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THE DARK KNIGHT STRIKES AGAIN #2
Recommended (8/10)
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DC Comics
Writer/Artist: Frank Miller
Colors: Lynn Varley
Letters: Todd Klein
Editor: Bob Schreck
Price: $7.95 US/$13.25 CAN |
The full title of the first Dark Knight series was Batman: The Dark Knight Returns. This book, though, as dropped from the "Batman," and after reading this issue, the reason is clear. Though he's the central figure in the plot, The Dark Knight Strikes Again is not a story about the Batman, Gotham City or his mission. Miller's use of a legion of super-heroes takes him away from telling one man's story, to telling one of far more universal importance.
After letting Luthor know he can get to him, Batman continues his recruitment of heroes of yesteryear in his campaign against tyranny. A pliable paladin from the old Justice League is welcomed into the fold in the Batcave, while elsewhere, the Question approaches a powerless alien ally. Meanwhile, Superman finds himself at the mercy (or lack thereof) of Brainiac's power, and a trio of super-hero-inspired pop singers ignites a fashion trend and accompanying public thirst for all things spandex and metahuman.
The art on this issue wasn't as strong as what we saw in the first issue. There was a greater simplicity at play here, and at times, the visuals were distractingly simple. Many characters, mostly minor ones, are little more than cariacatures, and while Miller might be trying to point out how one-dimensional they are that way, it robs the characters of their humanity. The cartoony heads floating about the book and their lack of detail took me out of the story on a couple of occasions, and it seemed as though the art was rushed in several spots.
Mind you, Miller managed to offset my distraction with the relevance of what those cartoony characters had to say. It seems clear that he is taking society to task for its inherent selfishness and ego. It would seem the writer has had enough with self-absorption he sees around him. I see exactly what he means. Too often, one is focused on how something will affect "me" instead of looking at the bigger picture of how it will affect "us." "Us" can be anything... a family, a neighborhood, a city, a country or the entire planet. That message help raise this story up from the level of a typical Elseworlds gathering-of-heroes tale to something broader and more symbolic.
Mind you, that traditional Elseworlds is a lot of fun, and it's far more intense under Miller's guidance. Even though they kind of gaudy and goofy, there's a contrasting edge to these resurrected heroes.
Miller's prose may be on the purple side, but it's damn effective too. His description of the passion shared between Superman and Wonder Woman is thoroughly convincing. One finds oneself almost envious of the physical connection that two impossible figures -- an alien and an amazon.
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