1 Background
According to Frank Miller in the preface, the origin of this book is that the Batman in the comic book is always twenty-nine years old, and the author came into contact with Batman from the childhood age, and suddenly found that he was older than Batman, so he wanted to write another way to write the story of the elderly Batman, and accidentally opened the so-called dark style. The story is set at the age of 55, with a slight sci-fi element. The upper and lower parts of the animated film of the same name are made by integrating the manga with the text behind it, basically restoring the original work. For some reason, I recently revisited the DC animated film, and as a result, I had a new harvest in the process of watching the movie, and I took this as an opportunity to sort it out.
2 stories
Chapter 1: The Dark Knight Returns. Batman has been retired for a decade, and the younger generation even thinks Batman is just an urban legend. Crime in Gotham City is rampant, and mutant gangs led by young people are rampant. The intolerable Batman punished several crimes, triggering a blatant wave at the level of public opinion. Telepians accuse Batman of being the root cause of criminal crimes and argue with Lana, who supports Batman. The release of The Two-Faced Dante at the instigation of a psychiatrist, which results in The Two-Faced man continuing on the path of crime, is stopped by Batman. Psychologists blame Batman for The Two-Faced Crime.
Chapter 2: The Dark Knight's Victory. Batman's return has sparked many people to follow suit against criminals (including the female Robin), and it has also caused opposition from many parents. Batman directly attacks the Mutant Gang headquarters, and fights with the Leader of the Mutant Gang, both of which are seriously injured, and escapes to the Bat Cave with the help of the female Robin. After reflection, Batman came up with a countermeasure that should use skill rather than brute force to deal with the mutant gang leader, so he commissioned the retiring police chief Gordon to release the mutant gang leader, knock him down in front of the gang, and incorporate the mutant gang as Batman's son.
Chapter 3: Hunt the Dark Knight. The Son of Batman fights crime in Gotham, a move that sparked heated discussion. Fearing that the situation would widen, the President would send Superman to dissuade Batman. After interviewing Batman, Superman goes to organize soviet troops for the U.S. army. On the other side, the psychiatrist continued to release the clown to participate in the TV show, and as a result, the clown poisoned the audience with laughing gas and left. Batman, who went to stop him, was stopped by the new female director (who insisted on arresting Batman) and left with the help of female Robin. Batman chases the Joker to the playground, blames himself for repeatedly letting the Joker kill more innocent people, and finally kills the Joker and evades the police with the help of the female Robin.
Chapter 4: The Fall of the Dark Knight. Because Superman's intervention led to the defeat of the Soviet Union, the Soviets fired nuclear warheads in anger, and although Superman desperately fought to change the trajectory of the warhead and exploded in the desert with serious injuries, the explosion dust caused the United States to fall into a nuclear winter, and the whole country was in chaos, except for Gotham. Batman is seriously injured and sets out on horseback to lead Batman's son to maintain order in Gotham. Superman recovers after absorbing the photosynthetic energy in the plant and goes to Gotham on the orders of the President to stop Batman. Batman fights Superman (Batman Wars) with the help of Green Arrow and kills him at the right time, while the butler burns down Wayne Manor. After the funeral, Batman establishes a base in the Batchief and commands the Son of Batman...
3 Appreciation
3.1 Story level
Only four short chapters, thin 200 pages, but has appeared in Two-Faced, Mutant Gang, Joker, Superman, but also contributed to the classic bridge section of Batman v Superman (Zach Schneider pounced on the street to the Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice" in the Batman Vs SuperMan: Dawn of Justice bridge section, the main trunk is borrowed from here). In terms of narrative techniques, it is difficult to say how friendly to the audience, not the usual linear narrative, but like a film lens constantly switching, different shots present different information. The disadvantage of this is that the reader can easily feel that the story is fragmented, lacking a complete and smooth story, and the advantage is that a large amount of information can be presented in a limited space. The result is that when I read it, I felt that I was crooked, but when I looked back, I found that the story was very complete, and I didn't have the feeling of being in the fog of fragmented narrative clouds. Here's a few digressions, I don't know if Zach Schneider was influenced by this narrative approach, Superman: Man of Steel, Batman vs Superman and other movies give people a feeling similar to this style. When I watched it, I felt that there was fog in the clouds, but the specific and micro-details were explained very clearly, and there was no reason to be mysterious, and after reading it, I thought back that the story was not as bad as in the wind review, and what Schneider would not tell the story. If you repeatedly observe the familiar content of the movie and reorganize it in your mind, you will find that the story content is actually very good, but the form of storytelling affects the audience's understanding. Such a narrative technique, static comics may be more appropriate to present, the audience can stop at any time to look at the previous content, if you watch the movie, it will appear bumpy.
3.2 Character level
The old Batman is only the appearance, and more importantly, the Batman here is not invincible, more portrayal of Batman's powerlessness, and even repeatedly need Robin's help to get out of trouble. In this way, far from damaging the image of Batman, this sense of physical powerlessness reflects the indomitability of the spiritual and will level, but more and more shows the image of Batman's fighter. As Shakespeare said: In the turbulent displacement of fate, a person's integrity can be seen the most. If Batman is still full of vitality and invincible, it is more to portray his wisdom and courage, rather than to shape his image from the spiritual level at a deeper level, getting rid of the previous Batman comics: facing the younger and stronger mutant gang leader will face the difficulties, knowing that the Joker live show will have police to wait for the rabbit will also face the difficulties, facing the impossible Superman or facing the difficulties; no longer limited to the test of wit and courage, but more involved in the test of spirit and will.
