Whether you like it or not, The Dark Knight Returns remains one of the most important comics pretty much ever. Along with Watchmen, Frank Miller’s miniseries which portrays an older gritter Batman completely changed the direction of not only the Batman character, but also many other characters in both DC and Marvel. It could also be argued that the effect of The Dark Knight Returns brought about Image Comics. Anyway, the story was hugely successful in terms of sales and it quickly became of one of the first DC Comics to be collected in a trade paperback. It was only a year later in 1987 when Miller returned to the character with Batman: Year One, another famous and incredibly memorable story. Because of the popularity of the two stories, Miller has been returning to DC every few years to write stories that take place in the so-called Dark Knight Universe, home to all of his stories. Fast forward thirty years on from the original series, Miller had penned stories such as The Dark Knight Strikes Again, All Star Batman and Robin, the Boy Wonder and Dark Knight III: The Master Race. While those stories have not been as well received as the original (and that’s putting it very mildly), they were financial successes and in 2016, The Dark Knight Returns was not given a sequel, but a prequel, one which sets up the events to the original series. But does it compare to the ground-breaking series in any way, shape or form? The answer is obviously no, but its worth a look anyway.
Dark Knight Returns: The Last Crusade was a one-off prestige format book that was released in August 2016. It was written by Frank Miller and Brian Azzarello with art
by John Romita Jr and Peter Steigerwald. Lastly, I have read this story in its original issue.
THE STORY
After being beaten once again, the Joker returns to Arkham Asylum. Meanwhile on the TV show Good Morning Gotham, the two presenters speak about how the Joker was captured not just by Batman, but also Robin. Although they praise the duo, they question Robin’s young age and how this could be considered to be child endangerment. The next day in Wayne Manor, Bruce Wayne trains with Jason Todd. Although Bruce notices that Jason is a strong fighter, he notes that he is too cocky, which could be his downfall (hint: it is). Then, Alfred walks in, telling Bruce that something bad has happened. At Gotham Harbour, the body of philanthropist Winston Edgewater was found in the water, suspected to be suicide. Bruce Wayne appears at the scene and comforts Edgewater’s widow, who has discovered that her late husband had a gambling problem. Later, Batman and Robin head out on patrol, finding some of Joker’s gang robbing a store. Together, they take out the criminals, with Batman now noticing that Jason likes to beat criminals harshly. Meanwhile in Arkham, the Joker tells a joke to all the inmates without stating the punchline. While they scream and demand for it, the Joker heads into his cell. Some time later, Bruce sleeps with Selina Kyle, telling her that he feels old. Although she tells him to retire, Bruce tells her he can’t because Jason isn’t ready to be Batman. While a charity known as Mothers Against Batman advertise on TV, Batman and Robin find an old man threatening to shoot a young woman. Despite Batman trying to negotiate with the criminal, Robin intervenes by throwing a batarang at the old man’s arm and he drops the gun. Batman then tells Robin off for taking him out in an unnecessarily violent way. Later in the Batcave, Bruce investigates the Edgewater case, believing that Poison Ivy could be involved. Alfred then appears and speaks to Bruce about Jason, wondering if he will be suitable to be Batman in the future. In the Batmobile, Batman and Robin head out in search of Killer Croc, who is working for Poison Ivy. Telling Robin to stay in the Batmobile, Batman finds Croc and fights him. However, Batman is easily beaten by him. Suddenly, the police arrive and Croc retreats. Robin then appears, but Batman tells him off for disobeying orders. Some time later, Bruce speaks to Selina again about how he doesn’t want to stop being Batman. Later, Batman and Robin follow somebody who is looking to join Poison Ivy’s team. Back in Arkham, the Joker seemingly causes a fight between two wardens, which transforms into an even bigger one in which everyone decides to punch each other. During the fight, the Joker steals a warden’s uniform and leaves the building. Meanwhile back with Poison Ivy, Batman and Robin confront her, before she sets a group of mind-controlled men after them. During the fight, Killer Croc appears once again, critically injuring Batman. But Batman manages to fight back, and he takes out Croc, while Ivy manages to capture Robin. However, Batman manages to trick her and take her out too. While Alfred tends to Bruce’s wounds, Jason tells him about how the Joker has escaped. Although Bruce tells him to get some rest, Jason continues to think about the Joker. While Bruce and Alfred head upstairs to Wayne Manor, Jason overhears Bruce saying that he may never be good enough to become Batman. Annoyed, Jason heads out as Robin, looking for the Joker. However, once Robin does find the Joker, he is beaten to death by his gang…
MY THOUGHTS
Similarly, to the last review, I am struggling to find anything that stands out as excellent or even good here, but it’s for a different reason. Spawn/Batman was just bad. It wasn’t boring or dull, but it was just woeful. This story is somewhat different, but more on that in a bit. The best aspect of this story I would have to say is that Miller actually does expand his Dark Knight Universe with characters that already exist. To clarify, in stories such as The Dark Knight Strikes Again and The Golden Child, the new characters that Miller is using are the ones which he has made himself. Superman’s daughter Lara is a prime example, or Carrie Kelley as Robin. To me, these (continued)
characters have been used far too much and, in this story, its actually enjoyable to see characters like Poison Ivy and Killer Croc, even if its Miller’s own take on them. Now, is there anything else? I guess the display of Jason being different from Dick is good, but it has been done before a lot by writers like Jim Starlin. Not only that, but we really haven’t seen enough of the two characters in Miller’s own works to really see a huge difference…
