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Batman: The Dark Knight Returns 30th Anniversary Edition Paperback – February 16, 2016

by Frank Miller (Author)

3,546 ratings

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Writer/artist Frank Miller completely reinvents the legend of Batman in this saga of a near-future Gotham City gone to rot, 10 years after the Dark Knight’s retirement. Forced to take action, the Dark Knight returns in a blaze of fury, taking on a whole new generation of criminals and matching their level of violence. He is soon joined by a new Robin—a girl named Carrie Kelley, who proves to be just as invaluable as her predecessors.

Can Batman and Robin deal with the threat posed by their deadliest enemies, after years of incarceration have turned them into perfect psychopaths? And more important, can anyone survive the coming fallout from an undeclared war between the superpowers—or the clash of what were once the world’s greatest heroes?

Hailed as a comics masterpiece, The Dark Knight Returns is Frank Miller’s (300 and Sin City) reinvention of Gotham’s legendary protector. It remains one of the most influential stories ever told in comics, with its echoes felt in all media forms of DC’s storytelling. Collects issues #1-4.

Print length

224 pages
Language

English
Publisher

DC Comics
Publication date

February 16, 2016
Dimensions

6.57 x 0.39 x 10.08 inches
ISBN-10

9781401263119
ISBN-13

978-1401263119
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"In four groundbreaking issues in late 1986, Miller's DARK KNIGHT RETURNS delighted and enraged comic book classicists by turning Batman--a beloved but gimmicky hero who seemed to have the keys of life forever tucked into his utility belt-into a brooding vigilante, bleak, grim and full of rooftop psychosis." —USA Today

"There's never been storytelling quite like this. It took someone who views comics as an art to create it." —Washington Post

"Changed the course of comics." —Rolling Stone

"It's film noir in cartoon panels." —Vanity Fair

"His brutal yet elegant noir renderings, pulpy yet eloquent scripting, and thoroughly uncompromising attitude make him one of the most distinctive voices in comics." —Entertainment Weekly

About the Author

Frank Miller began his career in comics in the late 1970s and rose to fame while first drawing, and then writing, Daredevil for Marvel Comics. He was also the creative force behind Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Batman: Year One and Batman: The Dark Knight Strikes Again. His many works have not only redefined classic characters, but also, on a few occasions, revitalized the comics industry. His multi-award-winning graphic novel 300 was brought to full-blooded life in the 2007 motion picture of the same name, and in 2008 he directed the feature film Will Eisner's The Spirit. His creator-owned crime saga Sin City first hit the page in 1991, and then the silver screen in 2005, with Miller on board as co-director with Robert Rodriguez. The two returned to direct the sequel Sin City: A Dame to Kill For, released in 2014 and featuring two new stories by Miller. In 2015, Miller's returned to his best-selling series with the highly anticipated Dark Knight III: Master Race.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ 1401263119
Publisher ‏ : ‎ DC Comics; Anniversary edition (February 16, 2016)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 224 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 9781401263119
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1401263119
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 13.9 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.57 x 0.39 x 10.08 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #5,294 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #6 in DC Comics & Graphic Novels
- #7 in Mystery Graphic Novels
- #49 in Superhero Comics & Graphic Novels

Customer Reviews:
3,546 ratings

About the author

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Frank Miller

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Frank Miller is one of the seminal creative talents who sparked the current gigantic sub-industry of motion pictures featuring comic book- initiated product. A sub-industry which had become a super-industry. This most profitable aspect of this millennium’s film production, now producing an annual flow of box office profits in the Billions of dollars, was launched when Frank Miller’s graphic novel re-take on the classic comic book hero, Batman, resulted in an entertainment industry-wide reconsideration of the genre in the deeper and darker vision Miller brought to it.

Miller re-defined the presentation of comic book characters and heroic fiction with his grand-daddy of graphic novels, “The Dark Knight.” This revolutionary work

not only kicked off the series of Batman films based on his redefinition, but a craze for such material that has thrown dozens of such heroes into multiple film franchise heaven. Certainly chief among these has been Miller’s uniquely classical take on superheroic narrative, “300,” and his “Sin City” books, each of which entered motion pictures with historic successes, and each now in Miller's creative phase of achieving its highly-anticipated sequel. Miller’s co-direction of “Sin City” has made him one of the hottest

directors… as well as a guiding creative force…for the new genre. Or one might say “super genre.”

