Batman: The Dark Knight Returns
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- This article is about the Frank Miller limited series based on Batman. For other uses, see The Dark Knight.
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Batman: The Dark Knight Returns is a Batman comic book miniseries written and drawn by Frank Miller and published by DC Comics from February to June 1986. It reintroduced Batman to the general public as the psychologically dark character of his original 1930s conception, and for helping to usher in an era of "grim and gritty" superheroes from the mid-1980s to mid-1990s.
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[edit] Overview
DKR was originally published as a four-issue limited series in a then-new printing format called prestige format. This format later became more common. In addition to Frank Miller's story and pencils, Klaus Janson inks, and Lynn Varley provides colors for the series. Just as the characters of Norse mythology have their Ragnarok, Frank Miller sought to create a fitting end for the character of Batman.
DKR takes place in a timeline outside the continuity of DC Comics's DC Universe, but is still considered at least partially faithful to the source material and Batman mythos at the time it debuted, as it makes use of post-Crisis characters. Certain elements of the main DC Universe did eventually come to match Miller's tale, most notably some of the backstory of the series. For example, Miller's Batman is haunted by the death of Robin, and later the character's lack of popularity lead to the A Death in the Family story, where he is killed by the Joker. Also, an explanation of how Miller's Green Arrow lost his arm is used, although in this latter case, continuity deviates somewhat from DKR. For some time, a female Robin was introduced into modern continuity. The mid-2000s Batman animated series includes the character Yin, loosely based on Police Commissioner Ellen Yindel.
[edit] Synopsis
[edit] "The Dark Knight Returns"
The book is thought to be set during the Cold War, but the intro mentions it being 20 years in the future. It is a dark, depressing world where criminals run amok in the absence of superheroes. Gotham City is terrorized by a gang of vicious and aimless teenage murderers, the Mutants. A now 55-year-old Bruce Wayne has been retired for ten years following the death of the second Robin, Jason Todd (we can assume he was murdered by The Joker, but it's never explained in the story how he dies). Attempting to bury his guilt over Jason's death, Wayne has turned to alcoholism, near-suicidal recreational activities, and has funded the rehabilitation of Two-Face in an attempt to prove to the world - and to himself - that a man's demons can be truly exorcised. On the eve of Commissioner Gordon's forced retirement, however, two events push Wayne to re-establish the presence of his alter ego: he has an encounter with two "Mutants" at the spot where his parents were killed, and Two-Face's rehabilitation goes awry. An enormous bat is metaphorically shown crashing through the windows of Wayne Manor, symbolizing the psychological return.
Re-donning the cape and cowl, Batman must deal with a world where even the petty criminals are homicidal maniacs who kill for thrills. He no longer has the absolute support of the police, public, or government. Miller's interpretation of Gotham (and of America) is a place of deep moral ambiguity where moral relativism and a real loss of understanding between right and wrong permeate all corners of society. Reporters and psychologists see the Joker as a victim and Batman as the madman. The new Police Commissioner is eager and willing yet also dismissive of Gordon and a fitting example of the moral confusion/relativism of the time. As a result, she has no love for the Batman, and hunts him ruthlessly. Even Superman himself has been twisted into a covert agent for America's Cold War agenda, putting his loyalty to the American government above his fight for the American Way. Batman spends no time fretting over these ambiguities; instead, he seeks to impose his determined right-vs-wrong view on a world poisoned with relativism. DKR deals in large part with Wayne's uncompromising obsession with his dual identity, in opposition to a world where duality has gone by the wayside. In this bleak landscape, Batman's obsessions and demons finally, completely submerge Bruce Wayne, and the Dark Knight is given free rein to wage his war without inhibition.
In DKR, Batman has changed since he last put on the cape: though still quite strong and up to the physical task of apprehending ordinary criminals, Wayne is forced to acknowledge to himself that his advanced age and long period of inactivity have diminished both his skills and his ability to withstand and recover from injury. And, unknown to anyone, the Joker has likewise emerged from retirement. Emotionally catatonic in Arkham Asylum (which is renamed "Arkham Home For the Emotionally Troubled" to fit with the politically correct world) since Batman's decade-long absence, the Clown Prince of Crime reawakens to his twisted, loving and hateful obsession of the Dark Knight, upon hearing a television report about Batman's return. After ten years of silence, his first words are, "Batman. Darling."
Much of the story takes place on a television screen where journalists, experts, politicians and the public debate the rights and wrongs of Batman's methods and influence: some like Lana Lang praise him for reclaiming the streets from the criminals, while others criticize him for not observing the civil rights of these same criminals.
