“This should be agony. I should be a mass of aching
muscle — broken, spent, unable to move. And, were I an older man, I surely
would... But I'm a man of 30 — of 20 again. The rain on my chest is a baptism.
I'm born again.”
- Batman, The Dark Knight Returns
1986:
The
Dark Knight Returns, written by Frank Millar was released in a series of issues
in 1986, and became one of the best-selling comics of all time. Known for his
innovative perspectives of stories and tendency to go beyond the proverbial
“norm” of society, Millar had used all of his creative talents and then some to
create what is said to be the greatest Batman story ever. The Dark Knight
Returns focuses on a 55 year-old Bruce Wayne, forced to come out of retirement
to protect Gotham once again, this time from a group of visually altered humans
called mutants. Equipped with a new, tank-like Batmobile, a new female Robin
and a brand new arsenal of weapons, Batman returns to prove that Gotham will
survive as long as he lives.
Millar’s
writing for the piece gave us a view of both Bruce and Batman as old, depressed
individuals living with incredible amounts of guilt, unable to move on. While
the writing helped fans realize the dark story and serious dialogue, the
original penciling, again done by Millar, introduced us to a new looking city
and a Batman unlike we’ve ever seen before. The great inking by Klaus Janson
and coloring by Lynn Varley helped convey the overall tone. With heavy black
ink featured in every page and faded colors it indicated this was no fun place
to be.
As
well as battling an army of mutant followers, Batman evaded the police force as
well as Superman, both hunting down The Dark Knight for his arrest. Batman also
confronted his oldest nemesis the Joker, which added a nice, needed flare to
the story that only the Clown Prince of Crime could provide. Comic fans around
the world owe Frank Millar a debt of gratitude for providing us with superhero
content that ultimately changed the way fans viewed the character of Batman. He
wasn’t seen as Batman, the Caped Crusader anymore, he was now known as Batman,
The Dark Knight.
1987-88:
After
the success of Frank Millar’s initial take on Batman, people requested more
from the writer, so he gave it to them. In the following year Millar wrote
Batman: Year One, which dived into the characters origins, adding some subplots
and updating the story, as well as providing young fans with a detailed look at
his origins who may not have read the original story in Detective Comics. The
book was very successful, being written by the biggest writer in comics at that
point, it was hard for fans to resist the temptation to read more of Frank
Millar’s Batman. The book is most famous for centering on James Gordon, rather
then the conventional superhero origin story. Batman’s tale was still used
quite well, but most of the situations in the book came from the point of view
of Gordon, something that was quite unique in superhero stories.
Millar’s
success with his two books sparked other writers to create a “dark” Batman
story of their own. The first, and probably most shocking of the long list of
innovations following Millar was The Killing Joke, written by Alan Moore,
another successful new writer in that year. Released in 1988, The Killing Joke
saw the Joker commit a series of unspeakable, evil deeds, all directed at
Commissioner Gordon and his family. The story ultimately ended with the torturing
of Gordon and the crippling of Barbara after a gunshot to the stomach. This
story inadvertently created a new character for the future DC universe, Oracle:
Barbara Gordon, retired from her role of Batgirl and aiding the Dark Knight via
com-link.
By
the end of 1988, it was Jim Starlin’s turn to write the next, shocking Batman
story. By this point, the role of Robin was assumed by Jason Todd, an older,
and more lethal and rebellious teenager who didn’t sit well with some fans.
Dennis O’Neil, now an editor at DC realized this about the character and gave
the fate of Jason’s future to the fans. They were given the chance to vote as
to whether Jason would live or die, and as we all know, A Death In The Family
was created and Robin was dead. While it was a triumphant release, some fans
were a little heartbroken over the loss of Robin, which would be short lived.
Just a year after Jason’s death, Tim Drake was introduced into the
Bat-Universe, solved the identity of Batman single-handedly, putting all
previous villains to shame, and quickly became the new Robin. On the plus side,
Tim was much more well liked then Jason, but just because the guy was a little
short-tempered, didn’t mean we had to kill him off, right?
