Comic Books as Literature: The Dark Knight Returns

Comic books have long been thought of as a lowbrow art form, garishly colored juvenile escapism- particularly the genre of the super-hero. While that description does hold true for some super-hero comics of the past and present, there have been notable examples of super-hero stories told in the traditional comic-book format that transcend the sometimes hokey conventions of the medium and become Literature, with a capital L.¹ One such comic book is Frank Miller’s seminal The Dark Knight Returns.²

The Dark Knight Summarized

Vowing upon his parent’s death to rid the city of the criminal element, the Batman has, over the years, fought crime in its many macabre forms …

For the last ten years no one has seen or heard from him …

That is, until now …³

Miller’s blocky, almost impressionist style, coupled with the subtle colors supplied by painter Lynn Varley depicts a decaying Gotham City under siege by roving gangs of sociopathic, violent youth, committing crimes and unspeakable atrocities on a populace that’s given up hope. Gone are the days of colorful super-villains and their outlandish, pathological crime schemes. The Joker sits catatonic in Arkham Asylum, not moving or speaking in over ten years. Harvey Dent, a.k.a Two-Face, is proclaimed to the world healed, both physically-with the scarred half of his face repaired by extensive plastic surgery, and mentally, the two halves of his warring personality finally merged. Soon to be retired is Commissioner Jim Gordon, Batman’s longtime ally. Gone are the days of Batman, long since retired, who many now believe to be a myth, an urban legend, leaving only billionaire Bruce Wayne, now in his 50’s. But the Bat does not rest easily, writhing in Bruce’s guts, snarling to be free.

Eyes gleaming, untouched by love or sorrow … breath hot with the stench of fallen foes … the stench of dead things, damned things … surely the fiercest survivor—the purest warrior … glaring, hating … claiming me as his own.⁴
Soon, Batman returns, bringing violent justice to the streets of Gotham, Harvey Dent disappears just as crimes fitting Two-Face’s duality-themed MO begin to occur, and the Joker stirs from his waking slumber. But it is not the same world that Batman once knew: all the other super heroes are gone, outlawed by a fearful public and a government that allows only Superman to operate, but under government control and covertly.

The rest of us learned to cope. The rest of us learned the danger-of the endless envy of those not blessed … ⁵

The new breed of criminal, characterized by the vicious Mutant Gang Leader, is not the colorful, pathological rogues of Batman’s heyday, or even the standard greedy, lazy street scum. The new breed- often operating on a quota- steal, kill, maim and terrorize just for fun.

Not him. He flinched when he pulled the trigger. He was sick and guilty over what he did.

All he wanted was money. I was naive enough to think him the lowest sort of man.

These – these are his children. A purer breed …

And this world is theirs. ⁶

A young girl, who was saved from Mutant gang members by Batman takes up the long- dormant mantle of Robin. At first going it alone, she quickly enters Batman’s orbit by helping him survive his first encounter with the Mutant Leader. Batman accepts the young girl as his disciple, drawing the new Robin into his shadowy realm.

The media and psychologists depict Batman as a brutal fascist, and the criminals that he fights as innocent, weak-willed victims drawn into Batman’s black-hole like super-ego, people who try to validate their pathetic lives by opposing Batman.

It is true that this Batman has terrorized the economically disadvantaged and socially misaligned-but his effects are far from positive. ⁷

After Batman’s final, brutal showdown with the Joker, a Soviet nuclear "coldbringer" warhead detonates in the Northern Hemisphere, blotting out the sun and nearly killing Superman. The massive EMP disables all electronics in Gotham City, throwing the city into chaos and disorder. The only thing that saves the city is Batman, riding into town on horseback.

Soon Batman and his holy war become too big a liability for the powers that be, and Superman is given his marching orders: take Batman down.

Superman issues the challenge, and Batman names the place: Crime Alley. There, on the same grimy street corner where Bruce Wayne’s parents died, the last two super beings on the planet fight— to the death.