The issue culminates with an out-of-control, nearly suicidal Two-Face threatening to blow up Gotham's Twin Towers; however Batman is able to deduce and foil the scheme. In their struggle, Batman removes the bandages that have been covering Dent's face (which had recently gone through plastic surgery), expecting to find Two-Face's visage split in its classic dichotomy. Instead, he sees Dent whole and handsome on the outside, but fully lost within his own mind. In Dent, Batman sees a "reflection": just as the restoration of Harvey's face led to the final destruction of his sanity, the Batman persona has become all the stronger for having lain hidden under Bruce Wayne for a decade.
[edit] "The Dark Knight Triumphant"
The second part chronicles Batman's struggle against Gotham's newest criminal threat, the vicious Mutant gang and their anonymous leader. As he walks to work, contemplating his upcoming retirement, Jim Gordon is almost killed by a 17-year old boy with an M60.
In the course of rescuing a kidnapped child, Batman discovers that a cash-broke Army general and war hero has been arming the Mutants in return for the money to help his sick wife. When Batman confronts him, the General commits suicide. Meanwhile the Mayor has appointed a qualified woman as Gordon's successor, Ellen Yindel, who worships Gordon but despises vigilantes. A young girl who owes her life to Batman, Carrie Kelley, decides to seek out her hero dressed in a Robin outfit which she bought using her school lunch money.
Batman sets off on the Batmobile (which is shown here as a powerful tank-like machine with huge guns). Aroused by their leader (a muscle-bound creature with equally huge teeth), the Mutants assemble with their weapons at the city dump and prepare to storm police HQ. Suddenly they come under attack by the Batmobile. Their weapons prove useless against it and its guns soon have them scattering away. Carrie Kelley witnesses the battle.
When the Mutant Leader challenges him to hand-to-hand combat, Batman, after some hesitation, takes him on. The fight goes badly for the Dark Knight, who is reminiscing about Dick Grayson with whom he is now estranged. Just as the Leader is about to slaughter Batman, he is distracted by Carrie who then gets Batman onto the Batmobile and away.
Batman has been seriously injured. Carrie attends to his wounds on the way to the Batcave where he recovers. Batman is impressed enough by her skills and resourcefulness to take her on as a sidekick in spite of Alfred's objections (the matter of the late Jason Todd is raised).
The Mutant Leader is taken into custody but still threatens to unleash his army onto the streets and raze Gotham to the ground. When the Mayor tries naively to "negotiate" a deal, the Leader rips his throat out with his teeth.
Batman resolves on a strategy to deal with the Mutants. He has Carrie dress up as one and summon all the Mutants to a certain location. With Gordon's co-operation, he then springs the Leader from jail and confronts him in a huge mud-hole next to the river. With thousands of Mutants looking on, Batman and the Leader fight it out until the latter is finally defeated.
The Leader's defeat has the desired effect: the Mutants disband. However, as a side-effect, they start forming various splinter groups including Neo-Nazis and armed robbers wearing Richard Nixon-masks.
Some of them even rename themselves the Sons of the Batman and take on criminals instead of innocent people. However, unlike their inspiration, they are not above using lethal force and overstepping the mark in other ways. In one incident (appearing in the next issue), one of the sons-of-Batman kills some store thieves with a shotgun, and then cuts off the fingers of the store clerk who failed to stand up to them.
James Gordon meanwhile is looking forward to his retirement from the madness of Gotham and is concerned about the predicament that Batman will once again find himself in: caught between criminals and the police. He does warn Yindel that Batman may be too big an issue to be considered as simply just a vigilante.
[edit] "Hunt The Dark Knight"
"Hunt The Dark Knight" returns Batman to his classic struggle, against the incomprehensible madness of The Joker. Newly awakened from his catatonia, the Joker has been slowly returning to his mad schemes while still incarcerated. He convinces his psychiatrist, the fame-seeking (and Batman-hating) Dr. Bartholomew Wolper, that he is not only sane but regretful. Seeking to discredit Batman, Wolper intends to exhibit the Joker on a late-night show ("David Endochrine", parodying Late Night with David Letterman) in order to "prove" that the Joker is actually a victim of Batman's own "psychosis." Not pleased with this turn of events, Yindel places a heavy guard on the building. However, she still sees the primary threat as Batman and intends to arrest him if he appears. As the police are occupied with attacking Batman, the Joker murders everyone in the studio (including Endochrine and Wolper) with his "smile gas" and escapes. Batman follows him to Selina Kyle's, where the former Catwoman has become a depressed, alcoholic and overweight madame. The Joker uses two of her girls to drive local politicians to suicide. He then beats and dresses Selina Kyle up as Wonder Woman, leaving a clear clue for Batman to follow.
