#The Dark Knight Returns

[zegalba]

'The Dark Knight Returns' in The Face Magazine with Alexander Mcqueen & Jeremy Scott (1997) Photography: Sean Ellis

[artbyblastweave]

So, Frank Miller has stated in the past that he thought Jason Todd's death in Death in the Family was really poorly done, cynical, and tasteless- despite the fact that he himself wrote Jason Todd as having been killed in the line of duty in the backstory of The Dark Knight Returns, a couple of years before DC did it for real in normal continuity. People occasionally accuse him of hypocrisy because of this.

To put it lightly, I think that those accusations are eliding a pretty important difference between

A.) an at-the-time-novel, out-of-continuity, alluded-to-but-not-directly-depicted deconstructive beat about how taking a costumed tween into nightly gun battles where they constantly get taken hostage could potentially end very very poorly if you kept doing it long enough, and

B.) a death that was voted on via phone poll as a publicity stunt, the immediate follow-up to which involved the Joker getting diplomatic immunity by becoming Iran's ambassador to the UN so that Batman couldn't kill him about it.

You very rarely have to hand it to Miller but there's a pretty clear difference between these things. TDKR had a straightforwardly stronger implementation of the concept

[jacobchabot]

Bat Man Commission

[extraordinary-heroes]

Artist Showcase: Matias Bergara (DC Comics Works)

[the-autistic-vulcan]

he's giving office siren

[galahadwilder]

Stephanie Brown: hey Carrie why do you dress like that it’s kinda weird

Carrie Kelly: oh that’s cause I’m from the future! Fashion is different

Steph: oh, really? What year?

Carrie: 1989!

Steph: *vicious side-eye*

[batfleckgifs]

Batfleck + The Dark Knight Returns Inspiration.

[quotidian-oblivion]

I've been thinking about Jason's memorial case in the Batcave recently and came up with a few thoughts.

Obviously, there are a few things wrong with it, mainly the title of a "Good Soldier" being attached to a child. And I've been thinking aboit that mostly.

There's no questions of how intensely focused and obsessed Batman is over the war against crime in Gotham, we see him quoting it multiple times in the comics and even the movies, animated and live-action. And so he thinks everyone in the war is a soldier, including Robins. I hate that and loathe it.

Not because I'm a Batman apologist, I'm not. It's because I like to see and believe in the better parts of Batman. The reason why he doesn't kill in the first place--because it comes from a place of compassion and a place of strong belief set by an 8-year-old boy who grew up too fast. Because he believes anyone can be redeemable because ultimately everyone is human, as proven in the older Batman comics and Batman TAS when he helps Harvey, Harley, Baby Doll, etc.

And the biggest reason of all--because Batman, whether anyone likes it or not, represents a strong symbol in Gotham. A burning torch in murky darkness. A hope--one shrouded by shadows--but a hope nonetheless. It's in the psychology of Gothamites, it needs a Batman because of that symbol which is lethal to criminals and a relief to citizens. I'm heavily referencing The Dark Knight Returns I and II (animated movies) here. Watch it if you haven't yet, you'll see what I mean. This is why he can't kill the Joker. It will be completely tainting that hope and we can see its effects in The Dark Knight Returns II.

In any case, Tim was right about Batman needing a Robin. Because in the end, Batman is just that--a man. And Robin is a child.

Lego Batman is really good for this reason. The concept of found family in that movie is just amazing. I love how Bruce fears having a family again after he lost his old one.

Batman needs a Robin because Batman was originally born out of a vengeance scheme of an 8-year-old newly orphaned boy who lost everyone. Trauma lasts. Batman needs a Robin because Robin is a family. And that little boy who lost his parents needs it. And so does Robin.

I love in Young Jusitce when Batman says "So that he doesn't" in response to Wonder Woman asking him if he pulled Robin into this life "So that he turns out like you?". Because Dick was also a little boy bent on revenge. Bruce gave that to him in the only way he knew how, but a better version because he himself has matured and understands how dark he has gotten. He doesn't want that for Dick, or Jason, or Tim, or Damian, or Cass--or any of his kids. He gave them early on what he didn't have--a family. And he received a family back. And having that family keeps Batman from tipping oved the edge into insanity. Because revenge is a poison, even if it's an 8-year-old boy imagining it.

But that still doesn't change that he sees it as a war. And he sees Robin and himself as soldiers.

So I came to a conclusion.

He doesn't.

Bruce doesn't.

Batman does.

Here's how I'm piecing it out:

"A Good Soldier" carved on the memorial case because only soldiers can fight so openly and outwardly. Even if they're dubbed as vigilantes, they are soldiers. And I think Bruce thinks it this way.

So when he sees a Robin or a Batkid out there, kicking rapists in the face and whatnot, he sees how someone so young can bear so much weight. He sees how a child can hold so much bravery--like the soldiers in the frontlines--doing this because of the morals they believe in. He sees how Robin is a good fighter, a good helper, a brave one, a confident person, a soft hero.

He sees how Robin is all that and he thinks "A good soldier." Because Robin is one. With the thing they're doing, he is one.

But yes, it's wrong. Children cannot and should not be soldiers. But a) this is the worst type of fiction, comic fiction 😂 and b) Batman is fucked up himself and considering he started training to be Batman from a young age too, he himself was a child soldier.

In the world of DC comics, the people there need someone like Batman while the people in the Earth we live in need someone like Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks, Malala Yousufzai, etc.

So yeah, Robin is a good soldier--a great soldier, because he holds the bravery, determination and strength of a soldier. It could mean a literal thing, but it could also mean a metaphorical thing. Bruce could have engraved those words to Jason's memorial case because the only thing he can think of to sum up how Jason was as a Robin was a soldier. Because soldiers are brave, and Jason was the bravest.

And I think comic writers after that took the whole "war against crime" psyche of Batman too literally and too much creating the abusive ass prick in some of the continuities.

But you can't tell me that Bruce--not Batman--Bruce has a case of his own for Jason. Maybe a physical one, maybe an imaginitive one. A case which holds Jason's annotated copy of Pride and Prejudice, his first aced test paper, and his favorite hoodie, all kept tidily in the case with the words "a good son, be well loved, Jay lad" written under it. A case which he holds private because it was his son who he lost. Jason.

A little boy who survived so much until he couldn't. A little boy who he tried to protect until he couldn't. His son. Jason.

[crisisofinfinitemultiverses]

Batman vs Superman by John Gallagher

The Dark Knight Returns

[the-returning-dark-knight]

Due to recent Activities i will be Explanding mY account to include my Robin.

[nefarious-616-necromancer]

[artbyblastweave]

The thorny thing about the politics of The Dark Knight Returns is that on the one hand, the comic has what I consider to be a pretty unforgivably brutal "tough on crime" right-wing worldview that treats criminals as little more than targets for righteous vigilante brutality. But on the other hand the comic also correctly identifies the entirety of the Reagan administration as criminals who Batman arbitrarily and unfairly isn't allowed to brutalize.

[causeimanartist]

Carrie Kelley Robin for art request!! :)

This is either Carrie Kelley or Velma in cosplay, who could say

[pat1dee]

[crispyhotandspicy]

I don’t know what’s better that there’s a Batman insurance policy in Gotham or the fact that it’s called The Dark Knight Returns 😭

📚From ‘The Batman Who Laughs’ by Scott Snyder and Jock

[johnny-dynamo]

DKR by John Gallagher