Batman Poster #27 FRAMED The Dark Knight Returns #1 (1986) by Frank Miller

Description

You are purchasing the item pictured, framed. Priority mail, tracking and $50 insurance is included with purchase. Item will be bagged to protect from dust, packed in packing peanuts and boxed. Just open box and hang it on the wall…makes a perfect gift!

The era of “grim and gritty” comics began with the publication of Frank Miller’s landmark limited series Batman: The Dark Knight in 1986 – a sea change for an industry in which super-hero adventures were typically bathed in garish primary colors. The simple, almost minimalist composition Miller chose for the cover of the first issue – perhaps the greatest application of the “less is more” principal in comics history – barely hinted at the cluttered complexity of the interior art and story. Set in a dystopian near future where Batman is an aged, out-of-shape combination of Dirty Harry and the Samurai hero of Akira Kirosawa’s Yojimbo, Batman: The Dark Knight offered a hardcore revisionist take on Bob Kane’s hero. Most readers found the series revelatory, believing that Miller had returned Batman to his revenge-driven roots. Others, like Canadian novelist Mordecai Richler, who panned the series in the New York Times (comparing it unfavorably to the Dick Tracy comic strips of his youth) were lass favorably disposed toward the industry’s bold new direction. “He’s got this gorgeous streak of malice running through him that makes him a really exciting character. He’s not a role model. He’s not her to tell us how to behave. He’s a scary fantasy.” – Frank Miller. “The stories are convoluted, difficult to follow and crammed with far too much text. The drawings offer a grotesquely muscle-bound Batman and Superman, not the lovable champions of old…If this book is meant for kids, I doubt that they will be pleased. If it is aimed at adults, they are not the sort I want to drink with.” – Mordecai Richler. The Dark Knight Returns is a 1986 four-issue comic book miniseries starring Batman, written by Frank Miller, illustrated by Miller and Klaus Janson, and published by DC Comics. When the series was collected into a single volume later that year, the story title for the first issue was applied to the entire series. The Dark Knight Returns tells the story of Bruce Wayne, who at 55 years old returns from retirement to fight crime and faces opposition from the Gotham City police force and the United States government. Frank Miller (born January 27, 1957) is an American writer, artist, and film director best known for his dark comic book stories and graphic novels such as Ronin, Daredevil: Born Again, The Dark Knight Returns, Sin City, and 300. He also directed the film version of The Spirit, shared directing duties with Robert Rodriguez on Sin City and produced the film 300. Miller said that the comic series’ plot was inspired by Dirty Harry, specifically the 1983 film Sudden Impact, in which Dirty Harry returns to crime-fighting after a lengthy convalescence. Miller also said his own increasing age was a factor in the plot. Frank Miller (born January 27, 1957) is an American writer, artist, and film director best known for his dark comic book stories and graphic novels such as Ronin, Daredevil: Born Again, The Dark Knight Returns, Sin City, and 300. He also directed the film version of The Spirit, shared directing duties with Robert Rodriguez on Sin City and produced the film 300. In 1986, DC Comics released writer-penciler Miller’s Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, a four-issue miniseries printed in what the publisher called “prestige format” — squarebound, rather than stapled; on heavy-stock paper rather than newsprint, and with cardstock rather than glossy-paper covers. It was inked by Klaus Janson and colored by Lynn Varley. The story tells how Batman retired after the death of the second Robin (Jason Todd), and at age 55 returns to fight crime in a dark and violent future. Miller created a tough, gritty portrayal of Batman, who was often referred to as the “Darknight Detective” in 1970s portrayals. Released the same year as Alan Moore’s and Dave Gibbons’ DC miniseries Watchmen, it showcased a new form of more adult-oriented storytelling to both comics fans and a crossover mainstream audience. The Dark Knight Returns influenced the comic-book industry by heralding a new wave of darker characters. The trade paperback collection proved to be a big seller for DC and remains in print 25 years after first being published. An awesome two part direct to DVD animated movie based on The Dark Knight Returns was released in 2012 and 2013 respectively. Along with Batman: The Killing Joke, Tim Burton has cited The Dark Knight Returns as an influence in his first film adaptation of Batman. References to the comic series are made in the films, with Vicki Vale taking photographs of the devastated Corto Maltese. Controversially, as in the graphic novel, Batman was portrayed in the Tim Burton films as an occasional killer, and he kills both The Joker and the Penguin, as well as several of their goons.