When the police burst into Selina's flat, Batman and Robin escape, but Yindel notices the young sidekick and adds "child endangerment" to the list of charges against Batman. But he then calls her up on her radio to say that it is up to her to rescue the Governor from another Joker threat. Yindel is left lost for words.
With the police on his heels, Batman, accompanied by Robin, tracks the Joker down to a county fair. They arrive too late to prevent the Joker from poisoning to death a group of young Cub Scouts, but Robin is dispatched to prevent the Joker's accomplice from blowing up a rollercoaster loaded with riders. Robin succeeds in getting the bomb clear of the ride on the moment of exploding, but in the fight that follows, the Joker's accomplice is killed. Meanwhile, Batman pursues and defeats Joker in a bloody and violent showdown. Throughout the past days, the Batman has been thinking of doing what he never would before: kill the Joker and end the cycle of meaningless deaths once and for all. But in the end, he still will not bring himself to kill his old enemy, stopping himself before fully killing the Joker, leaving him paralyzed instead. The Joker, laughing madly at Batman's seemingly cowardice action, commits suicide by further twisting his own broken neck, intending for the police to charge Batman with murder.
In this episode, Superman is introduced as an undercover agent for the American government (under a President who is unnamed, but recognizable as Ronald Reagan). Superman travels to Gotham to persuade Batman to keep a low profile. However, tensions with the Soviet Union are reaching a head over U.S. support for a South American country named Corto Maltese (a reference to the comic strip by Hugo Pratt), and Superman is called away to "deal with it." He and other super-heroes, like Green Arrow and Wonder Woman, are referred to only by their civilian names: i.e., "Clark" or "Kent", "Oliver" and "Diana".
Also, the Sons of the Batman have begun to make their presence known, taking an even more brutal - and deadly - tack towards criminals than Batman. Despite Batman's non-involvement, the actions of the "SOB's" only incenses the growing anti-Batman forces in the government and media further.
[edit] "The Dark Knight Falls"
All these threads converge in "The Dark Knight Falls", when the USSR launches a nuclear warhead called Coldbringer in response to Superman's presence in Corto Maltese. Superman manages to divert the missile to an uninhabited desert area before it detonates, but damage is done nonetheless. The warhead was designed to disrupt all electronics and communications in the Western Hemisphere as well as throw millions of tons of dust and debris into the atmosphere. Deprived of the sunlight that gives him his powers, Superman is nearly consumed by his own hypermetabolism. Gotham descends almost immediately into chaos as the blackout hits, with rioting and looting rocking the city. An airplane crippled by the electromagnetic pulse crashes into a building, feeding the panic. A few citizens, including Jim Gordon, pull together to fight the fires and retain some semblance of civilization until the power is restored.
Though near death from wounds inflicted during his fight with the Joker and the police, Batman applies his ingenuity to restoring law to Gotham. He and Robin muster a force of SOBs and train them in non-lethal methods as a means to stop looting and ensure the flow of needed supplies. Gotham, ironically, soon becomes the safest and best-fed city in America. Seeing this as an embarrassment rather than a blessing, the U.S. government dispatches Superman to take the Dark Knight down. Warned of their plans by Oliver Queen, the former Green Arrow who is now a bitter one-armed revolutionary, Batman prepares for his ultimate clash.
Throughout the story, Bruce has been facing the fact that his end may be approaching, but if he is to die he wants it to be a grand death rather than a simple one. He's contemplated such "opportunities" during a car race and his final confrontation with Two-Face over Gotham's Twin Towers. Now he faces the chance to go down as the one person who beat Superman.
Armed with an artificial powered exoskeleton, the Batmobile, synthetic kryptonite and a mysterious pill, Batman confronts Superman in a final showdown at Crime Alley, where Wayne's parents were murdered decades earlier. Batman manages to defeat the weakened Superman, only to die of a heart attack at the stroke of midnight. At precisely the same moment, Alfred oversees the destruction of the Batcave and Wayne Manor, suffers a fatal stroke immediately afterward (his last thought as he realizes that he is dying is "how utterly proper").
