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BATMAN: THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS AEREOGRAMME Frank Miller, Klaus Janson and Lynn Varley Sleep and Release iUC'ltzi" 0.... z ' :- ' 2' ' BATMAN: THE DARK KNIGHT STRIKES AGAIN coco. Frank Miller and Lynn Varley IDC ’l m." C...
“new”-
, H. H , GUITESANE ‘ " ‘ ' ' Child of Troubled ‘ " “ ‘3 “I Times 000 .P ‘ ‘ ,m' 1' ' i ' ' ""' ""1'5‘“ 5 vAnioUS l" . M ‘ t Acid Jan's Long Lost Brother ' v z- i I : z-- .0 r '. ti- : * 15 Acid Jazz Years of ' ' “ " ' ' Lost and Found H 4' l. .i' ’l __ Rarities Batman as sadist in The Dark Knight : w‘f. l" .. .i' " ' w -, f.‘ E1 " ’ ..... ‘This started a revolution,‘ a friend grandly t',"‘1,'_"‘,-" EM“: ° 41- :v w: ' announced as he picked up my brand new copy 26"“ '1‘ u‘. v~ ' 2' of the hardback reissue of Frank Miller‘s .2 cw: : «w. remarkable 1986 comic. Comrade, you are ..‘.fi-'-'- 1 w». “low: certainly not wrong there. Seventeen years on aminw. :a toyii "’ W W ~ N. and The Dark Knight Returns is stillastunning, "‘4'-'>-::x: .wrz'w la galling, challenging read whose influence on the Y :wa'r '«.-’- : - " . t superhero comic books genre is irreproachable. :;.~i.-. .Il' ’2 :1..~ " '4' ’r-. . v saw" ' Originally intended by Miller as a mail-order- :i W. _."“‘:Xl‘(>’ tn: :zt's. “re . . only collectors‘ item, The Dark Knight Returns Lil/1:51il'VlflTH‘il‘» "'l‘.-’: v r ' "i re-imagined Gotham City's greatest superhero mar: f'w .'. 52" x’) ‘ v as an ageing, almost psychotic millionaire "’1"‘l1 s-x. ivw'iw “Ll ' v .:. v r: w ' vigilante. Cranky and stiff with his years, this '7 ..'.("l f'gi’w. E ’l’ .: '_ 1'21? 'r-w, sadistic Batman fights crime eye-for-an-eye, .‘.;‘:"'.<:(l 1“ “m' f'w- : i'.-’ v with the sole aim of avenging his parent’s El gawk iégiifiuit" Mr W '5 ;. ~ ' w: w , murder (Tim Burton took the cue for his two Batman films from Miller’s Diagigirixx” l‘ri ."Z'Wt " 'wai- ":2" «w: °_' :i dark vision). Along the way Batman picks up a new Robin, but loses many “flaw Rwiwtsv ' .f". 'w ‘le " ’ friends thanks to the huge amount of gratuitous violence that follows him K , w “I, [K : a'°‘f"d' . . . . . TURIN BRAKES K " Miller was (and is, to a lesser extent) a brilliant, irasmble self promoter Ether Song .-'-'2 " 7' w ~ '1': U: :w» i; ' who once spoke pompously of creating a vanguard of new wave comic Sm...“ ... ’ l v ~ ‘ '2 ' 7; v ' '3 ': book followers. Whether or not he claimed his hordes, there can be little ' '- ' < ' < i ‘w ’3 ‘ ‘ « doubt that The Dark Knight Returns is a work of genius. What really . ' v < r ' ? impresses is how hard Miller (as writer and illustrator) makes the reader ‘ i i ‘ r ' ' work - there is no filler, no exposition, just pure, divine. heretic narrative. < ' ' ' " i ' z «i In 2001 Miller finally answered those baying hordes of fans (new wave or i : ' ' i r '2 w ' otherwise) with a sequel. Batman: The Dark Knight Strikes Again is ' ‘ ' i l “I ' ; ' v» '3' certainly a lot better drawn (and let‘s not forget Varley’s electric colouring) ' - i i ‘ .“l ' ' ‘ ' ‘ 'r " ' i than the previous collection, but a certain iconoclastic freshness has been ' u i' 'v' ' ‘x ' z, ' lost with the passage of time. In the 19805 the demythologising of ' .-' ' ~ ~ :/ ' ' i w- ' ' ' .- superheroes was something new (see Alan Moore’s Watchmen as well as R '1 i ‘- "w.- 5 r' r ' r" Miller’s work), now it's de rigueur. Tit-3, (yaw,- ti~;:.m;::~_:;.<; ;, / vv . i 1w ' i :' ~ ; Still, Miller's sequel is a joy. Along with Batman. Superman played a JV. 'x, 521- all? to. ’l"l f) . RM"- i’.’ ‘1. ' i 0' CI'UCIaI role In the preVIous story, but this time K" :y‘ts; ii'Vl Galen” Mary Star of the Sea f»? '7 ’1 "1
Miller pulls out all the stops. The gang's all here: Pawigi" :a". I' _ -: [gm]. .J, .... :
the Flash, the Atom, Cat Girl and Wonder '-:;~i(:;i<;(; ':‘ 1‘an ‘4 " i: ' 'i ‘ Woman are among a superhero cast of "(1'7"‘t’ifé"! «4...? in r (J v. ' ' ' "' w.- ‘ n i , ” 0 thousands. Batman, beaten half to death and O.’;."”‘ s: f.'.:. ,‘:£i"~,21i;’, {.‘:"‘5:l,‘; 'r‘w < ~ ' r 'w 5‘ ' a' 'i vilified by the media and press at the end of The A warm f" é! "-1211 xviswi'ryi. ,qw" " " "w " HI‘ Dark Knight Returns, comes back with what H ga' ‘ v "v r' < ' ~ ( v v w T' ‘ K . W " a? "W basically amounts to his own terror cell to do " r : I I, } ‘zw ' l ’, ' w ' ' m '2 ' I 1 "4 battle with an American presidential '1 'r ' l)‘,"""" a r' '4 ' m ' ‘v a" administration that makes Dubya's axis of evil 9 z: ‘ ' a: < ‘ v ' . 3 l « ' ‘ " ~ " ‘: NC" ’>‘ look like a pack of boy scouts. 6.5. - i. ' ' 'v w, w ’2' " < . ' l‘." Both books are crucial collections you should _ l '3'- Y‘; w ' ' ‘ :- " ‘ H ' '19.“? ml ‘> spend your last shekel on. Both new editions 'I’fll‘iI-‘fl'lI'AiI'iiiiirmuuu‘i n . . . : . .1, . , W { , .- . ., r come with notes, essays and preliminary ..'—.;..,,,..3‘.._.-,,;." S a, ' s . z . , . ' , , . , " ’E’J'TJ‘I’I I ’ ‘ ’1‘ drawings. (Paul Dale) " ° '" "" """a "‘;i":::;~’- '_ f) '2 ': w”: Th'igzv‘ <30"wa , :1'."3’:1// '51"‘:'.Zt"’l
94 THE LIST .‘vh ‘ 4‘.‘v.‘:' .‘