The influence of The Dark Knight Returns on Batman and on comic book culture overall is fairly staggering. Miller's first Batman story, Returns is a future-set take on the character that sees Bruce Wayne retired for ten years. Aging yet still haunted by the death of his parents, Bruce tries to resist putting the cape and cowl back on when Gotham is overtaken by a brutal gang called the Mutants. Forget that The Dark Knight Strikes Again: this is his last Batman story, a truly epic and redefining take on the character that had previously been trapped in the campiness of decades past. Returns - along with Tim Burton's first big-screen incarnation - helped shape the Batman that dominates our comics and movie screens today. There are bone-crunching battles with new villains, a dreamy Joker sequence, new gadgets, new allies, and a climax that pits Bruce against a more-than-worthy adversary. But the finer points make Returns really sing: artist Jim Lee pointed to Bruce realising his moustache is gone as a significant moment, Bruce thinking "he could drop the cowl, but it was deep inside him." The Dark Knight Returns is Miller at the height of both his writing and illustrative abilities. The sophistication in the storytelling is something he was never able to fully capture again, and it's something that could likely never be captured in any medium besides comics, and there's an inherent "comic book" quality to each panel, discarded in favour of street-crime realism in books like Year One and Born Again. Batman, the Mutant Leader, and the fast-talking gangs of Gotham are all larger than life in The Dark Knight Returns - and so is Miller. What are your favourite comics by Frank Miller? Agree or disagree with the rankings? Sound off in the comments below!
