I realize that this past weekend, and today, have been rather "snarky" in tone with my subject matter. Don't worry, readers: I'll lighten up after today's entry. But I just had a few "passion projects" burning a hole in my subject pocket, and if I DIDN'T speak of them, I'd feel like I was holding in an urgent bathroom trip. (Something which I am terrible at. It's either hit the bowl ASAP, or become extremely agitated.) So... Remember a certain creator I hinted at, yesterday? Someone that achieved some delay notoriety... along with his partner... for "All-Star Batman and Robin"? Well, that book wasn't the first time he returned to the Dark Knight Detective, after essentially setting up his motives and characterization for writers and artists for 20 years. No... Sadly for us readers, he decided to let his Dark Knight "Strike Again". As confusingly written, and HORRENDOUSLY illustrated, by Frank Miller.
When this series was announced for the Fall of 2001, I felt it was a rather big event. My teenage years had many revisits to his "Dark Knight Returns" trade, along with "Batman: Year One". Those two series DID come out when I was growing up, but this would be my opportunity to get in on the ground floor with a BRAND NEW FRANK MILLER take on Batman! I've heard nothing but great things on his "Sin City" material, and was curious to see what the deal was with this creator. And then... I opened the book.
The best way to describe this story is Frank Miller using Batman to kind of retell "Watchmen" in certain aspects, with elements that would oddly predate Marvel's "Civil War" event. Batman has firmly established himself as leader of a governmental rebellion, after the events of "Dark Knight Returns". Superman, having learned NOTHING from same series, is part of a superhuman government task force, established to bust the Batman. And Frank Miller, lacking any subtlety, shows the Presidency to be helmed by a combination ruse of Lex Luthor and Brainiac. As if this wasn't stressful enough, a person that looks an awful lot like the Joker is running around, killing off various heroes. Ah... Party times... And in between actual story development, we have random panels of news broadcasts, hosted by hot women that frequently showcase their breasts and bums. That Frank Miller... He knows ladies...
There IS some attempts to create a sense of development between the two story arcs. Carrie, the former Robin of "Dark Knight Returns", creates a new identity for herself based off of a Catwoman motif. While Superman is APPARENTLY still a sucker for the government... because it's not like he has a MIND OF HIS OWN, or anything... Frank Miller does predict the "New 52" future by pairing Clark with Wonder Woman as a couple. They even have a daughter! ... And in the second issue, they knock boots SO HARD, they cause a holocaust in the sky. ... Supes and Wondy, not with a daughter in sight, you sickos!
I'll tackle some of the obvious stumbles of the book. This WON'T be an assault on the modern reputation of Frank Miller; just a detailing of this book as an individual work. I'd invite you, the reader, to do a simple image search of any Frank Miller artwork from his earliest days working on "Daredevil", up to... say... "Sin City: That Yellow Bastard". Notice a shift between that illustration style, and the samples of "Dark Knight Strikes Again" I've been posting? Like a shift to the EXTREMELY negative spectrum of artistry? I WILL say Frank Miller could probably still draw better than a guy like me with no illustrative talent to speak of, but that is barely applicable. The mid-90's to current periods showcased a MASSIVE downgrading of Miller's artwork on a aesthetic level.
Another failing of the series... just from my perspective... is that Frank Miller tried to go "too big" with his coverage of the DC Universe. Miller keeping stories to a street-level basis, I'm okay with that. But when he starts playing with the DC Superheroes, you realize he's got NO CLUE how they work. Hell, he even REGRESSES Superman's development, just because he works better in Miller's world as a "stooge". Many people can gripe about Superman's characterization in Zack Snyder's "Man of Steel", but the one thing Snyder and Christopher Nolan got 100% accurate is Superman is NOT a government "lapdog". And it bugs me that Miller gave life to that stereotype, which people still ride to this day.
And then there's the writing, itself. Now one controversy about the storyline I will give Miller a pass for is the unfortunate timing of a scene where a flying Batmobile crashes into a building... not long after the real-life terror attacks of September 11, 2001.
I remember a documentary about DC Comics featuring Miller being interviewed about this, and he did showcase a legit sorrow for this element. So I won't knock him for not being able to foresee that this horrible event would occur in real life... and so close to the publishing of his first issue. (However, I CAN blame him for using this guilt to create the horrendous "Holy Terror" graphic novel. Just try and see if you can finish that book off, kiddies.)
No, the failing of the writing is it's just a mess. Pages are populated by either sound bytes from "news sources", or Batman talking "grim 'n gritty", or we're being confused by a story that still doesn't make much sense to me. I just condensed the synopsis for you as best I could, but when I first read this story, it made as much sense as a nuclear plant handbook written in Sanskrit. And then there's the lack of originality in some aspects. Why make Luthor a Presidential figure, when in the proper DC Universe, he was ALREADY President? And the twist to the Joker storyline... Ugh... In the words of "Ren and Stimpy's" Mr. Horse, "No Sir, I don't like it."
There's no denying the cultural and fictional impact Frank Miller left with his previous Batman works in "Dark Knight Returns" and "Batman: Year One". They're still often referred to as two of the best Batman stories ever written, and both have been granted animated adaptations, along with elements of their stories being used in the cinematic "Batman" features. Will we ever see elements of "Dark Knight Strikes Again" in the general Batman lexicon? Um... I would side towards no, because from all I've read and gathered about public opinion about this series, it was highly derided. I don't deny Frank Miller WAS able to return to franchises he had not participated in for years. One only needs look at his first "Daredevil" run, and then look at his "Daredevil: Man Without Fear" miniseries to see he once had that magic to make good on his returns. But for some reason, it just didn't click with Batman, either in this instance... or in the to-be-withheld for a future blog entry "All Star Batman and Robin". The funny thing about "Dark Knight Strikes Again"? The story REFUSES to die as a trade paperback! Because I think DC realizes there can STILL be money to be made for a story that plays out like a failed Hollywood blockbuster. Maybe this could be considered a piece of comic "Cinemasochism"?
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