The major crime of this story isn’t the fact that the dialogue is way too edgy, or that the plotting is extremely clumsy, or that the interpretation of the characters isn’t at all faithful to the mainstream versions. No. The real problem with this story is that it’s a story that really doesn’t need to be told. In fact, the whole creation of this one-off came from one line in The Dark Knight Returns. In the first issue, Commissioner Gordon speaks to the older Bruce Wayne, who is thinking about becoming Batman again. Gordon mentions how Dick Grayson could have been a good shoulder to lean on, especially after what happened to Jason. There are also many times in the story where Jason’s Robin costume is present, almost as a tribute to him. To me, its incredibly clear that in Miller’s Universe, Batman retired because Jason Todd died. But that line is never explicitly said. This was when Miller was a talented writer with potential. The mention of Jason makes us question what happened, but is it integral to the original story? Did we need to see what happened to Jason? No, its better left to the imagination because here in this story, it leaves so many more questions than answers. Miller’s Batman is so much more aggressive and darker than the mainstream character. Therefore, why didn’t he hunt the Joker after Jason’s death? Why didn’t he kill the Joker and then retire? That would have made much more sense, but of course, it couldn’t have happened because the original story was written thirty years prior. You see what I mean? More questions than answers. The other main reason that this story doesn’t have any real reason to exist is that the clumsy main plot lacks any consequence and ultimately, it makes the whole story incredibly mediocre and dull. I would much rather read something awful than something utterly boring. I guess that does mean that I’d rather read Spawn/Batman than this. Anyway, this story adds nearly nothing new to the Dark Knight Universe. If anything, it detracts something, that something is not having all the facts present. In the original story, there were so many questions, some of which that were never answered. But it just felt right because it left us to work them out and think more about the world that Miller has created. When he begins revealing the ins and outs of his universe, you want him to stop so you can work bits out for yourself. Anyway, to get back on track, there are a variety of reasons for why the main plot is a complete mess and that really doesn’t amount to anything. By the main plot, I’m talking about the one involving Poison Ivy (a rather strange choice for a main plot to be honest). Like I said, the main problem with it is that it lacks any consequences and ultimately amounts to nothing, especially when you read the ending. The Poison Ivy story is a bog-standard rushed story that was somehow conceived to facilitate the ongoing situation with Jason Todd and the Joker. Why couldn’t the Joker be the main villain here? Seriously, there is no point in Poison Ivy or that main plot being present. It is incredibly irrelevant. And that’s the main plot, which is something that should be crucial to the story, while also being the primary focus. Here, there isn’t a primary focus. We just skip from one set of characters to another, ignoring what happened in other scenes. There really isn’t any time to digest the story or potentially crucial moments between two characters. To be honest, the secondary plots are much more intriguing (even if they are somewhat inconsequential and bland). For example, the scenes with the Joker are interesting, but they never amount to anything really. If he wasn’t the one who killed Robin at the end, then his whole appearance in the story would have been unexplainable. Then there is the drama between Batman and Robin, which can work, but it does come across as very forced. There are so many times when Robin uses brutality to take out enemies, resulting in Batman telling him off. That is incredibly hypocritical, especially for Miller’s Batman. Actually, it’s worth mentioning now that Miller was not alone for this book in terms of the writing, as its co-written by Brian Azzarello, a really grim and vacuous writer that bores me no end. I could be very wrong in saying this, but from judging from dialogue and the final pages, I think Miller’s input was just the plot. The dialogue doesn’t appear to be written by Miller, but its clearly written in an overly edgy way by Azzarello to emulate that style. In fact, the dialoguing isn’t necessarily bad, its just very plain and lacks any real depth or character. I guess the last thing to discuss here is the whole purpose of this story being printed: the death of Robin. As ever, the main plot has nothing to do with that and
because of that, when you read Robin’s death, you aren’t left horrified, but rather confused. Its almost like Miller and Azzarello wrote the script and then realised at the very end that Robin had to die, so they just crammed it in there. That is the only part of the story which means anything. So, out of the 50 or so pages that were a complete waste of printer ink, only the last 2 or 3 were of any importance. Classic Miller…
Strangely, for a story that explicitly takes place in the Dark Knight Universe, the art doesn’t look that similar to the original story. I mean, there are many moments which are clearly influenced by Miller and his art style, but not that much. Then again, it doesn’t help that the potential of John Romita Jr’s art was steamrolled by the inks and colours by Peter Steigerwald. To be honest, I imagine the original pencils looked above average. Perhaps not the greatest art I’ve ever seen, but it works well. However, the finishes are so sketchy, rushed and ugly that the art ends up looking disgusting. The colours look incredibly bland and the inks are just so unattractive. It looks more like Bill Sienkiewicz, which is an awful thing in my opinion.
VERDICT
Overall, Dark Knight Returns: The Last Crusade is a mediocre, bland and a very forgettable story that didn’t really need to be told. The main plot is incredibly irrelevant to the story’s rather predictable conclusion. It lacks any interesting characters or dialogue. The finished art is overly moody and just horrible to look at. It’s clear that it was only published because it had Miller’s name on as the story lacks any enthusiasm. Really, its just a waste of paper…
Story: 1/10
Art: 1.5/10
Next Week: 1st Issue Specials By Jack Kirby (1st Issue Special 1, 5-6). Written and pencilled by Jack Kirby with inks by D. Bruce Berry and Mike Royer. Expected by 23/08/2020.
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