Review of Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Part 1 (2012) by John M — 24 Nov 2012

Call me blasphemous if you must, but I think I may prefer this to the graphic novel. So ten years have past since the last sighting of Batman, as he is, for all intents and purposes, retired. Crime is worse than ever, but does a battered, 55-year-old Bruce Wayne still have even a fraction of the ability necessary to combat crime? Before I lose all credibility, I would like to say that I do think The Dark Knight Returns is a fantastic example of what a Batman story should be.

However, when I first read it, I just had issues with the mechanics of the comic, like all of the news station cutaways that disrupted the flow of the story, or all of the 16-page panels that felt like work to read.

I was very eager to watch an animated adaptation, if only because the DC animation department is always on the top of their game, and they stay extraordinarily faithful to the source material. This is much darker content than the animated series ever dared of treading, and it goes to places only the Nolan universe has gone: things get much worse before they get better, and people get hurt, even die.

It goes into the psychosis of a man who dresses up like a giant bat, and stays true to the tone and themes of the Frank Miller graphic novel. The animation is great, with special emphasis on how cool the fight scenes are done, because they did it in such a way that makes you feel like you are right there when all of these blows are landing.

The only thing that I really felt missing was Batman's internal monologues, which was one of the things I enjoyed most in the comic, so that was a little disappointing. The mutant slang doesn't really translate, and I would have preferred something more updated, but they really were that big of sticklers to the source material.

Overall though, this was just great, and I can't wait for part 2.