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, streetgangs 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

This is the brilliance of "The Dark Night Returns." Miller completely respects the legend, while creating something entirely new at the same time.

My conclusion? Frank Miller is a fine writer, but has absolutely *no business writing superheroes.* He comes from that self-satisfied stratum of hipster, who thinks that if you aren't injecting Politics and Current Events into your art, then it's not Real Art. And it's not even well thought out politics, either. I read as much as I could. You get used to reading leftist politics, when you enjoy things like comics and fantasy and science-fiction, so I figured I could just tune it out and focus on the story. The last straw, though, was when he trots out the old saw of portraying Reagan (this was written in the '80s) as an aw-shucks idiot who is sumultaneously a somnambulist bungler and a sinister mastermind. And maybe another time I would have been able to ignore it. But I think it was just too fresh, too soon.

So I picked up the other comic I got from the library: a volume of Kurt Busiek's Astro City. What a breath of fresh air, after reading Miller's poison! The more I read, the more I just fell in love. I mean, he has superheroes who fight for god.. and they *aren't* jokes. They aren't the bad guys! How novel is that? Busiek takes superheroes seriously. He takes good and evil seriously, while still leaving room for humor, for human frailty, for both despair and hope, for real emotion. This is what superheroes are supposed to be.

So that's my endorsement for Kurt Busiek. He reminds me quite a lot of Gaiman, in the way that he constructs his stories. If you're interested in comics at all, you need to read Astro City.

As for the assertion by many that DKR was the harbinger of the comic book world's 'grim-and-gritty-anti-hero' era-- well, if this assertion does have merit, I see it as a good thing. 'Cuz back in the day, I really enjoyed reading the adventures of rival Marvel's two grimmest-and-grittiest guys: Ghost Rider version 2 and the Punisher, both of whom got their own ongoing titles shortly after DKR hit the stands. I also liked how Batsy really laid the smack-down on his criminal foes-- especially his crippling of the Joker, who managed to finish himself off immediately after being incapacitated in a most amazing and disquieting manner. And despite his superior strength, speed, and agility, I always figured Batman could hold his own in a knockdown drag-out against Superman-- which he does and the some at the story's climax. I only wish he fought a bit more cleanly than he did, but that wouldn't have been 'grim-and-gritty' enough I guess...

The tenth anniversary edition of this TPB includes the original text script to the last issue of this story arc. I found it to be a fairly interesting look at the creative process involved in the conception of a four-color story. I also found it interesting to see the stuff that was originally gonna be put to the Bristol board, and compare it to what eventually did make the cut, and what was changed or removed. If you've ever wondered how they come up with some of those comic stories you're so fond of reading, this bonus feature is a must-read.

Anyhoo, like I stated before, I found Batman: "The Dark Knight Returns" a really good super-hero comic story, but it falls short of being among the all-time-greatest tome that most fanboys have told me it is. I might read this once more in my lifetime, but that's about it. It isn't even Frank Miller's best work on the character in my opinion-- that honor goes to "Batman: Year One", which you can check out at www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0930289331/ref=pd_sim_books_2/002-6135121-8178428?v=glance&s=books. Happy reading!

'Late