9. The Dark Knight Returns: Bruce Wayne Sleep Shaves
When I first set out to write this article, I knew immediately that I wanted to include something from this classic series. But picking out exactly which moment to use was a whole different story. The Dark Knight Returns tells the story of an older Bruce Wayne who has hung up his cape and given up being Batman. He even grows a mustache as a way of keeping himself from putting on the mask. But when a new gang, the Mutants, begin to attack the city, Bruce cannot help but don his cape and cowl once more. Unfortunately, in doing so he also causes the recently reformed Harvey Dent to become Two-Face once more and revives a near-catatonic Joker. There is a moment early in the story where Alfred finds Bruce sleepwalking into the Batcave that I believe best captures the theme of the whole story. Bruce cannot help being Batman; its not a choice, its a need. Even his subconscious knows this, and he awakens clean-shaven, ready to put on the costume once more and defend the streets of Gotham.