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60 of 63 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Dark Knight - Absolute, August 30, 2006
This review is from: Absolute Dark Knight (Hardcover)
I still remember with stunning clarity when Dark Knight burst (and it did burst, big and bloody) onto the comic book scene. I bought the original 4 issue Prestige Format mini-series, bought the soft-cover collection, bought the hard-cover (a rarity in those days), and was lucky enough to win a signed-and-number special edition of the hard-cover as well. Even had the poster.
That was the impact the series, and the vision of Frank Miller, had on me.
And I couldn't be more thrilled to finally own the Absolute Edition.
It should be noted that 2 very different stories are contained in this edition, the ground breaking Dark Knight Returns of the 1980s, and the more controversial Dark Knight Strikes again of the 2000s. My rating is actual 5 Stars for DKR (a rating I seldom, if ever, give to anything), and 3 for DKSA. This review will focus on the former rather than latter.
Story - The original series deals with Batman coming out of retirement to reclaim his place in legend and to deal with a world spiraling more and more out of control. This is one of the best stories I've read in any medium, with the plot and pacing working in perfect synchronicity with dialog that doesn't seem as much written as channeled. 20 years later, and the quotes still fill my thoughts. Miller fires on all cylinders here, in one stroke eradicating the plague-filled shadow of the Adam West Batman, and creating a vibrantly dark icon for the generation to come. Through the four chapters, we see the Dark Knight return to face an old nemesis in Two-Face, a new threat in the Mutant gang, the parallel return of the Joker, and a final showdown with Superman. It's a scary, almost fascist future, but Miller brilliantly counter-points it all with very human emotion.
Art - Dark Knight marks an artistic departure for Miller. Similar to the departure he took, also post Daredevil, in Ronin, this is not the typical 80s comic art. Miller's figures here are simplified but not simplistic, and have a very real sense of weight and space about them. While they may not be rendered as cleanly or perfectly, they tell the story with great success, and show Miller as a person still growing and experimenting as an artist, even as he hits the height of his skills. Klaus Jansen inks, and Lynn Varley provides what, at the time, were a whole new level of color and color-design to the work.
Bonus - Most Absolute Editions provide considerable bonus material, and this is no exception. Included here are the original outline for what became background material in Dark Knight, and the core of Batman Year One. Script pages and pencils are also shared, along with work for the many covers and even DC Direct toys.
All in all, one of the most important works of the latter 20th century is finally given the Absolute treatment is so richly deserves.
A must for any collection.
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48 of 59 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Perhaps Absolute, But Far From Ultimate, June 8, 2008
This review is from: Absolute Dark Knight (Hardcover)
I'm sorry that I have to be the little skunk at this garden party. I can not share the enthusiasm for this edition which many reviewers have expressed. In fact, I discourage you discriminating collectors from buying this, as it is notably flawed.
I was compelled to buy this by the publisher's product description which claimed that it "set the standard for high quality." As a book collector I love buying these ultra-deluxe editions of all types of subject matter. Recent examples in the comics genre would include: The Deluxe Edition of Frank Miller's Sin City; The Complete Far Side; The Complete Calvin and Hobbes; The Completely Mad Don Martin. Each of these sets is packaged in a very impressive manner: cloth-bound; slip-cased; tipped-in plates on the covers, super-high quality paper. I presumed this Absolute Dark Knight was going to be be in this same spirit, and given the high price (even when discounted by Amazon) I was confident the book would exceed my expectations for quality.
Alas, I was wrong. This large, heavy book is bound in a shiny-paper cover, just like the covers you had on your Dr. Suess books x-number of years ago. These covers get dinged up very easily and look cheap and cheesey from day one. The slip case? It is also covered only in thin shiny paper, and if this book gets any real usage at all it will look like garbage very promptly. And, with the heavy weight, this book is particularly susceptible to damage because when you bump it, there is more inertia behind it. And the torque pulling on the binding and spine from merely reading it is considerable. This production concept MANDATED quality construction, and the idiots who produced it are hoping the majority of consumers are not scrutinizing enough to note, or care about, the compromises. And it is further infuriating when you realize this malfeasance was motivated merely by the desire to shave a few bucks off the production costs.
I should admit this issue of cheap book-making is a huge one for me, and I think once people make the distinction it is a big issue for them as well. Cloth covers (or "buckram," as they are often called), will last for decades even with heavy use. As the cover ages it even takes on some character which arguably enhances the book, or at least it does not detract. With the cheap paper-covered cardboard covers used on so many books nowadays, the cover get scraped, dented, dinged, and otherwise degraded in an amazingly short time. If you spend any time in used-books stores, or on Advanced Book Exchange (abe.com), you can see the difference in appearances, and dollar values, displayed vividly.
If they had put a quality cover on this it almost certainly would have become a highly-valued collectable ten or twenty years from now. But, no, they cut a significant corner, and instead this will probably be only of nominal value. Or, perhaps, it will be of virtually no value if they get around to doing it right in an upgraded edition which really does deliver the quality which the subject matter deserves. Meanwhile, I'm sending this right back to Amazon.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
THE GREATEST GRAPHIC NOVEL OF ALL TIME, March 15, 2009
This review is from: Absolute Dark Knight (Hardcover)
Frank Miller's THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS redefined the superhero for an entire generation, and has had a deeper and more profound impact on the way comic book heroes are perceived by the general public than any other single work. This edition presents this seminal tale in a deluxe, oversized format that does the material justice. Collected also is the inferior but still compelling sequel, THE DARK KNIGHT STRIKES AGAIN. This follow-up, coming out over a decade after the original, is a work that is initially puzzling, but grows in stature with subsequent readings. Marred by some clearly rushed artwork and amateurish computer coloring, the story still draws some interesting conclusions about our current media-drenched society. Copious amounts of ancillary materials from both works are presented, giving the reader some insight into Miller's creative process. HIGHEST RECOMMENDATION.
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