What is... Frank Miller's Batman: An Analysis of the Human Mind, Vigilantism, and Comics
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- Опубликовано: 6 июн 2024
- Frank Miller was at the top of American comic books for nearly two decades. An influential auteur who completely redefined Batman as a character. In this video, I will be examining both the subtextual and metatextual aspects of Miller's work and prove that his Batman series is a genius work that comments on and satirizes not just the comic characters, but the entire comic industry.
#batman #frankmiller #dccomics
Time Codes
0:00 - Opening Statements
9:45 - The Dark Knight Returns
21:40 - Batman: Year One
40:46 - The Dark Knight Strikes Again
56:58 - All-Star Batman and Robin the Boy Wonder
1:13:13 - Closing Statements
1:17:25 - Outro
Links
---------------------------------------
* The Dark Knight Returns
www.amazon.com/dp/1401263119
* Batman: Year One
www.amazon.com/dp/140120752
* The Dark Knight Strikes Again
www.amazon.com/dp/1563899299
* All-Star Batman & Robin the Boy Wonder
www.amazon.com/dp/1401220088
* Links - My Comic - DESTRUCTO BOY and Other Exciting Tales!
linktr.ee/BlakeTWilde
* ComicPop
/ comicpop
* Outro Music "Bummin on Tremelo" by Kevin MacLeod
incompetech.com
* My Patreon, that's right, I have a Patreon!
/ smokeysvideos
* Follow me on Twitter!
/ smokeysvideos
/ notblakewilde
SOURCES:
* BatCon.org - Bats in Belfries and Other Places
www.batcon.org/article/bats-in-belfries-and-other-places/
* BATMAN (1989)
* BATMAN - Season 1 Episode 2 "Smack In The Middle" (1966)
* Comic Book Report ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT 1990
• Comic Book Report ENTE...
* Comichron 1986
www.comichron.com/monthlycomi...
* Comichron 1987
www.comichron.com/monthlycomi...
* Comichron 1989
www.comichron.com/monthlycomi...
* Comichron 1990
www.comichron.com/monthlycomi...
*Death of Superman news segment
• Death of Superman news...
* Masters of Comic Book Art - 1987
• Masters Of Comic Book ...
* Image Comics Moneyline Report
• Image Comics
* Inside Comix Sept. 1994
• Inside Comix Sept. 199...
* NEWS STORY: DEATH OF SUPERMAN 1992
• NEWS STORY: DEATH OF S...
* Rob Liefeld on Dennis Miller
• Rob Liefeld On Dennis ...
* Robocop 2 (1990)
* San Diego Comic Con Floor Part 1
• San Diego Comic Con Fl...
* SUPER FRIENDS Season 1 Episode 1 "The Power Pirate" (1973)
* SUPER FRIENDS PSA - Batman & Robin Heimlich Maneuver
• Superfriends PSA - Bat...
* THE BATMAN (2022)
* The Dark Knight (2008)
* The Death of Superman Mid Ohio Con 1992
• The Death of Superman ...
* Todd McFarlane in a 1994 Spawn Commercial
• Todd McFarlane in a 19...
* Todd McFarlane Interview 1992 Home Shopping Network
• Todd McFarlane intervi... 
Развлечения
One of your best
Yoooo
"TDKR is about relapsing into addiction" - THIS. Thankyou 🙂
Batman: Year One is the only Frank Miller Batman story I can read over and over again. Even The Dark Knight Returns doesn't have the same impact
because you don't know what batman really is
@@lukalekishvili9085 huh?
I agree I MUCH prefer Year 1 over DKR
@@joeclarke7982 bro year 1 was terrible
@@akirahill8091 explain how it's terrible. There's a reason almost every good live action film used Year 1 or Long Halloween as a source, because they're great classic Batman stories
drake bell, cole sprouse and andrew garfield combined their dna into a clone so that they could anonymously discuss their love for batman. very wholesome.
Li’l Jim Carey
LOL
@@Artkenny284that was my first first thought as well lol
Oof. Hopefully that Bell DNA didn’t give him bad thoughts on underaged girls
🦇🦇🦇@@akiraeatsguitarpicks491
The thing about year one and dkr is that Dennis O’Neil was the Batman editor, and knew how to keep Miller in check during the 80’s. DK2, ASBAR, and even holy terror had Bob Schreck as the editor and he just let Miller go nuts because Schreck had a lot of success when he let him go off the rails for sin city.