One question is inexplicable, how can the mutant gang's turn into Batman? After all, they are street thugs, have no jobs, lack purpose in life, have nothing to do with self-control, and live like animals following their own instincts. It is understandable that such people have gathered to become criminals like the Mutant Gang, and it is understandable to be scattered after being suppressed by Batman, but after witnessing the leader being fat beaten by Batman, he has become a fighter against criminals, just because he worships Batman? Is there a sufficient purpose or motive behind it?
4 superfluous words
4.1 Individual Justice VS Institutional Justice
I have always felt that the conflict between Batman and Superman has a deeper root in procedural justice and substantive justice, Batman embodies substantive justice, and Superman embodies procedural justice, but it has been stuck here and cannot go deeper. Batman is not very legal, but what superman embodies behind it is not necessarily procedural justice, unless those politicians who kick the ball and act on the orders of the president are regarded as procedural justice. If Superman acts strictly with the general law, it is indisputable procedural justice. But follow the instructions of politicians... Politicians are not necessarily compliant, and Nixon is the case.
What has recently occurred to me is that the conflict between bats and supers may be more individual justice vs institutional justice. Batman believes in individual justice, he himself is the judge of justice (like the White Horse Declaration: tonight we are the law, tonight I am the law), and Superman seeks solutions within the framework of the system. There is no doubt about Batman's original intention and purpose, he will not bend the law for personal gain, the question is what if others follow suit? If allowed, can we ensure that they are as absolutely rational and bottom-line as Batman? If not, how can you tell if they are different from Batman? In other words, as a citizen, why can Batman do this? They can't? In order to give Batman such a unique status, authority can only come from a higher level of authority, which requires institutional approval, institutional authorization, and acting like Superman. But the paradox is that the problems that Batman is trying to solve are precisely the problems that are difficult to effectively solve within the framework of the system. The system itself is not perfect, and the politicians in the system are even less perfect, which creates many problems, even if there is no subjective malice in the entire system, there are constraints at the implementation level, especially in the face of unexpected situations that always need to be dealt with urgently, such as nuclear winter, but individual actions such as Batman are more efficient.
The paradox is that Batman cannot prove that his individual justice is justified, and if he wants to prove it, he needs to rely on institutional authorization, but the original intention of batman's individual justice is precisely to solve the problems that institutional justice is difficult to effectively solve. That is to say, the conflict between the two is predestined and inevitable. There's nothing wrong with looking at Batman in this way, and Superman isn't the president's lackey either. After all, the vast majority of problems actually need to rely on the system to solve, special problems are more effective to solve individually, the difficulty is that the system should be universal, do not tolerate exceptions (after all, the case is unattainable, in the Anglo-American case law system is more difficult to deal with this exception). When you first read the comics, it's easy to be emotionally on Batman's side and feel that Superman's behavior is not desirable.
Further on, that's what Gordon mentioned about Pearl Harbor. From an individual point of view, Pearl Harbor killed thousands of American soldiers, but from a national point of view, this event stimulated the United States to enter the war and saved more people. Justice at the individual level and justice at the institutional level may sometimes be irreconcilable. Of course, the image of the president of the United States in the comic is a slippery politician, and it is difficult to make people think of such a profound topic.
4.2 Are the offenders victims?
There's a clown in the comic, the psychiatrist. This is not to say that Arkham Asylum is as ironic as a criminal sanatorium, but the view of the psychiatrist that criminals are the victims, influenced by Batman, without Batman there would be no two-faced man, no Joker crime. The process of reasoning is nothing more than a few technical terms, not worth refuting. The reason is very simple, if what the psychiatrist says is true, why haven't others been influenced by Batman to take the road of crime? Reminds me of a reading comprehension in the English exams that year, which was to refute the theory of defending criminals. It should be noted that the Joker is not the same as the Joker, and the people arthur killed in the movie "Joker" have reasons to kill, at least from his point of view, including the subway villain, the host of the former colleague with the big head who mocked him. But the Joker in The Dark Knight Returns kills purely for fun, which is why Batman ends up killing him in a cave.
4.3 DC Cartoon Serious
It is often seen that DC Comics and comic books are more profound. As for what is profound and why it is deeply understood differently, in addition to the dark color style and pretentious lines, it is believed that DC Comics is profound because it can make people think of things outside the movie. This is the difference between being profound and looking profound. Some movies are wonderful, when watching the movie, in one go, no matter the plot, characters, actions, and special effects of the movie itself are blameless, but it is limited to this, it will not make the audience think of the reality outside the movie, and it will not be thought-provoking. It should be noted that I personally believe that this is only a difference in style, and there is no good or bad.
DC Comics also does not directly throw out a thought-provoking question like some movies, such as the personal struggle in "When Happiness Knocks", the cockroach-like situation and struggle of the bottom people in "Parasite", and the ugly real life vs perfect false life choice in "Truman's World". Some DC Comics and comic book movies are more about telling a story, and the problems that occur in the story may occur in every era, which triggers people's thinking. For example, if the boundary between justice and welfare in "Watchmen" feels that this is far away, how much do you imagine violating individual rights in the name of the public interest? For example, in the popular "Joker" movie, a good system makes bad people good, and a bad system makes good people bad, why would a good old man who is bent on good be forced to degenerate into a clown step by step? There is an old saying called Wen Yi Zai dao, some DC Comics is no longer limited to providing a funny, exquisite, full of dramatic conflict story, but hopes to express some of the author's thoughts on real problems through comics, which greatly expands the connotation of comics. Some works will have such a feeling after being exposed to such works: it is a pleasure to be exposed to such works; other works will have such a feeling after being exposed to them: it is simply a blessing to be able to touch such works, and it is a pity if they are not exposed. Apparently, Watchmen, Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, and Joker belong to the latter.
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