paper. I presumed this Absolute Dark Knight was going to be be in this same spirit, and given the high price (even when discounted by Amazon) I was confident the book would exceed my expectations for quality.
Alas, I was wrong. This large, heavy book is bound in a shiny-paper cover, just like the covers you had on your Dr. Suess books x-number of years ago. These covers get dinged up very easily and look cheap and cheesey from day one. The slip case? It is also covered only in thin shiny paper, and if this book gets any real usage at all it will look like garbage very promptly. And, with the heavy weight, this book is particularly susceptible to damage because when you bump it, there is more inertia behind it. And the torque pulling on the binding and spine from merely reading it is considerable. This production concept MANDATED quality construction, and the idiots who produced it are hoping the majority of consumers are not scrutinizing enough to note, or care about, the compromises. And it is further infuriating when you realize this malfeasance was motivated merely by the desire to shave a few bucks off the production costs.
I should admit this issue of cheap book-making is a huge one for me, and I think once people make the distinction it is a big issue for them as well. Cloth covers (or "buckram," as they are often called), will last for decades even with heavy use. As the cover ages it even takes on some character which arguably enhances the book, or at least it does not detract. With the cheap paper-covered cardboard covers used on so many books nowadays, the cover get scraped, dented, dinged, and otherwise degraded in an amazingly short time. If you spend any time in used-books stores, or on Advanced Book Exchange (abe.com), you can see the difference in appearances, and dollar values, displayed vividly.
If they had put a quality cover on this it almost certainly would have become a highly-valued collectable ten or twenty years from now. But, no, they cut a significant corner, and instead this will probably be only of nominal value. Or, perhaps, it will be of virtually no value if they get around to doing it right in an upgraded edition which really does deliver the quality which the subject matter deserves. Meanwhile, I'm sending this right back to Amazon.
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