Frank Miller gets the credit for something Denny O’Neil did over a decade before him: Return Batman to his dark roots, take him seriously, write some of the best stories.
I enjoyed Dark Knight Returns and Year One but avoided the rest for much of the rest of Miller’s Bat output for seemingly obvious reasons, you reframing much of the “batshit” insanity as parody and self-awareness is kinda eye opening. Think
I’ll dig up some of that stuff with a more open mind now, thanks
Ngl if it's just doing what it's supposedly parodying then it's not really parody.
Miller doesn't have enough self awareness to make satire anymore lmao
Try looking at it as a parody, it's hilarious! In dk strikes again Lex luthors a troll like creature batman crashes his plane into lex luthors goons, and draws a Zee on his face!, luthor looks like the bad guy from disturbed land of confusion!
1hr of mental gymnastics and suddenly you change your mind.
And some people dont believe in propaganda and NPC's.
Weren't those his only two runs?
At the beginning when you mentioned two of the most important people in batmans history I found it odd that the second person wasn’t Neil Adams considering he was the one who brought true maturity and grit to Batman stories.
The comics were pretty dark and gritty in 1939/1940
@@Ian-hj4yt and not again until Neal Adam’s and Denny O’Neil. They were definitely a pivot point for the characters history and on the Mount Rushmore of Batman creators.
@FakebookFriend people overlook them so much. They turned Batman back into a Detective mystery drama.
@@Ian-hj4yt Batman comics from the 30s/40s were more violent, but also goofier than many comics from the 60s.
@@CrashWeezerman Early 60s or late 60s (yellow oval era)?
This has to be the best analysis of Frank's work I've ever seen. I've never really noticed how Frank writes Bruce to be really unstable beforehand.
The montage of news reports and late night sales shows was amazing. My wife is younger than me and doesn't remember the comic collection bubble like I do and showing her that made her understand immediately lmao.
Thanks for the ASB&R breakdown. I feel like the general hater of this book never understood the take on Batman that Miller was going for. The reality is, a man who dresses up like a bat and beats up criminals to satiate his childhood trauma-based OCD is going to be completely insane. Miller just cranked that to 11 and honestly I loved the take.
The problems isn’t making Batman mentally sick to the extreme, it’s that he calls robin a retard and bears people and TRIES to kill them instead of almost killing them because he’s so angry like say, the actual Batman character who’s supposed to have the character arc you described: Red Hood
I think the reason why Miller's writing went down is cause his best work (Dare Devil, DKR etc etc) was ENTIRELY inspired by his personal trauma.
He never learned to deal with his problems safely and got nothing but praise for turning them into comic books so now he turns every single random thought that is even marginally uncomfortable into a major plot element.
As a writer some of the worst stuff I've done for my mental health was to try and write my trauma, its not a healthy idea at all and you should not even consider trying it go to therapy please.
I thought DKR was inspired by him not wanting to be older than batman?
Just like Batman! :O
@@badtaketom7116 His best Dare Devil books were "inspired" by the time he got mugged and DKR 2 was literally all about 9/11 which Miller lived just a few blocks from ground zero
@@SHDW-nf2ki I was aware of those, I was talking about the original DKR, from what I heard the main inspiration behind the original was him not wanting to be older than a comic book character he always looked up to as a child.
Year 1 was a great story his writing hasn't gone anywhere but maybe up a little.
Frank Miller's Batman being a commentary on modern depictions of Batman is a pretty decent way of looking at it.
Especially with All Star Batman cause it's essentially how most modern Batman fans see batman (Basically being the goku of superheroes).
I always thought it was funny that Crazy Batman Fanboys say Superman is boring or overpowered, that he can do anything so he and his stories aren't inserting cuase he could fix everything. Meanwhile they say Batman can beat anyone, he can beat Superman, Flash, Wonder Woman, the rest of the league, is all knowing, etc.
Frank Miller's Batman is always the craziest of all. Love the analysis, Man.
This was an interesting read into Frank Miller's Batman stories, I know they vary in quality especially the more recent his work is, even his art is losing quality, but his 80's Batman comics are great, I knew Year One is the seminal origin story for Bats, but seeing The Dark Knight returns as a meta commentary on not only Batman's own comic book history but also a cautionary tale of the exploitative and ultraviolent comics of the 90's and well into the 2000's, which makes the overall story great.
