Frank Miller and Batman

The Dark Knight Returns!

Back in the late 80s, Frank Miller wrote a tale about a retired Batman. It was very much a story directed at adults, that took us back to the Batman of old. Not campy, or silly. Dark, gritty, and serious. Just the way the Batman was when first debuted more then 60 years ago.
After going 10 years without wearing the cowl, Bruce Wayne finds himself back at it, cleaning up the streets of Gotham. With the exception of Superman, who is now a government tool, he is the only hero left. The others retired or just disappeared when public lost interest in them.
However, the return of Batman also means the return of his old enemies, like Two-Face, and of course, the Joker.
As the story progresses, a new Robin is born, Batman assembles an army, and a knock-down, drag out fight with Superman ensues.
This is by far one of the best stories featuring Batman that you’ll ever read.

The Dark Knight Strikes Again! (DK2)

About 10 years later, Frank Miller wrote DK2, the sequel to The Dark Knight Returns. This story was not as successful as the previous, mostly due to the fact that the fans of the orignal were drawn down the middle. You either loved it or you hated it. There was no inbetween. A lot of people hated it for many reasons, one being the artwork, because Miller did all the colors digitally.
For the exact same reason, people loved it. It showed that he wasn’t stuck in the past, and artistically he was still willing to try other things.
In this story, the President of the United States is a hologram controlled by Lex Luthor, who along with Brainiac have blackmailed Superman, Wonder Woman and Captain Marvel into working for him. All the while, Batman has been working underground for years, his army growing as he recruits former heroes who have disappeared/been kidnapped or just given up. Soon he has Green Arrow, The Atom,
The Flash, Elongated Man, Plastic Man, and Catgirl(formerly Robin) working for him as his new Justice League. On Catgirl’s advice, Batman waits for a concert to begin before he reveals to the world that he’s still alive. At this point, there is a superhero fad among the young people at the concert. They’re all dressed up in tights, much like the band. This is when Batman makes his appearance and unmasks. He gives a speech to the kids below, and tells them to ‘Give them Hell!’
So, now he’s got his army from the last story, not to mention an army of kids caught up in a superhero fad. This of course leads to another confrontation between Superman and Batman. While this is all going on, there is a mystery villain killing off heroes, who looks a lot like the Joker.
Both of these stories are worth picking up and reading. Over the past year they’ve been re-released as graphic novels that you can pick up at your local bookstore. Just make sure you read them in the right order.