this is not the groundbreaking and character-changing event that the original the dark knight returns, but frank miller's return to the bleak, possible-future batman in dk2: the dark knight strikes again still shares a biting commentary on the progress of today's world with that original tale. however, this story, in keeping with miller's desire to make a statement on the development of comic books before the original, no longer holds any possibility of being just a generation away. the present dc comics continuity could not consistently lead to miller's dark knight, and that's just how he wants it.
all my favorite dc heroes make an appearance in the book, and i mean all of them. green arrow, the question, ray palmer atom, hal jordan green lantern, and the barry allen flash all factor strongly in the plot, and the creeper also makes an appearance if only to be killed by the new joker. but it is precisely the plot which i found weak in comparison to the original dark knight. i found the story to be full of the same sarcasm and nose-thumbing at today's media, but the actual plot-conflict was simplistic at best and all the real twists were in the pulling together of the cast. there are a couple of surprises, but they are in-jokes for those of us who've been reading comics since the silver age or earlier, rather than contributions to the actual story.
i found the book thoroughly enjoyable, but only as a reminder of what the present state of comics could have been, as seen through a jaundiced eye. i miss barry allen and hal jordan and i guess miller does too.
thanks, frank.
juiced May 20, 2003 01:09 PM | pokes (0)