Which reminds me of Robocop 2, getting out of the way the discussion that nothing will top Robocop 1, what I like about Robocop 2, is that after many rewrites, director changes and the studio trying to get the most profitable version of the sequel, that Frank Miller created an allegory of the movie industry dulling great stories and characterization, for the safest version possible to maximize earnings, and we see the OCP's board of out of touch, agenda pushing managerial team coming up with the worst ways to make Robocop a more marketable figure that will bring OCP's image into a more positive light.
Then we see Robocop's directives being rewritten as if Robocop himself is getting "rewritten" to appeal to the masses, saying cheesy public service catchphrases while also being cartoonishly violent while enforcing even the smallest of rules, just for him to "reboot" himself and then fight the now over-the-top, ultraviolent and drug infused Robo Cain, because the big corporation has deemed Robocop obsolote, it's as if Miller's not only commenting on what popular media will become in the next decades but also big studios trying to find the best way to appeal to the masses, the politically correct Reagan era image was about to be phased out for the not only politically but also anatomically incorrect monstrosities of the edgier 90's, and the best part is, this monstrosity, was called "Robocop 2", so in the end we have the literal Robocop 1 fighting Robocop 2, and even though the sequel seems to have the greater backing from its corporation, it won't never defeat the humanity and nuance of the original, so if you see the movie in that light, it is freaking brilliant.
I have immense respect for frank miller, his writing my not be the best these days but he’s a legend for better or for worse, and this is the best deep dive into his Batman I’ve seen.
I mean, how can you read all star Batman & robin and actually take it seriously?
It’s honestly a shame it wasn’t finished, hopefully one day.
Don’t forget, Denny O’Neal was really the one who saved Batman in the comics, frank just amplified that for the mainstream.
I feel like the perfect Batman is the animated series version, he’s a little crazy but he’s elegant, and doesn’t go into the totally insane camp. I can’t see Animated series Batman forcing kids to become Robin or beating anyone TOO badly.
Comics made him too dark, miller was spittin. The dcau bat is probably the ideal Batman, it struck a nice balance but it could've used a bit more camp and silly
Man I didn’t even realize that Frank Miller’s Batman went that far, I’m gonna def check them out thanks smokey
Wow.... When you put it like that it makes the insanity of Miller's later works make a little sense.
He unintentionally infected the entire industry with a harshness that was pushed to the highest extreme and tried to correct it by pushing it farther.
[EDIT] I wanted to tack this on earlier but the whole idea of All Star Batman and Robin being a commentary on comics at the time puts Linkara's reviews in a *WHOLE NEW* light
An hour and a half of what if... this is amazing
I'm tempted to write and draw a fan comic that ignores everything outside of Year One and DKR and acts as an unofficial replacement of DKSA. I am a huge Batman and I really want to try my hand at writing him.
That'd be awesome!
Ironically you should use BvS for that, Bats once again becomes a lost, out of touch and Violent man but after realising that he is losing himself he piece himself back together.
Could not agree more with your assessment of ComicPoP :) recently found them and have been binging their content, great stuff there.
If you told me a person dressed like Ace Ventura was gonna educate me on the crazy ass miller-vurse, I’d say that sounds about right.
don't forget how important, I'd say moreso than Frank, Dennis O'Neil was to batman comics as well. he was the one who really started the kick of darker comics which gave Frank the ability to get his success with TDKR
So my more recent theory might be Correct. Millers decent in quality could be form him not revising his work and property just going on off the first freaking idea he gets without fixing it.
Or maybe not who knows here anymore
I think it's also because 9/11 really fucked him up mentally and holy terror is the dead giveaway that the attack turned him into a very bitter and hateful man.
my theory behind miller's downfall is that he simply got too much control and surrounded by yes-men, because there's no way the dude that wrote born again also wrote spawn x batman
@@hashly8521george Lucas syndrome I got it
damn that might be the most positive way to look at All Star Batman and Robin I've seen on here, I kinda like looking at it that way lmao
Yeah Frank Miller's Bats is a Bats that has completely gave in to his darkest Urges, Canon Batman kind of understands he can become this that he can snap at any moment but Frank Miller Batman only digs his own grave as he loses his mind.
This is probably Why Zack Snyder did the whole Bats murdering people in BVS, that Bats is Miller's but unlike Miller's he realised what kind of nutcase he has become and once again returns to a level of Morality and Sanity.
