10 Greatest "Dead And I Know It" Comic Book Moments

10. Dick Grayson - The Dark Knight Strikes Again

Looking to recapture the brilliance of Frank Miller's 1986 miniseries The Dark Knight Returns, 2002's The Dark Knight Strikes Again was sadly a lacklustre tale with a relatively dull story, some extremely erratic artwork, and an unwarranted extra 50 pages on its predecessor.

Still, one thing that The Dark Knight Strikes Again did manage to do was surprise readers by having Dick Grayson revealed as the 'big bad' of this three-part tale.

Sure, many long-time Grayson fans were left a tad baffled by Miller's idea to pull off such a twist, but hey, Frank Miller has never exactly been one to care for your feelings. Also, there's the caveat that the events of this world take place on Earth-31.

Dick isn't just the main villain of the piece here, but he's undergone "radical gene therapy" that means he can't die and he can regenerate (this all coming after he was fired by Batman years prior).

While axing off Grayson's head doesn't work, the grizzled Caped Crusader has better luck when he dives at this former Robin and knocks them both towards a pool of lava beneath the Batcave. After Superman swoops in to grab Bats, it's here that this alt-world Dick Grayson realises he's toast.

Authored by Andrew Pollard

Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks/Saints, Jamie Hayter, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.

First Posted On: 26th Aug 2021

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The-Flash