BATMAN: THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS

written and penciled by Frank Miller

inked by Klaus Janson

colored by Lynn Varley

published by DC Comics

ISBN-10: 1563893428

ISBN-13: 978-1563893421

reviewed by Adam Armstrong

4.12.09

Along with Watchmen, one of the greatest comics ever written.

We look at the last few weeks of the life of Batman. Bruce Wayne, now in his mid to late fifties, has retired his Batman mantle and has taken up drinking. Gotham City is completely overridden with crime. When Two-Face returns so does Batman, which in turn brings back the Joker. A new police commissioner takes over for James Gordon and authorizes the capture of Batman using lethal force after Batman is framed for murder. If that wasn’t bad enough the government sends its own secret weapon, a certain man of steel, on one simple mission: kill Bruce Wayne.

The Dark Knight Returns is so well done that I find my mind wandering back to it weeks after I finished reading it. It is such a dark look at the darkest superhero we all know fairly well. Not only does the book tell an excellent story, it also takes an interesting look at aging with the battle of inner demons and that deep down we all have a little left if we dig for it. This is truly Frank Miller’s greatest work both as a writer and artist.

Buy it, buy it now: 5 out of 5