The news that Bruce Wayne was Batman spreads throughout the world; however, Wayne's stocks and funds have been sold and liquidated to his "heirs" and Wayne boardmembers, Wayne Manor and the Batcave destroyed, and all evidence as to his methods and tools wiped out. At a funeral attended by Gordon, Kyle, Yindel, Carrie and others, Superman (as Clark Kent) is plainly ravaged with sadness and guilt. Just as he turns to leave however he hears a faint heartbeat coming from the interred coffin. After staring at Carrie for a few silent moments, Kent gives her a wink and leaves. Wayne has faked his death with planning, skill, and his knowledge of chemistry; Carrie digs up his living body as soon as possible. Wayne had hoped to keep the secret even from Superman; with his wink, however, Kent confirms Wayne's hope that he will play along with the charade.
Bruce Wayne, finally looking forward to his life, leads Robin, Green Arrow, and his army deep into the unexplored caverns beyond the Batcave, preparing to continue his fight for justice in a more low-key, but equally important, way than in his "previous life."
[edit] Characters
- Batman: Bruce Wayne, 55 years old. He gave up the Batman identity ten years ago, strongly hinted as a reaction to the death of the former Robin, Jason Todd. But when he sees violence running rampant and his personal demons can no longer be denied, he is forced to return.
- Alfred Pennyworth: Wayne's trusty butler, medic, and assistant, now in his 80s. He is more sarcastic than ever, taunting Bruce on both his alcohol problem and single life. He dies of a stroke at the end of the book.
- Robin: Carrie Kelley, 13 years old. She becomes Robin, and is accepted by the Batman after saving his life. Unlike the previous Robins, Carrie is not an orphan, but she appears to have rather neglectful parents who are never actually seen. (One of them mutters "Didn't we have a kid?" while their daughter is watching the fierce battle between Batman and the Mutants.)
- James Gordon: Commissioner of the Gotham Police, 70 years old. He retires about half-way through the storyline but remains active, leading people into helping out when a Soviet missile explodes near the city.
- Two-Face: Now middle-aged, Harvey Dent's face has been reconstructed with plastic surgery. He is still Two-Face in his mind however and cannot refrain from criminal acts.
- The Joker: An elderly catatonic prisoner of Arkham Asylum. He becomes a criminal again when he sees Batman returning, and sets in motion a final confrontation with him.
- The Mutants: A gang of teens, numbering some thousands, who terrorize Gotham. They later splinter off into many different groups: Neo-Nazis, The Nixons, The Jokers, and The Sons Of Batman.
- The Mutant Leader, head of the "Mutants". He is a strong, savage brute who puts a hit on Gordon, beats Batman in their first encounter, goes to jail, kills the mayor (while still in jail), escapes, and is beaten by Batman.
- Sons Of Batman (S.O.B.), a group of teenagers (many of them ex-Mutants who left after the defeat of their leader). They have become followers of Batman, although they are too unruly and corrupt, taking severe measures to control the streets and even Batman. They end up following Batman for good intentions instead of bad.
- Dr. Bartholomew Wolper, the Joker's psychiatrist and staunch opponent of Batman's "fascist" vigilantism. Wolper is convinced that the Joker is really the victim of Batman's crusades, but he ends up murdered by his patient on a late night talk show.
- Ellen Yindel, James Gordon's successor. She starts off as Batman's fiercest opponent, but doubts herself after the Joker debacle (part 3, see plot above) and comes to terms with his involvement. It is strongly hinted that she protects him from prosecution at the end of the book.
- Green Arrow, aka Oliver Queen. He has undertaken a clandestine career of terrorism against government oppression. He lost his left arm years ago and has a grudge against Superman because of that.
- Superman, aka Clark Kent, a military superagent for the United States government. He has agreed to stay out of sight and do as he's told, and in exchange, he is allowed to continue saving lives. His very existence seems to be a bit of a taboo subject: when incidents involving him are reported on the TV news, the main newscaster is constantly prevented from naming or making distinctive references to the Man of Steel. Unlike Batman, who is now middle-aged, Superman has remained (at least physically) in his early to mid-thirties. According to Miller, '"Superman has always been 30 and will always be 30."'[citation needed] (It should be noted that in DKR, Superman is only referred to by his real name.)
- Catwoman, aka Selina Kyle, retires her catsuit and is now a madame who runs an escort service.
- Lana Lang, an old friend of Superman. She is now a TV broadcaster and fierce defender of Batman's vigilantism.
[edit] Reputation
Upon its publication, Batman: The Dark Knight Returns turned the comic book industry on its ear. It helped to introduce an era of more adult-oriented storytelling to the mainstream world of superhero comic books, and it received media attention the likes of which had never seen before in a medium long believed to be little more than children's entertainment.