The Dark Knight Examined

DKR brings to the Batman mythos something that most comic books lack, but all good legends and mythologies have: the element of time. Robin Hood has his final blind bow shot to mark the site of his grave, King Arthur has his final battle with Mordred, The Norse Gods have their Ragnarok, even Clint Eastwood’s "Man With No Name" character has Pale Rider or Unforgiven.

Speaking of mythology, DKR manages to redefine not only the character of Batman himself, but also the entire Batman mythos without contradicting any of what has come before. DKR boils down, if you will, the Batman mythos into it’s purest essence: a man who defines his entire life and purpose from one long ago tragedy.

Bear in mind the changes over the decades in both tone and look of the Batman character. Created in 1939 by Bob Kane and Bill Finger, the original version of the Caped Crusader wore purple gloves, occasionally shot people with a pistol, dropped evil-doers into a vat of acid, threatened some thugs with, "Your choice, gentlemen! Tell me! Or I’ll kill you."⁸ and even once yelled "Quiet! Or Papa Spank!"⁹ Really. As a result on the pressure brought to bear on the comic book industry with the publication of Dr. Fredric Wertham’s Seduction of the Innocent,¹⁰ Congressional Hearings into supposed links between comics and juvenile delinquency, and the advent of the Comics Code Authority,¹¹ Batman quickly morphed into a kid-friendlier, goofy, time traveling to meet the Three Musketeers while teaching a Valuable Lesson type of character, culminating into the Adam West cheese-ball explosion of the 60s.

The 70’s brought about a renovation of the character, introducing a darker, more serious take on the icon. However, 70s characterizations of Batman tended to veer between noble yet haunted and revenge-driven psychopath. DKR bridges all of those interpretations and melds them into a cohesive gestalt that is both familiar and refreshingly new.

As a testament to the iconic status of Batman in today’s America, most people, if quizzed, could rattle off any number of things associated with the character: Robin, the Batmobile, the Batcave, and Commissioner Gordon. DKR includes all of these instantly recognizable elements, but in new and often profound ways.

The inclusion of a new Robin next to the old, grizzled Dark Knight is reminiscent of tales of old warriors passing the torch to the next generation, but also betokens the fact that Bruce Wayne has left no heirs, no one to pass on his legacy to. The Batmobile is no longer some whiz-bang cool hot-rod, but a fearsome, awe-inspiring behemoth tank. The Batcave, in tales past the reliquary of giant pennies and dinosaur statues, is now a dark, dank, bat-infested sanctum sanctorum. Commissioner Gordon, familiar to many as perhaps a helpful but slightly inept yes-man to Batman, whose sole purpose was to shine that Batsignal as soon as a criminal sneezed, is shown to be a strong, capable cop who, in a very real way, was instrumental in helping Batman operate freely during his heyday.

Since this is a Batman story, it’s no surprise that most of the tale is told from Batman’s perspective, but DKR manages to give us a peek into the minds of most of the main characters, and even one or two "throwaway" characters. The hopes, fears, and motivations of each character are deftly explored, giving each one the weight and depth of three dimensional people, with one notable exception: the Joker. The Joker is portrayed as one dimensional- and it is chilling. Unlike Batman, who has a name, a past, a rationale for the sometimes extreme things he does- the Joker has none. No name, no past, and the only reason given for his homicidal nature:

They could put me in a helicopter and fly me up into the air and line the bodies head to toe on the ground in delightful geometric patterns like an endless June Taylor Dancers routine-

-And it would never be enough.

No, I don’t keep count. But you do.

And I love you for it.¹²

Perhaps the most ambiguous character in the story is that of Superman. Superman is almost always portrayed as the Hero, the true-blue straight as an arrow guiding moral principle, except in DKR. In fact, nowhere in the story does anyone even refer to him as "Superman"; the soldiers and government agents call him "Kent" and Batman refers to him as "Clark". Supes works strictly for Uncle Sam, covertly, behind the scenes, no longer the bright shining beacon for "Truth, Justice, and the American Way."

Frank Miller’s writing evokes a near-poetic noir style. The story is told as much by the inner thoughts of the characters as by the sequential artwork, drawing you into their hyper-reality. In less capable hands, DKR could have been a verbose, bloated mess laced with cheesy hard-boiled dialogue, but Miller deftly handles the difficulties of using metaphor and imagery.

