Product Description

If any comic has a claim to have truly reinvigorated the genre, then The Dark Knight Returns by Frank Miller--known also for his excellent Sin City series and his superb rendering of the blind superhero Daredevil--is probably the top contender. Batman represented all that was wrong in comics and Miller set himself a tough task taking on the camp crusader and turning this laughable, innocuous children's cartoon character into a hero for our times. The great Alan Moore (V for Vendetta, Swamp Thing, the arguably peerless Watchmen) argued that only someone of Miller's stature could have done this. Batman is a character known well beyond the confines of the comic world (as are his retinue) and so reinventing him, while keeping his limiting core essentials intact, was a huge task.Miller went far beyond the call of duty. The Dark Knight is a success on every level. Firstly it does keep the core elements of the Batman myth intact, with Robin, Alfred the butler, Commissioner Gordon, and the old roster of villains, present yet brilliantly subverted. Secondly the artwork is fantastic--detailed, sometimes claustrophobic, psychotic. Lastly it's a great story: Gotham City is a hell on earth, street gangs roam but there are no heroes. Decay is ubiquitous. Where is a hero to save Gotham? It is 10 years since the last recorded sighting of the Batman. And things have got worse than ever. Bruce Wayne is close to being a broken man but something is keeping him sane: the need to see change and the belief that he can orchestrate some of that change. Batman is back. The Dark Knight has returned. Awesome. --Mark Thwaite

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #407 in Books
• Published on: 1997-05-01
• Released on: 1997-05-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 224 pages

Amazon.com Review
If any comic has a claim to have truly reinvigorated the genre, then The Dark Knight Returns by Frank Miller--known also for his excellent Sin City series and his superb rendering of the blind superhero Daredevil--is probably the top contender. Batman represented all that was wrong in comics and Miller set himself a tough task taking on the camp crusader and turning this laughable, innocuous children's cartoon character into a hero for our times. The great Alan Moore (V for Vendetta, Swamp Thing, the arguably peerless Watchmen) argued that only someone of Miller's stature could have done this. Batman is a character known well beyond the confines of the comic world (as are his retinue) and so reinventing him, while keeping his limiting core essentials intact, was a huge task.

Miller went far beyond the call of duty. The Dark Knight is a success on every level. Firstly it does keep the core elements of the Batman myth intact, with Robin, Alfred the butler, Commissioner Gordon, and the old roster of villains, present yet brilliantly subverted. Secondly the artwork is fantastic--detailed, sometimes claustrophobic, psychotic. Lastly it's a great story: Gotham City is a hell on earth, street gangs roam but there are no heroes. Decay is ubiquitous. Where is a hero to save Gotham? It is 10 years since the last recorded sighting of the Batman. And things have got worse than ever. Bruce Wayne is close to being a broken man but something is keeping him sane: the need to see change and the belief that he can orchestrate some of that change. Batman is back. The Dark Knight has returned. Awesome. --Mark Thwaite

Customer Reviews

Very high-quality graphic novel.
This is a great purchase for anyone wanting a good Batman comic who's familiar with Batman and his journey through the years. His return sparks much interest throughout Gotham and the world and one of his friends that has fought along side him against the villians of the DC universe. The imagery is surreal and Frank Miller has outdone himself again.

The shipping was quick, and my new copies were delivered without any hassles. This is a great buy.

Not bad, but not great
I bought this book shortly after reading Watchmen because it got me into the spirit of graphic novels. Unfortunately, this is not nearly as good as Watchmen. It does have some depth, but the writing and story is nothing to get too excited about.

The artwork is interesting and fits the mood of the story, but I felt at times that perhaps it was a bit too loose and stylized. There were some illustrations that I plain didn't like at all.

I enjoyed reading it and it had some good points, but overall it was just ok for me.

Great book!
Originally was out to just purchase Watchmen. Several reviews for that book said it was very good like DKR. Also noticed that DKR was on Amazon's top 100 seller list (along with Watchmen). So I went ahead and bought both. I can't match the other great reviews out there for this book but I still wanted to add my 5 stars to it.