Batman The Dark Knight Returns

In the early 1980s, Dick Giordano, the group’s editor working on Batman comics, was promoted to chief editor. ^[2] The result was the hiring of Frank Miller , a writer and artist, to create The Return of the Dark Knight . Giordano says he worked on the plot of the comic with Miller. He commented as follows: “The final version of the story, finally completed, was almost quarter or fifth drawn by Frank. The original plot remained essentially the same, but a lot of minor changes were made. ” ^[3]

Giordano left the project halfway due to disagreements with Miller over the timing of the comic book's publication. Giordano said: "Frank wanted to continue working on the comic strip when it had to be completed." Comic book researcher Lee Daniels commented on Miller’s ignoring of the comic book deadline as “the climax in the struggle for the artist’s independence.” DC released The Dark Knight Returns, complete with additional pages and on glossy paper, to emphasize the watercolor painting by artist Lynn Warley. ^[four]

In an interview, Miller stated that Dirty Harry inspired the plot, perhaps the 1983 film “ Sudden Blow ”, which, like “The Return of the Dark Knight”, describes an aged hero who returned to fighting crime after a long break. Miller also points to his age, considering it one of the factors that influenced the plot. ^[five]

“The Return of the Dark Knight” originates in the version of Gotham City of the near future, which has the features of anti-utopia . The year is not specified anywhere, but exactly ten years have passed since the last report on Batman’s activity, the current president of America is, apparently, Ronald Reagan or someone similar to him, the Cold War is still ongoing. In fact, all superheroes, except Superman , were forced to resign by force or lost the trust of the population. Bruce Wayne voluntarily resigned due to the death of Jason Todd (second Robin ). In the absence of superheroes, criminals filled the streets, and a gang calling itself Mutants terrorizes Gotham City.

This state of affairs forces 56-year-old Wayne to put on his Batman costume again to fight crime. Despite Wayne's rehab including plastic surgery, Harvey Dent , nicknamed Two-Faced, appears to have returned to crime. Batman arrests Dent, but meanwhile, there is a debate among the population about whether Batman’s methods have a right to exist in society. Media resources have a very large role in The Return of the Dark Knight , interrupting the story with news reports and current affairs discussions by reporters and presenters.

• Bruce Wayne / Batman - 55 years old, abandoned the Batman mask ten years before the start of the story. The violence that crowded the streets of Gotham, and the internal demons of Bruce, which he can no longer restrain, force him to resume the fight against crime.
• Alfred Pennyworth is Wayne's faithful butler, medic, and confidante. He’s already eighty in history.
• Carrie Kelly / Robin is a 13-year-old girl who has become Batman's new assistant. During the creation of the comic, Miller’s acquaintance, artist and writer John Byrne, told him: “Robin must be a girl,” and Miller agreed. Comics researcher Les Daniels commented as follows: “Looking back, this trend seems logical, perhaps even necessary due to homophobia, started by Frederick Wertram more than 39 years ago.”
• James Gordon - Gotham City Police Commissioner for 26 years - and a Police Officer for 50 years - resigned at the age of 70. Gordon is aware of Batman's dual identity and supports the Crusader in the Cloak.
• Harvey Dent / Two-faced - after many years in a psychiatric hospital, Harvey's face was restored with plastic surgery, and the doctor wrote him out, believing he was completely healthy, physically and mentally. However, he is still Two-faced inside, and continues to terrorize the city, hiding his face under the bandages.
• The Joker is Batman’s archenemy waking up from a catatonic state when Batman returned to the fight against crime. The Joker Batman obsession has intensified significantly. His brutal return to the underworld gave rise to the last battle with Batman.
• The leader of the Mutants is the head of a gang calling itself Mutants. Batman is severely beaten in the first fight, goes to prison, kills the mayor (while still in prison), escapes, and again encounters Batman, this time losing.
• Dr. Bartholomew Volper is a psychiatrist of Two-Face and the Joker and a staunch opponent of Batman’s methods, which he calls “fascist”. Volper is convinced that the Joker and Two-Face are both actually victims of Batman's Crusades - he claims that Batman has led them to become criminals - becoming an ideal adversary. However, his attempt to cure Two-Face failed, and, in the end, the Joker killed him in front of a large audience of the night show, while trying to show the Joker to the public as an example of “Batman victims”.
• Ellen Indel is the new Gotham Police Commissioner, who replaced Gordon. Starting the persecution of Batman, she however doubted after the pogrom arranged by the Joker and finally came to the conclusion that Batman was "too big" to be able to judge him.
• Oliver Quinn / Green Arrow is a defender of Star City, after the ban on superheroes, he becomes a secret terrorist fighting the oppression of the government. He lost his left hand a few years ago, and blames Superman for it. However, he is still an excellent archer, using his teeth to pull the bowstring.
• Clark Kent / Superman is the Earth's greatest superhero in the past, and now is just a pawn of the US government. His internal monologue shows that he is disgusted with being an instrument of government, but this is the only way, in his opinion, to be useful.