You were ancient … nothing could kill you …

But the war …

It did not begin then …

No … it was … two years later … when her necklace caught on his wrist …

When he shoved his pistol to her jaw and pulled the trigger …

And everything my mother was struck the pavement as a bloody wad…¹³

The Dark Knight Dissected

As mentioned before, the mythological underpinnings present in DKR bring to mind Ragnarok or even the Book of Revelations. Apocalypse is very much the backdrop for Batman’s final adventure, from the chimera-like bat that terrorizes the young Bruce Wayne to the blotting out of the sun by a nuclear detonation. Another aspect of myth present is the hero/savior who will return when he is needed most- think of King Arthur, mortally wounded, being taken to Avalon, or Jesus Christ, ascending to heaven with the promise of His return at Judgment Day. The interesting thing about DKR is that this essentially happens twice. The story opens with Batman’s return to Gotham in her time of greatest need, and at the end of the story, when Batman is declared dead and Bruce Wayne takes future crime fighters underground for training, also to return when needed.

The underlying themes of The Dark Knight Returns touch upon how we deal with the world after tragedy strikes, the role of the media in our society, and the difference between Law and Justice.

On the surface, the murder of Bruce Wayne’s parents merely serves as the catalyst for a grown man to dress up as bat and pummel criminals. DKR, in its exploration of the inner workings of Batman’s mind, reveals to us that, in many ways, the Batman persona was created by Bruce Wayne to fill a moral void in the world. For example, let’s look at another super-hero: Spiderman. It was the senseless death of Uncle Ben, caused by Peter Parker’s inaction that teaches Peter "With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility." Spiderman learns a positive lesson by this tragedy, which he uses as his guiding moral principle. The murder of Bruce’s parents, on the other hand, is entirely negative, and teaches Bruce only that the world is unjust, and that:

Lying on this street— shaking in deep shock—

-dying for no reason at all-

—they showed me that the world only makes sense when you force it to …¹⁴

After reading DKR, one can’t help but wonder about the role of the news media in our society. In the book, as in real life, the media alternates between sensationalizing the trivial and trivializing the important, making it difficult for the average citizen to make an informed opinion. To wit: the on screen talking heads pontificate ad nauseum about Batman and his "harmful" effects on society and civil rights and due process while just about ignoring the acts of terror perpetrated on helpless citizenry by the Mutant Gang. In fact, the only reason the Mutant Gang leader gets any screen time is because he makes good theater. Gotham city had obviously been going to hell in a hand basket for some time, but the media ignores the root causes of this urban decay to focus solely on Batman. In fact, all of the psychoanalyses of the hero/villain relationship offered by characters in DKR assume that Batman is responsible for his actions while the criminals are not.

Finally, we come to the symbolism found in DKR. The three biggest symbols of the book are of course Batman, Superman, and the Joker. Batman symbolizes Justice, unfettered by the constraints of law or political considerations. Batman ultimately does not care about fighting crime per se, he cares only for justice, and if due process and the rights of the accused are trampled in the process- too bad. Superman symbolizes politics and law, which sometimes blunts justice (which makes the nuclear missile a symbol for the ultimate failure of politics, and as a result, the ultimate failure of Superman). Superman, the most powerful being on Earth, let’s himself be constrained by civilian authority while Batman, a mere mortal with human weakness and frailty, operates entirely on his own authority, with no regard for the civilian chain of command. While their modus operandi are almost diametrically opposed, Batman and Superman both are agents of order. The Joker is a symbol of Chaos, an agent of Disorder. With no past, no name, no motivation, the Joker murders just for the sake of murder. The Joker is a symbol for every seemingly random, meaningless tragedy that befalls civilization, a monkey wrench thrown into the works that causes the rift between Justice and Law.