Miller's latest graphic novel, Holy Terror, is his first original graphic novel in ten years. Join The Fixer, a brand new, hard-edged hero as he battles terror in the inaugural release from Legendary Comics.

Customer reviews

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4 star		9%
3 star		2%
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1 star		1%

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Top reviews from the United States

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Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on December 4, 2022

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Bought this for my husband. He's a big batman fan. He loved it. Excellent condition.

One of the greatest Batman stories ever told

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on November 18, 2022

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Bought this copy for my girlfriend’s brother, gotta spread the gospel of justice. Recommend to anyone even slightly interested in Batman or comic books. Nothing more need be said

Preaching to Choir

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on August 10, 2022

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Frank Miller’s Dark Knight— a classic— bought it new, and Amazon shipped it quickly… which everyone knows. Who are you reading this review for Batman comics? A fan? So you’re going to buy this anyway because it’s great. And you’re buying it from Amazon because they ship post-haste: this classic with new-book smell will be in your hands in a couple days— BAM!
So who are the reviews for? Folks like Batman gonna buy this book; folks know about Amazon gonna buy it from them. How many reviews does it take to convince yourself to get this? Stop waffling and BuyNow.
(This picture isn’t in the book, it’s lagniappe)

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One person found this helpful

Loved the content but not the print qualitylity

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on November 29, 2022

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The print comes with creases on multiple pages. Disappointing quality.

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Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on April 6, 2018

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This comic is great but I'm not going to lie. It's an odd mix of very good and in some places, very bad. A good example is the art. In some places it is absolutely awesome. But in others it is too cartoony, looks bad, or is just plain incomprehensible.

Another example is the story. It doesn't make much sense when you think about it. But it is delivered in such a cool style that you don't care too much. Like the fight with Superman. There's no real reason in the story for them to be fighting at all. But it's an epic showdown that is very enjoyable to read.

I like the female Robin, Carrie, a lot. She's not super developed as a character, but she is likable and adds some good humor to the story.

The character of Batman is awesome in this, but I'm not one hundred percent sure what to think about him. In many ways he seems more like the Punisher than Batman.

Two things I didn't like. I didn't like the abundance of tiny frames used to tell most of the story. Little micro-panels, if you will. Each is just a small piece of art, usually a head from a newscast, and some short text. There were way too many of these, and it takes forever to get through them all. And they're often hard to read.

Similarly, I greatly disliked the many, many news panels and talking heads. A little bit would be fine, but this book just goes nuts with them, and few of them are necessary. I especially got sick of seeing Lola Chong with her strange eyes that only ever appear as two lines, and her odd earrings that are somehow able to levitate beside her head.

But all that aside, it's a great comic. I could be tempted to rate it less than five stars, but I won't. Where it shines, it shines brightly. And some of the art and story here is truly spectacular. Some of the scenes are now iconic. Yes, it has its flaws but it is still a great work. There's a reason it always makes it in to the top ten. Recommended.

2 people found this helpful

A comic classic

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on December 14, 2021

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Not to be missed; Miller's Dark Knight violently returns from retirement to battle Gotham and the Joker one last time. So fascinating. My reflection on TDKR sets aside the beautiful artwork and superb story, the themes are amazing, can we change, are we destined to live life interiorly broken with only a veneer of humanity on display, can we be greater, show we embrace of weaknesses, help others to embrace theirs... Great comics like great novels force one to confront the various facets of humanity. Of course, the great story that influenced later interpretations of Batman are their (Nolan), but Miller goes father and darker than others, to Batman's logical conclusion and that's a ride worth taking.