You're right about everything else but Zack Snyder said in an interview that he thought Batman was just killing people in Frank Miller's version 😭@@forickgrimaldus8301
Sometimes Miller's writing can be overshadowed by the art. It makes it easy to forget he's trying to make a commentary, analysis, or response to comic culture. Then couple that with the fact that not all of his work is deconstructive, it's easy to think ASBR is just nonsense. This video is making me think ASBR's lack of ending is stating, " This won't end because it's direction less and doesn't know where to go. This grit is pointless and unending." Also, unrelated, I think Miller and Moore are having a wizard war for fun.
Dude this is incredible. I really hope to see more videos that feature this kind of in-depth analysis of cornerstone comics and creators. Keep it up man!
You just opened my eyes to year one. You just blew me away.
This video was just amazing. The beginning was a banger and I love the meta and real life context you got into.
Ah yes a one hour and a half Smokey video on Frank's Batman,ready to pause everything I was gonna do
I think you're right, it seems like miller was originally satirizing batman. I
can't stand all the dark gritty comics that came from people taking his satire at face value and making the entire comics industry nothing but that. it makes it a bit easier to see why miller changed the way he did.
Smokey I really admire your Ace Ventura hair. Great video, by the way. I'll be seeing Miller's work with different eyes for now on.
Great video!! Back in 2008, right before The Spirit came out, Frank Miller did an interview with Maxim magazine. In that interview, they listed the Ten Commandments of the Frank Miller hero and when I read them everything made so much sense. From Daredevil to Batman to Marv and Dwight, I felt like I understood who Frank Miller is.
Just yesterday I don't think I would've considered watching Ace Ventura talk for an hour and a half about Frank Miller's Batman. But here we are, and it was great. Can't wait to look through your videos to find the next few I'll listen to while working.
Well, you DID state episode 100 of 'what is' will be amazing. Although I didnt expect LEGENDARY!
Honestly man this is an example video, got me to subscribe, I didn't even know DK IIII was a thing until now, I'd be interested in seeing you cover them or anything else really
I always enjoy your videos congrats on achieving 33k subscribers and more power to your channel!!!
Thank you!
Going to get controversial for a sec, but I really think omitting Holy Terror (originally called 'Holy Terror, Batman!') did a disservice to understanding Frank's Bruce Wayne. Reading it as a Batman book, as originally intended, it gives context to the shift within the chronological timeline, as a bridge from Year One to All Star. I'm not saying it's a great read by any stretch of the imagination, but Miller did say back in the day that was intended as a kneejerk reaction propaganda piece, very much in tone of the WWII era comics but in a postmodern take, in a similar way DKR was to early pulpy Batman. I don't think that, by dissociating from it, absolves it from anything, but it softened the blow for me immensely. Once you start reading it from Year One, bridge it with Holy Terror to All Star and the Spawn crossover, you can at least understand why Bruce started losing his mind, without needing to know who Frank Miller is or his personal life and trauma. If anything, the true testament of the quality of DKR is that, all these years later and still fueling the current Batman as we know him, it can still work as a definitive final Batman story, while Frank sees it as a stepping stone for the character's legacy. But, after all of the character's variations throughout the years and for all of those that will come, I can't blame him for that. Great vid, btw!
This is amazing. I hope you keep doing videos like this. I loved it
This is my favorite Smokey video. Keep coming back to it because of the excellent deep dive into the eras and what was behind these insane stories!
This helped me understand Dark Knight Returns/ Strikes Back so much better than I did before. Great video!!!
Lmaoo the cameo of Sal at the end. Great video
TDKR is my favorite book ever. Using that as a starting point, your analysis of Miller's work is the best I've seen. You earned my respect and a sub, and your fashion sense is impeccable. It's funny, but when I saw all the hate for ASBAR, I went and picked it up, and saw immediately what it was. This was the borderline insane younger version of the Batman we saw in TDKR, and I gotta admit, I kinda liked it and wish they hadn't cancelled it before it was finished....it was also a good satire of the type of comics he helped to usher into existence. Now, for a completely insane Batman story, I still can't really make heads or tails outta Neal Adams Batman: Odyssey lol
Wow. What a thorough and investing breakdown. Smokey, this is SUCH a great video and I loved it. The only bad thing about it is that it ends. Awesome work man.
All Star Batman & Robin and The Dark Knight Strikes Again is just The Batman Who Laughs but with extra steps.
great analysis dude - very watchable, with plenty of deep insights and things i would never have juxtaposed together by myself :)
I really like this deconstruction of Miller’s Batman, specifically All-Star Batman and Robin, because you gave me context for Miller’s approach that I didn’t have
What an interesting video of Frank Miller's Batman,never thought of that way,but thanks to you i see Miller's Batman in another way,along side of his comic books.
