The Dark Knight Returns

The Dark Knight Returns is one of those "classics" I was always told to read, and after doing so, I can see why. Written by Frank Miller, it has a strange sort of...je ne sais quoi about it that only Miller can do.

Building itself up as sort of a "what if" story about a retired Batman who returns to the street with the intention of tying up all of his loose ends, from the Joker to Superman, Dark Knight is a very gripping tale, with plenty of satisfying twists and turns.

In true Frank Miller fashion, it features a cast of take-no-shit men and overtly masculine women, with a few good psychopaths thrown in to have something for them to focus on.

I have to say that while I am not really a fan of superhero comics, this is one that I can certainly get behind. Like Kingdom Come and Watchmen, it weaves a narrative about painfully human characters who attempt to make sense of the world's inherent disorder through the use (and abuse) of their powers - either supernatural or scientific in origin.

The final battle between Superman and Batman crafts an analogy stronger than the personal grievances between these two men - it tells us something about the inherent struggle between the human who attempts to solve social ills through technology and force (Batman) and the supernatural ideal that attempts to save all of mankind from itself (Superman).

Interesting that something that began as a way of getting kids to give up their nickels serves us so many years later as an artistically-adroit platform for exploring moral theory - and brought to us by Frank Miller, of all people.