Quote:
Originally Posted by Posh  'Dark Knight Returns' is bad ass, the sequel is horrible in every conceivable way.
The only thing worse than Frank Miller in self-parodic grim and gritty mode is Frank Miller in 'wacky superhero' mode trying to make a point about everyone else being grim and gritty.
Just fuck off, Frank. |
The first Batman comics Frank Miller drew were shit. Pure unadulterated shit. Full circle.
The segment he did on Evan Dorkins
Worlds Funnest* is his total artistic contribution to comics this decade. As for Millers Batman, as iconic as
Dark Knight Returns is, I find it hard to see past
Year One. The story is bare and immaculate and David Mazzuchelli only draws the best comics in the world (Also see
Daredevil: Born Again.)
As to Batman, I tend to love the weird stuff and Grant and Breyfogle pretty much owned that department for my generation. Very few continuing stories during their run on Detective, but every last one is gold. Well, maybe not every last one, there are some seriously fucking dull Robin issues towards the end of their run but otherwise you could easily collect their run as a best of modern Batman.
Birth Of The Demon is truly excellent comics, far better than
Son Of The Demon which by comparison looks two-dimensional. Denny O'Neill (Who I'm not normally a fan of) turns in the script of his career, back when DC went through their crazy phase where everything had to be a gilt-edged, hand-painted fifty page hardcover that cost at least one of your major organs and were willing to actually
pay for fully-painted art. Breyfogle makes it so indescribably vibrant (
No-one can draw batman raising an eyebrow in a mischievious fashion without just making him look a twat except Breyfogle.) that I'm going to sit and read it after typing this post.
Pete Milligans story
Dark Night, Dark City which ran in Batman around 89-90 still strikes me as the best exploitation of the character, the mythos and the suspension of disbelief that comes automatically from reading and accepting the basically ridiculous premise of the character. The Riddler is also truly, truly monstrous in this. Forcing Batman to slit a babys throat is a nice touch. Drawn by Kieron Dwyer, before he lost his shit.
*Not a Batman story, but it
is my favourite Bat-Mite/Mr Mxyzptlk story, which is no mean feat in itself.
