Assessment

What is the reaction to the text you just read?

Reading the Dark Knight Returns by Frank Miller makes me think about how Frank Miller captured the essence of “Batman”. In this take on Batman, the hero was not defined by his most glorious feats. In fact, due to his old age. the comic is filled with his pathetic attempts to keep his physicality together. However, to me this makes the essence of Batman stand out even more because there is heavier emphasis on how his psychology. There were many text boxes dedicated to just Batman’s thought process when he is in action, showing how he outsmarts his opponents detail by detail. In other words, Batman’s fights might not be as visually impressive like superman when he stoped a nuclear missile, but his ability to analyze his way around a crisis is much more immersive and human. In mere words, Frank Miller understood that the charm of Batman lies in the details of how he outsmarts criminals, portraying him as an extraordinary-ordinary human.  

What connections did you make with the story you read? Discuss the elements of the work with which you were able to connect.

Personally, I find myself connecting the comic to the recent film “Joker” quite often. Despite the difference in premise, the method in which they introduce the characters are very similar because both works are about a character’s rebirth. In the comic, retired Batman reignites his vigilante spirit to stop Gotham criminals, but this time he is much older and less merciful. In Joker, Arthur is cornered by the crimes of Gotham, driving him to become a chaotic being that kills whenever there is slight inconvenient. Both characters start of with similar moral standpoint but different financial circumstances, however, the way Gotham is introduced is the same. The comic and movie goes through a news report montage of Gotham’s crimes and begins the story with Bruce and Arthur getting beat up by a band of ruffians. This lays down a big pool of oil that later pushes for the character’s response. But while Bruce has the experience and money to fight back against crime, Arthur’s low circumstances and naivety pulls him into a self discovery journey that led to madness.

Both the film and comic also put great emphasis on what how Gotham’s media thinks of the city and the main character. Batman and Arthur’s way of fighting and motive are completely different. Batman’s reason to fight in the comic was never for himself, but for the victims. The only part where he did fight for himself was used as a disguise for his death. However, Arthur was struggling to survive and is acting upon his “fight or flight” mode. He later kills when he wants to, not when he needs to. Yet, the way that they are portrayed by Gotham’s media is the same: a constant debate of “Is this person a danger to society?”. Both are criticized by the media due to their anarchist behaviors and cult-like following. The media pays more attention to their unpredictability than their reason of cause. Personally, I find it intriguing how the media can portray two very different anarchist in the same light. 

What changes would you adapt to this story into another medium? What medium would you use? What changes would you make? 

I would love to see the comic in a heavily stylized 2D animation. However, instead of showing the story from multiple points of views like the comic, I would just stay with Batman. What hooked me into Miller’s adaptation of Batman was being able to wee how Bruce thinks when he is in action. Since it won’t be effective to insert text boxes in the film, a husky narration of an experience vigilante makes me want to know all of this guy’s knowledge.