The Mutant Gang Leader at first glance can appear to parallel the Joker in terms of symbolism, as he also is given no name, history or motivation beyond violence for its own sake. The Leader is actually a symbol for societal decay and apathy. He is a perfect example of what happens when society begins to ignore the rot creeping in at the edges, of the dark, diseased things that grow in the absence of sunlight. The Leader rose to power while Batman was retired, yet his existence is still blamed on the dark Knight, as if society can’t bear to take responsibility for its own malformed children:

Just as Harvey Dent … assumed the role of ideological doppelganger to the Batman, so a whole new generation, confused and angry—

will be bent to the matrix of Batman’s pathological self-delusion. Batman is, in this context— and pardon the term— a social disease …¹⁵

The Dark Knight Concluded

The Dark Knight Returns helped usher in a new era of comic books when it was initially released, and helped greatly to overcome the low-brow stigma associated with the art form. This watershed moment in comics helped erase the memory of Adam West’s deadpan delivery of a pudgy caped crusader from the campy 60’s TV show. DKR preceded such comic book masterpieces as The Watchmen by Alan Moore¹⁶ and Maus: A Survivor’s Tale by Art Spiegelman,¹⁷ DKR has been studied in college literature¹⁸courses along side Beowulf and The Iliad, the characters dissected and examined by both comic book aficionados and academics alike. While it can be argued that Moore’s The Watchmen is the greatest single comic book epic ever created, Dark Knight Returns has unarguably cemented itself as a true Literary Masterwork.

¹ Literature, with a capital L is what most people consider to be a written work that is intellectual and/or meaningful, with effective use of such devices as imagery, symbolism, and metaphor. For example, War and Peace would be considered Literature while anything by Danielle Steele would not.

² Batman The Dark Knight Returns. Story and Pencils by Frank Miller; Inks by Frank Miller and Klaus Janson; Colors and Visual Effects by Lynn Varley; Letters by John Costanza. DC Comics, 1986, trade paperback edition. Originally Published in four volumes.

³ Ibid., Book One: The Dark Knight Returns, title page.

⁴ Ibid., Book One: The Dark Knight Returns, p11.

⁵ Ibid., Book Three: Hunt the Dark Knight, p16.

⁶ Ibid., Book One: The Dark Knight Returns, p6.

⁷ Ibid., Book Two: The Dark Knight Triumphant, p9.

⁸ The Batman Meets Doctor Death. Writer: Gardner Fox; Artist: Bob Kane. Detective Comics #29, National Periodicals, 1939.

⁹ The Coming of the Cat. Writer: Jerry Robinson; Artist: Bob Kane. Batman #1, National Periodicals, 1940.

¹⁰ Wertham, Fredric. Seduction of the Innocent. New York: Rinehart, 1953. Psychologist Dr. Wertham concluded, despite the evidence of various experts and civil liberties champions, that crime comic books (mysteries, thrillers, horror, and police stories) were harmful to young minds and was a direct causal link to juvenile delinquency.

¹¹ The Comics Code Authority was established in 1954 as the industry’s self policing response to Wertham’s book, Seduction of the Innocent. The Code as originally adopted is available online at http://www.geocities.com/athens/8580/cca.html.

¹² Batman The Dark Knight Returns. Book Three: Hunt The Dark Knight, p36.

¹³ Ibid., Book Four: The Dark Knight Falls, p35.

¹⁴ Ibid., Book Four: The Dark Knight Falls, p40.

¹⁵ Ibid., Book Two: The Dark Knight Triumphant, p9.

¹⁶ The Watchmen. Writer: Alan Moore; Art and Lettering: Dave Gibbons; Colors: John Higgins. DC Comics 1986, 1987. Trade paperback edition. Originally Published in single magazine form as Watchmen 1-12.

¹⁷ Spiegelman, Art. Maus: A Survivor’s Tale. New York: Pantheon Books, 1986.

¹⁸ Dark Knight Returns is required reading for NYU’s Basic Courses in Literature: Writing New York (http://english.fas.nyu.edu/object/english.0406.ug.courseofferings.html) and the UCLA’s English 4: Introduction to Literature (http://www.english.ucla.edu/TA/hyperteach/syll.martin4.htm), to name just a few.