Anyway,great video as always,looking forward for the next episode.
I don't know about anybod else, but I still think today, as I did back in the 80's that if Burton's first Batman film had been a straight adaptation of Miller's The Dark Knight, it would have been revolutionary.
It's obvious when Miller had something to say and when he was just cashing a paycheck. That's why the quality varies wildly.
43:49 Laughed! Thanks, that cut was hilarious. Seriously enjoying the video; I'm loving your commentary.
Ay man, I’ve just started watching your videos and I wish I can a upon them sooner. Love your narration. Keep up the dope content man. I’m here for it!
Loved Year One and heard a lot of stuff about Miller's other entries now i definetely want to check them out, seem like a good laugh if nothing else!
that batman year one dialogue with bruce talking to his father is honestly my all time favorite comic book scene.
Man, I never knew Ace Ventura was such a comic book fan.
Awesome!
... man i been thinking about all this thing you been talking for years.. wondering if i should have done a video to talk about it... now i dont have too ..cause you did it!
Thank you!.. it feel really good to hear someone also seeing what i been seeing for years.
Man... THANK YOU, for everything
One of the best videos on Batman I've seen Thank you.
Great video and deep dive into the mind of madman Frank Miller.
bro these are so awesome
such a refreshing and well-communicated take! Hard agree on Miller having his tongue very much in cheek when writing his later Batman works and how that drove said works. Wonderful!
In live action, the best fright reaction to Batman is in Batman Begins with the drug deal in the shipping containers.
"Where are you?!!!"
"Here"
...scream gets cut off
Really… this is one THE most criminal underrated channels on RUclips
Indeed
40 mins in and i think you did a great job on this video
This new comic writer looks pretty cool
this is great. such a compelling and fresh take on what Miller was actually doing with the Bat and a great overview of his metatextual work on the character. thanks for the video. very well-thought-out.
more people need to view Miller like this instead of simply dismissing him as cartoony or ridiculous when he literally wrote Sin City and the best run on Daredevil (in my insignificant opinion), stories with depth and expression of his vision that casts a tall shadow over modern comics. i mean, for crying out loud he created Carrie Kelley and Martha Washington, and people STILL call him misogynist.
Just found this channel and gotta say it's amazing
This vid was outstanding. Love your work and Had my perceptions of frank challenged with this video. Love it
Year One and DKR are written legitimately, they aren't satires though DKR does have a lot of goof in it and does poke fun a few times. Strikes Again, Holy Terror (which was originally a Batman book), All Star Batman and Robin are all sattires but with a message in there. Last Crusade was Miller writing a legitimate Batman book again, and that was also great. Though obviously he did lose his way a bit there during that time.
Also great cameo from Sal
This is great stuff. Loving the pompadour.
Great video!
Not sure how I feel about Frank Miller, whether his later works were solid commentary or not it's honestly just dissapointing.
He had a chance to expand his take on Batman further but tossed it away to make insane ranting and raving nonsense.
Still, it's worth dissecting these things for the sake of commentary and you did real good with that here
Thank you for posting, I always enjoy your comic analysis' :P
You know Frank Miller better than he knows himself. This was really amazing. It's easy to read Miller as Authoritarian and Hyper individualistic. In fact Miller seems to think that's all he is based on later interviews of him. Alan Moore once called him " Ayn Rand for people who can't read" (which I actually think is a little too critical on Moores part) but You were able to look at Miller's Career and see him reacting and evolving to the world around him. Sure Miller absolutely does have Authoritarian (and often in his indie work, outright facist) undertones. But you're the only person I've seen ask why and you did it without even asking the question. That is some amazing literary analysis.
5 minutes in and I already know it's a banger
I've read through *TDKR* dozens of times, and still get chills when the lightning strikes and Batman is fully revealed.
"The rain on my chest is a baptism, I am born again."
I wouldn't go so far as to say the "dark edginess of comics left after the 90's." If that were true, then Death of the Family never would've happened.
I think he means the industry as a whole left the dark edginess. Image Comics whole thing back then was that they had the comics with good art and the blood and murder. Books aren’t as overly edgy anymore, I think it’s for the better anyway.
@@buhnana6117 agreed
I love your videos my dude
It's finally here!
