Batman: The Dark Knight Returns by Frank Miller

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Description

If any comic has a claim to have truly reinvigorated the genre, then The Dark Knight Returns by Frank Miller--known also for his excellent Sin City series and his superb rendering of the blind superhero Daredevil--is probably the top contender. Batman represented all that was wrong in comics... read more

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Summary

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Cast of Characters/Important People

Clark: Nothing is correct about him. Superman is a government slave telling "yes sir" everytime somebody with a flag orders him. He has lost all his goals, ideals and even his personality. Miller's presentation of superman is horribly wrong. That too Miller's superman states that superheros retired because some PARENTS ASSOCIATION raised voices???? And that led to a government committee meeting and there all the superheros fell on their knees and pleaded guilty? I mean , how ridiculous can you get? Then a nuclear bomb explodes... Superman suddenly becomes skeletal and then takes his energy from nearby flowers??? Hell, how did the flowers survive? And if superman can extract sun's energy from flowers he can take it from any person because we are all powered by the sun ultimately.
Batman: Everything's correct about him. Miller's batman is as we all like him to be... gritty, mean, brooding and the ultimate bad-ass who takes crap from no one, not his friends, not from his only well wisher, not the government and certainly not from a god-like alien, one who can shake the earth with his bare hands. He is a scarred man living with a demon trapped inside him. He has scars that never heals with time and he remains the ultimate strategist.Ever.
Alfred: Sarcastic, as ever
Commissioner James Gordon: Batman's ally still, continuously bending the rules to justify the odd actions of a vigillante.
Harvey Jones/two face: In this novel he is the mirror image of batman..A derenged man who is slowly losing himself into the other part of his personality. After getting operated upon , his face is restored to normal but his mind is far beyond repair.
The Joker: He lied in a cattatonic state upon batman's retirement. Seeing batman after 10 years joker once again springs back to his diabolic state.
Carrie Kelly/Robin: Inspired by batman, this young girl takes on the mantle of Robin. Though seeming to be bookish in nature, she's actually acomputer whiz and a brave kid who sharpens her talents under batman's intense training.

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Memorable Quotes

“This would be a good death but not good enough”
“You are puny.. you are small.. you are nothing.. a hollow shell ...a rusty trap that cannot hold me”
Bruce Wayne
“You don't get it boy...This isn't a mudhole.It's an operating table... and I'm the surgeon.”
batman, while breaking the mutant leader's leg
“They'll kill us if they can Bruce. Every year they grow smaller. Every year they hate us more.We must not remind them that giants walk the earth.”
Superman
“Do you remember why you retierd Bruce? No.. just look at you.. You'd do it again and like a murderer, you'd cover it up again. nothing matters to you except your holy wars. But now the storm is gathering again. They'll hunt us down again. Because of you.”
Superman, reflecting Jason's death
“No joker. you are playing the wrong game. The old game. Tonight you're taking no hostages. Tonight...I am taking no prisoners”
batman
“I always knew it would get down to you and the big blue schoolboy. Planet's too big for the two of you. When it all comes down, I want a piece of him. A small piece will do.”
Oliver/Green Arrow
“Bruce.. this is idiotic.. you're only meat and bones.. just like the rest”
Superman
“You sold us out, Clark. You gave them the power that should have been ours. Just like your parents taught you to. My parents taught me a different lesson. Lying on the street .. shaking in deep shock..dying for no reason at all..they showed me the world only makes sense when you force it to..”
batman
“Wrist.. crushed. Ribs.. moving with a life of their own.. and Clark.. just broke a sweat..”
batman
“Oliver.. I've finally gotten him angry..It's now or never..(Oliver fires the kryptonite arrow) It wasn't easy to synthesize, Clark.. took years and cost me a fortune..Luckily I had both..You're begining to get the idea Clark.. this is the end.. for both of us..We could have changed the world.. Now.. look at us.. I've become a political liability.. and you.. you're a joke. I want you to remember Clark, in all the years to come..in your most private moments..I want you to remember my hands at your throat.. I want you to remember the one man who beat you”
Batman, last lines