Review Tuesday: Batman: The Dark Knight Returns by Miller and Janson

Last week I mentioned that my friend handed me TWO Batman graphic novels. If one was The Killing Joke you know that the other had to be:

THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS

Tens years after his last sighting, Gotham City decays under the weight of gang violence and fear of the Cold War, the Batman is forced out of retirement. 

When it comes to stories like this, I like to remind people that it was written during the 80s. The country (and the world) was still recovering from the effects of the 70s. Escalation of violence between the superpowers. The American economy was recovering but it still hadn't impacted many of the inner cities. With less tax revenue, cities had to do more with less. Violence escalated as constabularies were forced to shrink under smaller budgets. Those were good days to be a criminal. That was was what Frank Miller tapped into when he wrote THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS. Fear. For about my own personal well being. Fear for my family. Fear for my city. Fear for my country. Fear for my WORLD.

Ten years after Batman retired from crime fighting, Commissioner Jim Gordon is, also, ready to retire. The trouble is that Gotham City is under siege by a criminal menace called the Mutant Gang who promise to kill Gordon before he can hang up his badge and call it a career. Violence gets to the point that Bruce Wayne can't allow it to go on any longer and puts back on the cape and cowl.

The book is about what Batman had to do bring down the Mutant Gang, Two Face, The Joker, and even SUPERMAN restore law and order in his beloved city. 

Amazing story. Fantastic artwork. Worth reading. 

Kindle format

Paperback