Frank Miller’s seminal graphic novel The Dark Knight Returns presents a relatively innovative and unprecedented interpretation of Bob Kane’s Caped Crusader, Batman. Instead of the heroic, principled crime fighter in his prime found in most DC comic versions of the character, Miller’s Batman is a terrifying, fearful middle-aged man dealing with both his own obsolescence and the conservative anxieties he has about the implications of Superman’s powers and abilities. On top of that, Batman has a much more absolutist, black-and-white version of justice, in which Batman’s inherent vigilantism is taken to its furthest conclusion. Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns, in its depiction of Batman, demonstrates vigilantism as a viable strategy to achieve justice in a world where the law has failed its people – while also acknowledging the emotional and psychological toll that can take on the vigilante himself.
The dark, gritty version of Batman in Dark Knight Returns has an incredibly complicated relationship with the law and justice. Having seen his parents killed mercilessly right in front of him, Bruce Wayne was driven to fight crime in Gotham City when he saw that the law could not help bring his parents’ killer to justice. However, a life time of crime fighting, as well as the loss of his Robin, Jason Todd, to the Joker, hardened Batman and encouraged him to take darker measures toward criminals. This led to Bruce developing control issues, which fuels his absolutist philosophy toward justice: “the world only makes sense when you force it to” (Miller 192). He frequently refers to his fight against crime as a “war,” even implying Jason Todd was a “good soldier” in that war – this perspective runs counter to the idea that the law can address crime (Miller 93).
The reaction of Gotham City to Batman also points out many of Miller’s overall discussion of Batman’s vigilantism as something controversial. During many of the book’s depiction of talk shows debating public policy and the Batman, pundits discuss whether or not Batman is a hopeful indicator of the “rebirth of the American fighting spirit” or “an aberrant psychotic force, morally bankrupt, politically hazardous, reactionary, paranoid, a danger to every citizen of Gotham!” (Miller 41). These elements make Batman’s methods and purpose questionable, as he is shown to be a divisive figure even among the people he is meant to save. Clearly Batman believes his definition of justice is absolute, but the people for whom he is ostensibly carrying out these actions do not necessarily agree.
Amongst all of these discussions, the toll that vigilantism takes on Bruce is clear. Making this Batman middle-aged highlights the physical beating that Batman takes at all turns, and makes him seem more vulnerable and pitiable. While he is still tremendously powerful, he admits to Commissioner Gordon that his own actions will get himself killed one day: “for all my tricks I’ve been getting by on luck. It’s all a game of odds, you said. All it will take is one bullet” (Miller 43). That being said, he still acts out of a sense of justice that defies any appeal to authority; as he says to Superman late in the comic, he is critical of people who simply bow to authority without asserting their own sense of justice: “You always say yes – to anyone with a badge – or a flag” (Miller 190). In this respect, Batman feels contempt for those who do not see justice in as black and white a way as he does; Miller’s perspective ultimately rewards him for this, as his ultimate gesture is to prove to the optimistic Superman that his methods work, faking his death to start crime-fighting anew.
Frank Miller’s Dark Knight Returns takes an incredibly fascistic, authoritarian view of justice, as Miller turns Batman from an optimistic crime-fighter working to help Gotham into a bitter old man who is more focused on carrying out his inflexible ideas of justice. While this clearly takes a physical and mental toll on the Caped Crusader, Miller’s inability to truly subvert or refute the Caped Crusader’s points, even making him win his ultimate fight against Superman in a symbolic manner, showcases a clear preference for vigilantism and extremely violent solutions to crime and wrongdoing.
Works Cited
Miller, Frank, Janson, Klaus and Lynn Varley. The Dark Knight Returns. DC Comics, 1984.
