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4.11 AVERAGE
4.11 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Might be a hot take to say but I've never been the biggest fan of The Dark Knight Returns. While it definitely has moments of greatness scattered throughout the moments of ridiculousness to the point of absurdity make it hard to fully immerse myself. I know it's meant to be satire but I feel it's heavy handed and doesn't let the story breathe or take its time to sink in, it just quickly moves to the next thing. The mutants are too much of an exaggeration for me to even find them the slightest bit compelling as villains and other stuff is brought in with little to no explanation with no real bearing on the story (I don't get the flying, talking, exploding doll thing at all) It's also a little hard to male out what the characters are saying with the slang. So while I don't hate it I'm not the biggest fan either.
adventurous
dark
emotional
inspiring
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The definitive Batman storey it does not get better than this.
I love the artwork, which is gritty and rough and detailed and sets the tone of this novel, as does the great writing. And I think that The Dark Knight Returns critics dislike the book for the same reason its fans love it: it's a departure for a Batman comic. But at the same time it incorporates so much of the original Batman lore. That's what makes it so good! Batman is more psychologically complex than ever before and the Joker is more horrifying than ever before. What's not to like?
I feel like this text should play a much larger role in scholarship on the rise of the Far Right. Miller is giddily indifferent to the question of whether the story supports or is critiquing fascism—instead, he just exults in toying with fascism, dancing on the razor’s edge between earnest embrace and sneering disavowal, a maneuver that has been learned and perfected by thousands of people hiding behind the defense that “I was being ironic” or “it was a joke!” The fact that this text is treated as a classic of the graphic novel tradition and not as the comics equivalent of The Turner Diaries is profoundly disturbing.
Also, the drawing is shit.
Also, the drawing is shit.
challenging
dark
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
If you like Frank Miller you'll like The Dark Knight Returns. If you're not a fan of Frank Miller, then it is just another Frank Miller graphic novel.
An interesting meditation on whether Batman causes his own villains. The dystopic setting is fun as well as the climactic fight. The news talk is a bit too on the nose/stilted. Very much in the tradition of Watchmen, but not nearly as good.
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