IGN named The Dark Knight Returns the first on the list of Batman’s 25 greatest graphic novels, leaving second place to Frank Miller’s other comic book, Batman: Year One . ^{[6] The} review on the site also calls a “real masterpiece” with “unforgettable scenes” the comic book series “The Dark Knight Returns” . ^[7]

In 2001 and 2002, DC Comics released The Dark Knight Strikes Again , a sequel to The Dark Knight Returns , also written by Frank Miller. The comic book, which was very different in style from the original, received mixed ratings, but was one of the best-selling DC comics in that time.

In 2005, Time magazine named the comic book “One of the Top Ten Graphic Novels of All Time Written in English.”

Writer Matthew Manning, in his 2010 book DC Comics Year By Year A Visual Chronicle , in the 1980s chapter, called the comic book “perhaps the best Batman story ever”. ^[eight]

In the current DC Multiverse, the events of “The Dark Knight Returns” and subsequent comics take place on Earth-31.

Television

• In the episode of The New Batman Adventures , an animated series entitled The Legends of the Dark Knight, there is a scene based on both skirmishes with the leader of the Mutant gang (voiced by Kevin Michael Richardson ). Michael Ironside , usually the voice of Darkseid , voiced Batman's version of The Dark Knight Returns in this scene. The series was released on October 10, 1998.
• One member of the Mutant gang appears in Season 2 of the Teen Titans series , in an episode titled “Forever - How Long?”, Throwing tomatoes at an elderly Beast Boy in a cage.
• The animated series "The Batman" used many elements of the comic book. The name and character traits of Ellena Jan’s character are very similar to Ellena Indel, Police Commissioner in the Miller comic strip. Ellen Yang's character appears in season 4 episode Artifacts, where she is the new Gotham Police Commissioner in 2027.
• The Batman costume from the comic book “The Dark Knight Returns” appeared in episode 19 of season 1 of the animated series “ Batman: The Brave and the Bold .” The series was called “Bat Might Legends,” where Bat Might changed Batman’s costumes, and when he got the DKR costume, he called it “too crazy”.

Cinema

• Zak Snyder , director of two famous movie adaptations of The Keepers comic books by Alan Moore and 300 Miller, expressed his desire to remove the adaptation of The Dark Knight Returns at Comic-Con in San Diego when asked about directing other adaptations serious comic books. Miller later replied, “You can take it off anytime, Zach.” The producer of the 1989–1997 Batman series, Michael Uslan also expressed his interest in a possible film ^[9] .
• Batman vs. Superman: At The Dawn of Justice , released on March 24, 2016, is partly based on The Dark Knight Returns , directed by Zack Snyder .
• The animated version of the comic was divided into two parts, which were released in 2012 and 2013. Several veterans of Batman film production took part in the creation of the paintings. ^{[10] [11]} .

• “The Dark Knight Returns” on the Comic Book DB
• The plot on darkknight.ca (inaccessible link from 09/03/2013 [2172 days] - history , copy )
• “Batman: The Dark Knight Returns” and “Batman: The Dark Knight Strikes Again” on sequart.com
• Article about "Batman: The Dark Knight Returns" at Batman-On-Film.com
• Detailed analysis of the series