This story, along with Alan Moore's Watchmen (published in the same year) and Art Spiegelman's Maus, helped to raise the medium to a more mature level of literature, and it ushered in the popularity of graphic novels as a form of literature that truly differs from "child-oriented comic books." Critics have accused this story of giving birth to the era of "grim and gritty" comic books that lasted from the late 1980s through the early 1990s, when comic books took many adult-oriented themes (especially explicit violence and sexual content) to "the limits of decency."[Please name specific person or group] Although the Batman has rarely been as obsessive and powerful a figure as Miller depicts him here, Batman: The Dark Knight Returns was tremendously influential; since the work was originally published, Miller's portrayal of the character as a dark and compulsive figure has dominated most Batman projects to at least some degree. This includes the 1989 Batman film directed by Tim Burton which drew upon Batman: The Dark Knight Returns (as well as Alan Moore and Brian Bolland's graphic novel Batman: The Killing Joke) as a major influence.
Another innovation is the way in which the superheroes address one another by name (i.e. as "Bruce", "Clark" or "Oliver"). The U.S. officials always refer to Superman as "Kent". The name "Superman" is never even used in the story. The super-heroes look upon their relationship with ordinary humans as a "them" and "us" situation, and Batman is criticized for not realizing "how they've changed"! This us versus them mentality that is developed amongst the superheroes is a theme that widespread and used in several other comics, most notably Kingdom Come. Another controversial criticism is that Dick Grayson, the first Robin and the current Nightwing, is not included in the storyline at all. Miller has stated that he wanted it to focus entirely on Batman and those around him. Dick is mentioned but he and Bruce are not on speaking terms.
However, Miller's innovations were not solely limited to characterization. He adopted innovative visual styles and "tricks," many adapted from movies (especially film noir). These included dividing pages into many more frames than usual to give the impression of slow motion (A very famous depiction of Thomas and Martha Wayne's murders is achieved by this technique). Also, Miller contrasts many smaller frames against grand backdrops of Batman leaping or brooding over the cityscape; creates "montages" of fast-paced events through rapidly changing commentators, alternated with snippets of the actions being described; and builds suspense to the appearance of classic characters by hiding their actions and appearance in shadows (not just the first depiction of Batman, but Superman and Green Arrow as well). Miller also heavily featured television "talking heads" throughout the work.
Numerous public figures were blatantly lampooned, including Ronald Reagan, Dr. Ruth and David Letterman, adding to the suspension of disbelief that made the comic not realistic, but an example of the hyperrealism that would later reach its peak in Miller's Sin City. While there is a generic and omniscient narrator, the most important narration comes from inside various character's heads: Batman, Jim Gordon, Robin, Catwoman, Alfred and even the Joker all are opened up to examination.
In 2001 and 2002, DC Comics published Batman: The Dark Knight Strikes Again, Miller's controversial sequel to Batman: The Dark Knight Returns. Despite a heavy promotional campaign by the publisher, the book failed to gain the same acceptance from some fans that the original story received. The sequel, which differs drastically in style from the original, received mixed reviews but was one of DC's biggest selling titles of the time.
Despite generally positive critical reaction to Miller's art styles, fan commentary has been mixed; some have praised the works for their unique looks, while others have lamented the more stylized visuals.
The trade paperback is one of DC's best selling books and is constantly in print. The book is also available in several hardcover editions. In August 2006, DC Comics released a Absolute Edition of Batman: The Dark Knight Returns compiled with Batman: The Dark Knight Strikes Again. Absolute Dark Knight includes commentary and scripts by Frank Miller, as well as an extended sketch section.
[edit] Other media
In The New Batman Adventures episode "Legends of the Dark Knight", a girl who resembles Carrie Kelley, called "Kelly", is one of three children telling stories of what they believe Batman is like. Her story is a mixed recreation of both Batman's fights with the Mutant gang leader, complete with a tank-like Batmobile and Carrie Kelley as Robin. Much of the dialogue in the segment is lifted directly from the pages of Batman: The Dark Knight Returns. The opening writing credits also list Frank Miller.
The Batman Beyond series takes place 20 years after Bruce Wayne retired, now old and grizzled like in Batman: The Dark Knight Returns. In Batman Beyond, however, he guides a new, young Batman from his computer in the Batcave. In the first episode of the series, we see Bruce Wayne about to shut down the Batcave. Before he pulls the switch, he says, "Never again.", a line that is present in DKR.
