Sometime in college, at a time I can't recall, I had decided to pick up the sequel to one of the greatest comic book mini-series of all time: The Dark Knight Returns by Frank Miller. By all accounts, the book stands as a masterwork, a triumph to all things Batman and a testament to the writing and art of Frank Miller. So, after 15 years, how do you follow it?To me, The Dark Knight Strikes again or, in this article, DK2, is not about being a sequel as it is the purest form of artistic expression in a mainstream comic book I have ever seen.
The book was released in 3 issues from November 2001 to July 2002. In a post-9/11 world, the setting for the series and timing couldn't be better. Frank Miller doesn't deliver perfectly, but his tale of a government acting as nothing more than a hologram while the real villains (Lex Luthor and Braniac) control the planet is incredible!
But, to me, the real shocker and thing to take away from it is simply how dynamic and, in a way, hard-to-read it is. Taking the use of TV in 1985 and setting it in 2001, its as if Frank Miller actually CREATED Twitter! What do I mean? At countless points in the book, whenever an action-heavy scene is created that requires responses from the average person, mini snap-shots of dialogue from various people arrive. In the end, you're left a little confused and worried and trying to understand whats going on while you're reading snippets of conversations about the event mixed with random thoughts people have! Twitter! In 2002! Amazing!
There doesn't seem to be any one event in particular that makes Batman come back after pretending to be dead for 3 years; just a reaction to what he's seen. Also, despite pushing 60 and a gut, Batman is now fit as a fiddle and immediately springs The Atom and The Flash with Carrey who is now Catwoman. Oh, and Batman personally beats the crap out of Superman for the hell of it!
While all this is going on, with Batman trying to get Supes' to realize that he's been lied to by his government and wake-up, we have a B-story that never actually develops. A group called "The Superchix" is created once people realize Superman is alive. They cause a lot of uproar, but you never get the idea of what's going on with them or their story, and once Batman storms in with his little troops and gets them to join him, it doesn't make an impact because... well... you never fucking see them!
The book is drawn in a style that is Miller, but isn't. It is fast, loose, impulsive, and looks like it was done in a rush. In the end, it works towards and against Miller's advantage. Its one of the most energetic books I've ever read, and it doesn't stop often. There are quiet moments, and watching Superman and Wonder Woman do it in mid air... classic comics moment. Ha!
In the end, the book is a sort of "reluctant sequel". The longest question in comics for a while was "Will Frank Miller ever do another Dark Knight Returns story?" I think he made everyone never want another.
Personally, I enjoyed the book. I didn't see it as a sequel to a great book, just a continuation of the story itself. I wasn't thrilled with everything, and there were a ton of things I would have loved to see explored in depth, like Lex and Braniac rising to power and how they combined forces, the relationship between Superman and his daughter, the entire Superchix thing.
Raiting? 3 out of 5.
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