1989:
Inspired
by the dark representation of Batman in Millar’s books, Tim Burton (a fan of
dark, eerie stories himself) would direct the first ever Batman blockbuster
that didn’t involve Bat-Shark repellant spray. Casting Jack Nicholson as the
maniacal Joker and Michael Keaton as Batman himself, the film earned a total of
$411,348,924 at the box office and stunned audiences around the world. People
who weren’t familiar with the characters dark turn in the comics got a great
glimpse at the new Batman in the film. With a supporting cast of Kim Basinger,
Michael Gough and Lando Calrission himself, Billy Dee Williams, the film was
well received by male and female audiences of almost all ages. By almost I mean
the movie was not geared towards younger audiences, unlike most comic book
films prior to it. The language, action scenes and deaths of certain characters
may have been too “intense” for young minds, that’s what adults say anyway.
Personally, I feel sorry for any young Bat-fan who missed out on the
opportunity of first viewing because he wasn’t of age, damn you law!
1992:
If
young fans weren’t technically able to see the first film in theatres, they
sure as hell would not make it into its sequel. Batman Returns saw the origins
of two new villains to the movie franchise: Catwoman and Penguin. Some factors,
excluding that it was just too depressing and a little… creepy, the movie did
not attract as many fans due to the smaller sets, the mediocre finale and the
overall atmosphere. While Michelle Pfeiffer did play a very obscene Catwoman,
many fans just couldn’t get past the poor representation and disgusting
appearance of the Penguin. Any scene with Catwoman would essentially be
consumed with the horrific scenes with the Penguin… sigh.
This
year also spawned what is considered the greatest comic cartoon ever, and was
voted the second best cartoon series of all time by IGN; Batman The Animated
Series brought the detective-oriented stories to animation and gave kids look
at the new Batman, a look that is still essentially sustained in comics and
cartoons today. This show is famous for its recreation of certain animation
techniques and styles used in the Fleisher cartoons of the early 1940’s, which
focused on short Superman adventures, and it’s innovation and redesigned take
on classic characters like Tim Drake, Harley Quinn and Mr. Freeze. This
animated series will always be renowned and must be praised in any discussion
involving Batman because it’s just that good.
1993-99:
While
the Batman films were on a slight decline the comics were stronger then ever and
one story in particular would have major changes in the Bat-Universe.
Knightfall, released in late 1993, saw the emergence of one of Batman’s newest
and most deadly foes, Bane. Knightfall was divided into three parts, each with
one major plot, followed by multiple subplots involving supporting characters.
The first part centered on breaking Batman physically and mentally. The second
saw the birth of a new Batman; mostly from Tim Drake’s perspective and the
third featured Batman training back into shape to reclaim his title as Gotham’s
protector. The books had great story and spiced things up a little bit by
allowing us to see what it would be like for someone else to become the bat,
the result was not good. This story was also a breakout point in Bane’s career
and instantly made him a household name, to comic fans anyway.
In
1995, Director Joel Schumacher took over for the final two Batman films. Batman
Forever did not do well review-wise at all. The addition of bat-nipples alone
crippled the movie, but the real harm done involved the story, where Bruce
Wayne apparently forgot the reason he dawned the cape and cowl every night and
considered giving it up for a woman?! This isn’t too shocking, considering it’s
a young Nicole Kidman and a logical thing to do, but we’ve seen Batman,
countless times before, give up his relationships and any chance of a normal
life for the good of Gotham, why should it be any different in this movie?
The
franchise’s fourth movie released in 1997 didn’t do any better; in fact it did
far worse. The film earned a rating of 12% on Rotten Tomatoes, which pretty
much speaks for itself. Bad acting, childish costumes and set designs and a
poor choice of dialogue that seems to make every word out of anyone’s mouth
appear as a joke to Batman’s world. “Should we kill her now?” Asks the over
aged Robin. “No, lets kill her later.” Replies Batman as they decide to work
with the untrained Batgirl… needless to say, I need not go any further.
Aside
from the horrific turnouts by the final two installments of the Batman movie
franchise, the comics strived through the 90’s, releasing famous titles such as
The Long Halloween, Cataclysm, No Man’s Land and Dark Victory. Each of which
was well executed and seemed to add to Batman’s character dynamics even more.
By the end of the 90’s, Batman would be seen as the coolest superhero around,
but it wouldn’t be until the early 21st century where Batman hit a
stride, much like he did with the release of The Dark Knight Returns. 2003, to
be exact, would see the release of arguably the greatest Batman story ever:
Hush…
Check out the final installment of Batman
In a State of Flux in couple days. Thanks.
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