A "flash-forward" episode in the fourth season of The Batman will depict Gotham City in 2027 with Batman resembling the Batman: The Dark Knight Returns version alongside versions of Oracle and Nightwing modeled on their The Batman universe characters.
[edit] Influence, homages and parodies
- The legendary cover of Batman: The Dark Knight Returns #1 as well as the art and story itself has been the subject of parody and homage by many creators. Notable examples include Frank Miller's cover for 'Mazing Man #12 and the cover of Harbinger #13 by David Lapham. Miller's Dark Knight style was featured in the Planetary/Batman: Night on Earth one-off special written by Warren Ellis.
- The character Darkwing Duck of Disney's animated series, who is obviously inspired by Batman, in one episode (Time and Punishment) stars in a dark alternate reality in which violence and injustice run rampant. In this episode, the normally campy, cheerful Darkwing Duck is reimagined as an older, embittered DarkWarrior Duck, a mentally unhinged, violent vigilante who goes over dead bodies to fulfill his goals and rules over his city of St. Canard with an iron fist. He wields a vast array of hand-held weapons, a powered exoskeleton and also a battle tank, very similar to the tank featured in DKR.
- An episode of Fairly Oddparents featuring the Crimson Chin also guest-starred several other versions of the character, including a "grittier 80s Crimson Chin", possibly a reference to this version of Batman.
- From the 1940s to the 1970s, Batman and Superman's relationship had always been depicted as that of close friends and allies: the "World's Finest". This series however depicted it as an edgy and uneasy one in which the final confrontation is only a matter of time. The mainstream post-Crisis DCU used elements of this depiction of the relationship between the two men: grudging respect and uneasy friendship, with underlying tension due to their vastly different personalities.
- Some of Batman's critics, most notably Dr. Bartholomew Wolper, claim that Batman encourages crime in a non-direct way and is thus responsible for the criminals he claims to be fighting. Certain incidents, like the Joker coming out of a decade-long catatonic state and returning to mass murder, seem to bear them out. The suggestion that Batman is, in a sense, responsible for the crimes he fights is something that has often been taken up in the mainstream Batman stories, such as during Anarky's encounter with Batman-Azrael in the Knightfall saga.
- In the Alex Ross-illustrated Kingdom Come graphic novel, Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman meet for lunch in a superhero-inspired restaurant. They are served by a waitress dressed as Robin that may have been modeled on Carrie Kelley. When she arrives at the trio's table to take their order, she welcomes them to the restaurant and says "I'm Robin", to which Batman dryly replies "Of course you are."
- The name Ellen Yin was used for a character in Kids' WB's "The Batman" cartoon, a possible reference to Ellen Yindel.
- The Tiny Toon Adventures character Plucky Duck would make several appearances as a Batman themed superhero named Bat-Duck. In one particular episode, Plucky recalled how he constantly refined his Bat-Duck image, at one point modeling himself off of the DKR version of Batman, complete with a rubber body suit to emulate the same physique. Plucky drops this image after a member of the Mutant gang pops his suit with a needle.
- Mark Martin's Ultimate Gnatrat is an outright satire of DKR.
[edit] External links
- The complete works of Frank Miller
- Batman: The Dark Knight Returns and Batman: The Dark Knight Strikes Again discussed at sequart.com
- The Religious Affiliation of Characters in The Dark Knight Returns
- Gotham City Batman Site
| Batman | |
|---|---|
| Creators: | Bob Kane and Bill Finger • Other writers and artists |
| Supporting Characters: | Robin (Tim Drake) • Nightwing (Dick Grayson) • Batgirl • Batwoman • Alfred Pennyworth • Lucius Fox • Barbara Gordon • Commissioner Gordon • Harvey Bullock |
| Villains: | Bane • Catwoman • Clayface • Harley Quinn • Joker • Killer Croc • Mr. Freeze • Penguin • Poison Ivy • Ra's al Ghul • Red Hood (Jason Todd) • Riddler • Scarecrow • Two-Face • Other villains |
| Locations: | Arkham Asylum • Batcave • Gotham City • Wayne Enterprises • Wayne Manor |
| Miscellanea: | Batarang • Batmobile • Batsuit • Popular media • Publications • Storylines • Alternate versions of Batman |
es:The Dark Knight Returns fr:Batman Dark Knight Returns it:Il ritorno del Cavaliere Oscuro ja:バットマン:ダークナイト・リターンズ pt:O Retorno do Cavaleiro das Trevas sv:Batman - mörkrets riddare
