It's always tough to see your champion go out with a whimper. Whether it's Michael Jordan, Stephen King or Marlon Brando, we always wish that the best of the best would have quit while they were winning.
Frank Miller. He's still writing comic books.
God, how I wish he had stopped writing comic books.
Backstory: In 1986, Miller and Klaus Janson (with Lynn Varley) brought us the finest Batman story ever told. "The Dark Knight Returns" (henceforth called DK1) was "the end of Batman" story. Ironically, it was also a rebirth for Batman.
It was DK1 that firmly established Batman as a tortured soul, compelled to fight crime out of psychosis. Tim Burton would use the book as inspiration for his Batman movie.
One must understand, DK1 was written at the height of the cold war. It was a time where comic book writers (and readers) had grown tired of heroes. They were sick of hokey spandex and idealistic views. It was the start of a new era, a time when the central character would not be the man in the mask, but the man behind the mask.
DK1 was magnificent because it was not a story about a man in tights; it was a story about a man. It was not about Batman, it was about Bruce Wayne. All the characters, even the villains, were given a frail, human dimension.
Today: Miller has since written a sequel to DK1 called, "The Dark Knight Strikes Again" (henceforth referred to as "DK2"), taking place three years after DK1.
This new sequel, however, was written in a different time. It was written in the 21st century, where we have revitalized hero worship. DK2 is a re-celebration of the spandex-wearing super hero.
The Justice League is present throughout the book. The super heroes in DK2 are not treated as people, but as abstract representations of super powers. The antithesis of what made DK1 magnificent.
I was reluctant to buy the last issue of DK2. The first two issues had been awful. Miller and Varley returned to do DK2, but Klaus Janson did not. Miller's art has become near-expressionistic at times, and it desperately needs Janson's meticulous inking. Varley, whose grayish, pastel colors made DK1 beautiful, cluttered DK2's artwork with computer-rendered coloring.
It hurt me to do it, but I bought and read the third issue anyway. Blame my anal-retentive collecting tendencies.
It was the nail in the coffin: Frank Miller is, in fact, past his prime. He's lost the touch. DK2's ending did not even coincide with the overall theme of the book. The tragic irony is, one of the main themes of DK2 is the over-hyped, abusive media. Unfortunately, DK2's release was so over-hyped itself that it became a torturous self-parody.
I want Frank Miller to retire. Like Batman in DK1, I want him to fake his death and go into hiding for 10 years. I want him to take a long, hard look at the world for a while. I want him to stop making comics until he has something new and important to say.
Then, maybe when we need him most, Miller could come out of the shadows and set things right in the comic world once more -- with a vengeance.
Write to Mouse at bbmcshane@bsu.edu
Read More
Three Air Jam teams take home the win
October 12, 2012Nineteen teams shimmied, shook and flipped for a sold out John R. Emens Auditorium on Thursday night during the 25th annual Air Jam.
Bill Clinton Speaks at North Central High School
October 12, 2012Former President's Speech Could Have Effect on State Senate Race