That kid who says he know his comics will be worth something in the future, is me.
I'm just chuckling at the Batman dialouge, your voice has me rolling.
Also, yeah, I prefer seeing something original, more explored, and more better than what came before.
Oh, okay. I can tell that this video was a blast to make.
Great video! Appreciate it.
The intro is SO KINO 🗣🔥
I remember the exact day when the Superman died issue came out. Me, and my bro, were at the comic book store in Key West. The comic was selling fast, I mean really fast- ppl we(comic book store regulars) never seen before were coming in buying more than one; a couple ppl bought a stack. The cashier, whom we looked at like The One Above All of comic book enthusiast- he held all the knowledge, and looking back, we asked him, challenged him, and held him in the highest regard.. anyways, he always held us issues of each comic he knew we’d be interested in- and , variant cover issues.
I wasn’t into Superman, SpiderMan, or any of the popular characters.. but, Batman was always a must have. At the time I was into a new character, that was badass, and edgy- Spawn! I was collecting every issue, and it was pretty new at that time.. then my favorite, The Punisher, along with the crossovers Batman v Predator, Terminator v Batman, the What If comics, and a lot of Dark Horse stuff..
I rambled a lot, but we knew Superman’s death wouldn’t last long.. it created the hype they hoped, sold a lot, and once it dried up, he came back.
This was brilliant 👏👏👏
thoroughly enjoyed this ACE! Alrighty then!
Will the episode in back issues ever happen because ill love that.
I get so confused if Batman Year one is just in its own timeline or in The Dark Knight returns universe.
Great analysis!
Michael Uslan is the one who wanted to bring Batman back to his roots. Denny O'Neil is the writer who really brought Batman to the 1930s and 1940s
I think you mean 70s/80s
@@darkservantofheaven I mean he brought the 1930s and 1940s feel back
@@danielolortegui381 ok. My bad
So Miller’s Batman
Starts off in Batman Year One
Gets off in All Star Batman & Robin
Backs off after Jason is killed in The Dark Knight Returns & TDKR Last Crusade
Runs off after faking his death to finish War in The Dark Knight Strikes Again
Jumps off into the Moonlight with Batwoman
With renewed vigor in The Dark Knight Master Race
Underneath all this crazy that is the Millerverse Batman goes on a journey from the start to inflict pain on others to enjoying the thrill but not the cost of his war. Then after regaining his spirit then later his youthful body that the war still goes on.
The Journey is………Batman is Jacking off to this 😂😂😂
I didn’t include
Holy Terror since technically that’s the Fixer (Batman no ears lol 😂)
The idea that Miller was just going into uber-Satire with All Star gets even funnier if you consider that having year long delays between issues and still selling like gangbusters is just a way to take Satire to new Meta levels.
Ok that intro was well done. Im still making it through the video but i'd rather die than wait another moment to give praise my guy 😂.
The Dark Knight Returns, and Batman: Year One, made me a Batman fan for life!
Damn this video made me see TDK 2 and all star in a new perspective
lmao holy shit....Zack Snyder is definitely one of the Sons of Batman.
Sons of Miller, more like.
@@michaelandreipalon359 Step-son at best. I'm sure Miller wouldn't claim him.
Great video man but you dressed like you had an ace ventura audition after this 😂
Great video
Year One and TDKR are still two of my all time favorites and while the sequels and prequels to those books i feel are unnecessary and not very good, this video has way more nuance and interesting perspectives on them than anything that hack Linkara had to say in any of his videos.
45:16 What you're missing is that Frank has gone on record endorsing this mindset. This isn't written as a critique. This is written as an endorsement.This isn't Frank doing commentary, this is Frank becoming a vengeful, hateful person because he was hurt. Not looking into the interviews was a mistake. This is Frank being honest, not Batman as a parody. This is who he became. Your analysis of Batman is spot-on, but is not authorial intent. Your analysis of Batman in these books is an analysis of Frank. 9/11 broke him. This is Frank Miller's concept of a hero. Frank is the man who believes one bad day can break you, and his bad day was 9/11/2001. Frank is the one who became a deranged anti-authoritarian fascist despite that being complete non-logic. Frank _is_ Batman here. You just gotta read the interviews.
The Dark Knight Returns is one of those books that got me into comics because it’s so highly recommended, but I won’t even read The Dark Knight Strikes Again after just hearing what they’ve done to Robin. I guess that’s how Superman fans have felt all along