Batman: The Dark Knight Returns

This is one where the message of the story appealed more to me than the story itself. As far as the story goes, I like the idea of an aging Batman trying to carry on his mission in his older years. Probably what bothered me most about the story was the profanity used. I realize people talk like this, and this is not Adam West's Batman, but the number of times the name of God or Jesus was used as an expression of excitement or despair was disappointing.

As for the message, I liked that the story shows that crime isn't cured simply through behavior modification. As a Christian, I believe the world and its inhabitants suffer from the sin disease. No amount of legislation or treatment can cure this. Only a heart changed by God. Batman realizes he cannot cure the evil himself and this resonates with my perspective. (I do not believe this story is meant to convey a Christian message, only that what I got out of the story reflects my perspective.)

I was a bit disappointed in this story. I think it is because I have heard and read many comments about this being the best Batman story written. Taste is subjective, but I think I came in with expectations that were too high. Overall, I think I would choose Year One over this one, but that's just my opinion.

StoryI'm not sure if it's the hype, the amount of time since it's publication, the artwork or something else, but I find myself a bit underwhelmed. I originally gave this 4 stars intending to declare it a 3.5 star rounded up, but as I was thinking about my review I decided to just give it a 3.There was some really interesting parts of the story, but some pages I just found bogged down and confusing. This might be more a product of the layout, I'm not really sure.I'm intrigued by the notion of an old Batman no longer in peak physical condition despite his best efforts. The idea of a female Robin is cool too, although not really explained. She's just a Batman groupie that he decides to take under his wing after proving herself useful.It's certainly a darker story as things are falling apart around Batman and the law is closing in on him. Commissioner Gordan is even older and being forced into retirement and the new Commissioner elect has it out for him.This is a lot to like, but I found it slow in places that overall brought it down for me. ArtworkI didn't like the artwork at all. What worse was the layout. The pages felt cramped. The text was badly placed making it confusing which panel it went with at times. I wondered if the art was a result of having so many tiny panels crammed into a single page, but I found even the larger panels and some of the full page to be lacking.I didn't read comics in the 80s as I was too young. The Marvel stuff I read in the 90s looked better than this based on my recollections at least, and I've grown accustomed to the digital art of the last 10 years or so. I found it distracting in places which didn't help when the story felt confusing or slow.Maybe I'm not a good judge of it having nothing from that time period to really compare it to save [b:Watchmen 472331 Watchmen Alan Moore https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1327866860s/472331.jpg 4358649] which to me looks much better despite only a year older.

This was... fine? I'm not 100% sure I get the fuss.

It definitely isn't quite what I expected. Batman retired years ago, and Gotham has fallen into decay. His work is being systematically undone. So Batman suits up again, even at his age.

Didn't much care for the art. Writing was fine but not amazing, which surprised me because this is supposed to be one of Frank Miller's great contributions to the medium.

I think I read this in high school and then (ironically?) wanted to re-read it to decide whether or not it should be in the teen graphic novel section. Obviously this deserves all kinds of props for being so groundbreaking, which for me bumps it up a star from how much I actually enjoyed it. Given all the Batmans that have followed this, it feels a little less cutting edge than reading it when it came out would have, but I think it still holds up pretty well as an action/adventure story with Bat-angst and Robin-pluckiness and Alfred-butlering.

(PS I decided to put it in adult.)

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LOLLLL I didn't check my goodreads before recording a podcast episod about this but I was like “this feels vaguely familiar but I don't think I've read it before” apparently I fully did read it in 2012. and weirdly liked it way more then? (At that time I gave it 4 stars which I am bumping down to 3. I think in 2021 I honestly liked it like 2 stars but just averaging it out I guess?)

anyway....much to discuss...

https://www.frowl.org/worstbestsellers/episode-180-the-dark-knight-returns/