It’s three years after the events of The Dark
Knight Returns, and the stakes have been raised.
The world is under the iron-grip of a dictatorial
president who is being manipulated by a few familiar
faces, no heroes can work in the open, and Batman
faked his own death (at the end of the previous installment
of the story). Things are about to heat up,
and this time the Bat’s not going to be nearly as
subtle about it.
Right off the bat (sorry), I have to say that I
wasn’t a fan of The Dark Knight Returns. I
thought it was overblown, that the art was mediocre,
that the extreme violence was boring, and that the way
Miller characterised Superman had no connection to the
personality and physical characteristics we knew from
Superman comics. But I swear I read DK2 with an
open mind.
The first few pages impressed me. They put us in
the world quickly and get us up to speed on the plot.
I think Miller realised that it would be a mistake to
exclude those who didn’t read the original Dark
Knight comics. Hence, the first issue rehashes old
territory: Bats springs a couple of old friends (the
Atom and Flash) from various nefarious imprisonments
and they help him beat the living crap out of
Superman. The confrontation is entirely necessary to
the plot, and appropriate in context (Superman is
being controlled by the aforementioned dictatorial
government, and Bats is the only one with the will and
ability to remove him from the playing field).
The thing you have to do to get into this story is
abandon any pre-conceived notions about any character’s
personality. This is not the DCU, it’s the
Millerverse. In this world, Barry Allen, Ray Palmer,
and Oliver Queen are not only willing to help
Batman viciously attack and cripple Superman, but
delight in it:
“Having a very little man bounding about in
your inner ear works hell on your equilibrium,
doesn’t it? I’d feel sorry for you… but I
don’t” The Atom (p73).
Miller does his best to come up with reasons why
these Silver Age characters would be so incredibly
angry at Supes that they’d radically shift their
personalities enough to enjoy committing acts
of extreme violence. The Atom is stuck in a petri dish
for several years fighting single-celled creatures
that appear (from his perspective) to be sea monsters.
Flash is trapped inside a dynamo, providing electrical
power for the United States under constant threat that
his family would be killed. Ollie’s arm was taken
off before the events of the original Dark Knight
Returns, and it was strongly hinted that Superman was
the one who did it.
However, the thing to remember is that Miller
created these justifications. It was his choice to
make the ‘good guys’ violent, viscous, and nasty,
and the ‘bad guys’ the victims of manipulation and
extortion. Superman is forced to do the President’s
bidding on threat of killing the inhabitants of Kandor,
the only Kryptonian city left in the galaxy. Wonder
Woman and Captain Marvel are under similar threats.
So, after watching yet another entire Kryptonian
family killed as punishment for Batman’s activities,
Superman goes to “have us a talk” (p65)
with Bruce. The result is familiar. Batman’s
marvellous, meticulous, machiavellian plans soundly
defeat Superman. One wonders if he even breaks a sweat
doing it. Saying that the Bat is justified in taking
these actions and that it is entirely understandable
that Flash, Atom, and Green Arrow are angry, is a moot
point. He is. They are. So what? Miller constructed
this situation on purpose. He deliberately rigged a
story in which the Bat gets to beat Superman down with
his (kryptonite gloved) fists, where we get several
glory shots of Superman looking broken and defeated.
The question we have to ask ourselves is, why? Why
did Miller do this? What point is he trying to make? I
have to admit, I’ve had to force myself to admit
that he actually is trying to make a point at all,
rather than simply reveling in his own constructed
brutality. Be that as it may, let’s step back a
second and look at this: The protagonists are
justifiably angry about serious injury done to them,
so they turn to violence as their solution. The
antagonists are also justifiably angry about personal
threats and violence done to those they love, so they
become docile and do as their told in order to avoid
further persecution. Is Miller, perhaps, making a
veiled comment about American society? I’m honestly
not sure. If he is, then what he’s done is create a
fantastic representation of the extreme ‘conformity
or revolution’ dynamic at work in American politics
and culture. Obviously, Miller plotted this story long
before the events of September 11th, but since
then we have collectively watched in horror as every
politician in the country either falls in-line behind
the present administration, or gets labeled unpatriotic. There seems to be no room for what makes
democracies great: difference of opinion, the
fundamental right to question authority without fear
of retribution, the freedom to speak one’s mind. Of
course, it isn’t just these troubled times that
create such circumstances. The problem was there long
before September, but like any extreme situation, the
terrorist attacks on New York City have brought it up
to the surface in a form we can all clearly recognise.
[Note: minor spoiler in the next paragraph]
While I’m on the subject, there is a sub-plot
regarding the president of the United States that I
can’t help but mention. Instead of the ultra
right-wing Reagonesque president from The Dark Knight
Returns, this time around we have an ultra right-wing
Dubya-like president who actually turns out to be a
fully computer generated image that Lex Luthor has
created in order to control America (okay, I spoiled
the surprise, but Miller gives it away within the
first 30 pages and doesn’t really play it up for the
shock-value it could have had, so I feel justified).
Again, we have to keep in mind that he created this
plot device point long before September, but in the
light of what happened the commentary is all the more
pointed: the President of the United States is a
puppet being controlled by interests that nobody
elected (which is doubly ironic when you consider that
the American people didn’t really elect Dubya).
But I digress.
Let’s get back to the comic. The dubious morality
of Batman and Superman’s position in this
story reminds me of a teacher who once explained to me
that a protagonist isn’t always a good-guy and an
antagonist isn’t always a bad-guy. It is possible
that Miller wants to show his readers that neither of
these solutions, violent uprising or complete
submission, are actually going to solve the problem. I’m
honestly not sure if this is where Miller is trying to
take us or if I’m reading a theme into a comic that
doesn’t really have one. This is only the first of a
three-part story. Making assumptions at this time is
unfair to the writer (who might have all sorts of
things planned that I could never predict). So, I have
decided to suspend my judgement and remain hopeful
that Miller will pull a rabbit out of a hat at the end
of this story, and end up making a profound point
about politics, culture, and morality. I’ll tell
you, though, I’m not going to hold my breath.
Last but certainly not least, art. It was good.
Surprisingly good. I’ve heard a lot of people
complain that Miller hasn’t drawn anything in a long
time and that maybe he’s even lost his touch, but I
didn’t feel that way. The paneling is inventive and
supports the feel of the scenes. The use of silhouette
and shadow is particularly effective. Anything black
in this story is flat black and has no contours
whatsoever. The line between darkness and light is
stark and obvious. In light of the themes I see in the
story, the symbolic value of this artistic choice is
clear, yet fairly subtle.
Miller’s ability to depict movement and action is
great. The opening scene of Catgirl breaking the Atom
out of his miniature prison is minimalist, but manages
to create a fully textured environment. The only
complaint I have (and it isn’t a small one) is that horrendous
costume they have the Flash running around in. Even
Miller himself was forced to admit how ugly it was
through Barry’s own reaction to it. “You changed
my outfit… Kids, these days. Can’t tell the
difference between just plain old and classic.”
(p48). Miller’s incompetent punctuation aside, he’s
aware that black jogging shorts on Barry Allen are the
wrong way to go, and he even shows that Barry doesn’t
like them, but he leaves the ‘Scarlet’ Speedster
in them anyway. This shows a fundamental lack of
judgement.
All in all, I give The Dark Knight Strikes Again
3½ Slushies out of 5. It was pretty good, but not
great. There were a few highlights, but not enough of
them to really make this comic worth $8 (CDN$14). The
themes (if I’ve correctly identified them) were not
well presented, and though the art was good, it was
not good enough to justify the lack of content. I will,
however, be waiting to see if it gets any better by
issues 2 and 3.
