“Batman: The Dark Knight Returns”, written by Frank Miller and published in 1986, presents a Batman that is completely different from the stupid television series of the 1960s. If you liked Tim Burton's “Batman” and “Batman Returns” movies, you will love this graphic novel.
Ten years after Batman has retired, Gotham city has deteriorated into an utterly lawless and crime-ridden city and the US and the Soviet Union are on the brink of war. Superman essentially works for the government and most of the other superheroes have retired. Batman comes back from retirement, fights crime once again and ultimately ends up in a battle with Superman.
The usual superheroes are depicted very differently and are much darker in this book than what I remember from my childhood. There is plenty of violence and gore in this book and it is definitely not for little children.
While I loved the book on the whole, I felt that the drawings were rather crude and distracting. I was slightly confused by some of the turn of events but things were much clearer once I read the excerpts from the original “script” provided in the end. It is still a great book to read and a definite must-read for people scarred for life by the stupid television series or by that utterly idiotic movie “Batman and Robin”.