DC Animated : The Dark Knight Returns (Part 1)

THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS - PART ONE

It's that time of year again, when DC's animation house releases its next movie - this time around it's a legendary story that is beloved by fans and is the first to be split into 2-parts, adapting the legendary series into this first part and the follow-up graphic novel as the second.

I know I’m preaching to the choir but I’ve gotta say it. Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns is one of the greatest Batman stories ever. It’s right there in the top 5, oscillating between positions one and two, because this is one story that you can’t rate lower. Heck, we’re talking about a comic-book that changed the world here. 

The Divisive Icon Returns! Frank Miller: O.W.S and more.

Good day everyone - a special edition news update for you here, brought about by none other than ever-controversial super-star comic creator Frank Miller.

Now many folks may not know who he is, but if you've been even a passing comic fan the past decade or so then you know precisely who I'm talking about - for anyone else all I can do is say he's the guy who wrote the comics that became the blockbuster movies 300 and Sin City. If that isn't enough for you then you need to read more comics.

Miller has pretty much ALWAYS been a divisive and talked about creator, bringing out not just those two landmark and iconic series but also was the man behind Ronin, Hard Boiled (with the incomparable Geof Darrow) and Martha Washington, apart from his very popular runs on Daredevil (he created Elektra for starters) and of course his most legendary work: The Dark Knight Returns.

But somehow since his earth-shakingly gritty and awesome comics from back then, it seems like Miller has gotten a little off-the-rails. Don't get me wrong, I've enjoyed some of the stuff he's done since then but the key word there is 'some', because a lot of it has been the same-old-same-old and riddled with cliches and cheesy moments that actually make you want to wince. It's almost as if he's lost his marbles a little and become this weird, bitter old man who just likes to shout from his porch at all the things that make him mad, regardless of whether he's making sense anymore. And his comics themselves have devolved into utter tripe as would be known by anyone who has read his work in recent years - especially that epic failure (in my humble view) that was Holy Terror! which was supposed to be originally a Batman story. I thank the graphic gods daily that for whatever reason this did not come to pass and Bat's was spared this disaster.

Actual spread from the comic...