Absolute the Dark Knight

I'm specifying the edition in the review title because of amazon's annoying habit of scrunching together reviews for completely different editions. Like all DC's Absolute Editions, this one's big, heavy and comes in a slip case, complete with a dust jacket and even a ribbon page-marker. As a physical object, it is gorgeous and a treat for any book-lover. Weighing in at several pounds though, it's not one to read walking down the street. You really need something to prop it against. The page size is about 12 x 8 inches (30 x 20 cm). This is much bigger than the original editions or previous paperback editions. This and the fine quality of the printing mean that it's much easier to appreciate the detail in the art and to read the text. The paper quality is also very good, strong without being overly heavy and not overly glossy as Marvel reprints often are. Kudos to DC for coming up with the Absolute format and doing such a good job at putting them together. There are folks in their production department who clearly value this material as much as readers do. Miller's art has always divided opinion. Any artist with a very strong personal style tends to attract lovers and haters in equal measure. Personally I like his art, but then I've always had a thing for quirky artists. Steve Ditko anyone? Since this edition includes not only the original four issues of 'The Dark Knight Returns,' but also the three issues of its first sequel, 'The Dark Knight Strikes Again,' it's easy to see the difference between the two. The art is much more detailed in DKR, blockier in DKSA. Likewise, the writing in the second story doesn't quite have the density and impact of the first. DKR is a blistering satire on Reagan's America and, to some extent, on the super-hero genre. DKSA retains some elements of those things but is beginning to show signs of Miller's drift towards the political right. That said, it's still a darn good read. There's a generous range of extras too, from the introduction by Miller, through his original proposal for the series, script pages, page breakdowns, preliminary sketches, toys, etc. All good stuff. Given that 'The Dark Knight Returns' is an acknowledged classic and certainly worth preserving for future generations, this well-produced, sharply-printed, over-sized edition seems like a great way to do it.

There is a reason Dark Knight Rises poached ideas from this book, and why Batman/Superman will seemingly do the same. It's worth every penny so by all that is holy, buy it, get comfy, and fall in love with it. It's a book that will take pride of place in any comic book collection.

I purchased this for my boyfriend for his Christmas as he has been eying it up in our local comic book store for awhile. He has recently finished it and loves the addition and the work that has gone into it.

Great visuals, fine detail, brilliant story. Will take you as long as a regular novel to read properly; but its more than worth the effort.

Having bought the original Dark Knight book back in the eighties I had become how do-eared my copy had become. (probably not helped by my lending out to others as the epitome of what a good comic-book looks like). As a result I started scoring the market place for a replacement but soon found the price of the original hard cover books was prohibitive. A friend suggested the Absolute version and I have to say this was a great idea. The book, ordered from America arrived within days and proved to be a beautiful reproduction of the original, reprinting not only the Dark Knight but also the sequel. The larger pages make for a better visual impression and in its slip-case it looks good on the bookshelf. At around £50 it is worth every penny and remains a milestone in the history of comics.

This is the second over-sized "Absolute" Batman that I've bought - the other being Absolute Hush - but this one doesn't quite justify the price tag. Just as Napoleon didn't quite conquer Europe. As said before in other reviews of the two seperate editions of "The Dark Knight Returns" and "The Dark Knight Strikes Again", the former has a far superior story with better visuals - the few early pages with the flashback to THE double murders struck me the most. When George Clooney in an interview for the movie "Batman and Robin" (oh, yes...) said "yeah, yeah, the parents are dead, get over it" or words to that effect - that's why the movie was pants. Bruce's parents' violent deaths affected the spoilt little rich boy in a way no normal person could truly fathom and so has created one of comic fiction's most tortured characters. The "I've got super-powers, let's use them to fight crime" ethos doesn't apply here. Scaring the crap out of criminals does. This follows through - ending with the climatic Superman/Batman clash. And so ends an amazing work of fiction. In the next story - set a few years later - the problems start. Batman turns into a revolutionary political animal in DKSA and it's not for the better. I can see what Frank Miller is trying to do - he's trying to create the world as how it would look like if fantastic superheroes and supervillains existed at all and what people would expect. It's the kind of writing that smacks of American paranoia and so cannot be taken seriously throughout. See the Orange advert about the New York blackout? Everyone found a home or a place to stay during that time. Beforehand, people would have predicted riots, looting, etc. but no. This is about sticking it to the man. This particular man (i.e. me) couldn't care less. The pokes at the media are fun, but everything seems so rushed after halfway through, trying to create something that is too fantastic - basically it has too much of Supes. Going back to the old "Batman battling with his psyche, age and criminals" is the best sort of Batman story you can do. Deviate from that blueprint and it suffers. Nevertheless, the story has a good first half and these problems only really show up after that point. So why four stars? I feel that DKSA might be a "grower" so I'll give it the benefit of the doubt for the mo, but you're really going to buy this for "The Dark Knight Returns" - a sublime story for a superior character.