3 people found this helpful

My thoughts on the 30th anniversary edition: Caveat Emptor

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on February 18, 2016

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I first want to say that I am a big fan of this book. My first experience with reading it was when I was a little kid. Someone (possibly my older brother) had dug up my dad's old comics. Among them were a catwoman comic (I really liked that one but cannot remember the name), one about the Mayan apocalypse and batman, and the Dark Knight Returns. This intrigued me. I had never read many batman comics, but was familiar with the character due to the animated series re-runs. My brother and I read it enough times that it basically fell apart. I currently has all of the pages, but resembles more Frankenstein's monster than an actual book. I think the story is excellent, and one of the few comic book stories I have read (others being Watchmen, Cerebus, Blankets, and a few others) that has some wit about it. Having heard about the new 30th anniversary edition i decided to buy it as both a way to use up a gift card and as a replacement to the older copy I still have on my shelf. I have just got it in the mail today, and to be honest I'm a little dissapointed. The quality of the artwork is somewhat subpar. It isn't horrendous by any means, but as someone who cares about the preservation of Art (especially in comics and animation, where it seems that many companies don't care what damage they're doing to great pieces of art by altering them). the pages are somewhat blurry, and you can obviously tell they've been digitized. Digitization isn't a bad thing by any means when done right, but it seem's that it wasn't in this case. the colors have also suffered. Lynn Varley's coloring in this book are possibly some of the best in comics. The colors are beautifully rendered, with many subtleties in detail and tone. In the new edition, much of this subtlety is lost or muddled up. The colors are also quite different. In places they were once warm they are now cool, in places where there was once a more restrained blue they are now more vibrant, and so on.
I just want to say that if you want the book for the story, and don't mind about the artwork, then by all means buy this. It's perfectly readable and most of the problems aren't really that big a deal unless you're a nut like me. Maybe I'm holding it to too high of standards. Then again, Frank Millers work was one of the reasons why comics started to be held to higher standards back in the 80s (there are some interesting articles online about his role in getting comics produced with better printing methods). So if you want to get this book, don't feel guilty. It's great and I'm sure you'll like it. But if you are one who is anal about artistic integrity, then i would suggest looking for an older copy if you can find one for a good price.

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93 people found this helpful

Top reviews from other countries

ABCDEFGH1234@*

Talking heads nearly killed me!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on April 23, 2020

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I’ve given this comic a hard time in my life.
Fanboy/girl love for a comic that I always believed to be overhyped.
I remember reading this when I was young, it was a dark contrast to Adam West and Batman ‘66 that I dearly loved.
I still love Adam West’s version of Batman, and after all these years I’ve made peace with Frank Millers Dark Knight Returns comic.

I still think this comic is overhyped, but after recently re-reading and updating an older copy, I’ve found some love in my heart for this version of Batman.
Well, the art for me.. it’s not my taste.
I’m a Jim Lee guy, Lee Bermejo, Greg Capullo and Brian Bollard kinda fella.
I’m not saying it’s awful just not my taste.
Now, Anyone that Remembers the transitions Batman has made will know the history of this book and it’s significance to comics and I won’t ever disrespect that, we as Batman fans of today owe Miller a lot in that respect.
The talking tv heads nearly killed me, all put in randomly!
It just slays me to see so many talking damn heads!
My refreshed view is this is one great Batman comic.
The Joker/Batman dynamic can’t be faulted.
It truly showed their sticky relationship come to a sour end, and it works beautifully.
The end fight between Joker and Batman is probably one of my favourite battles between them of all time.
Do I think this comic is a masterpiece like so many people say?
No, but I understand why they say it being in the era of Neal Adams and Millers Dark Knight Returns and Burtons films.
Miller lay the foundation for complex comics to come to life and have real issues.
Two Faces scarring.
Batman guilt over not killing Joker.
It’s a real crunch of emotion.
But I don’t think it’s a masterpiece because of the drawings and I can’t forgive how ugly Batman looks walking out of the damn tank.
It’s just awful.
There isn’t much else I can say except for personal praise and criticism of this comic which I am sure has been said before.
I’ll never be Millers no 1 fan, but I sure as hell do respect what he’s done for the medium of comics and I thank him for that.
The com itself is alright, few snippets of interview, covers in the back.
Paper is glossy but not to thick.
It’s a recommended comic, if nothing else for the history that was brought from it. I still thinks it’s overhyped, but I still would place it in my top 10 favourite Batman stories.
Read, enjoy, learn Batman’s history.

3 people found this helpful

Kieran McLoughlin

A legendary comic story, but not perfect.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on August 24, 2020

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This is the second time I read this graphic novel (the first following shortly after the two part animated movies, which inspired me to get it in the first place), and immediately from the off you can totally understand why this is held to such high esteem. In many ways it encapsulates the character of Bruce Wayne and Batman, and what makes him who he is. It is a story which at times is poetic, other times amusing. It's when it's dealing with the deepest of themes when this novel truly sings. It is a bleak world, and it truly is Batman at its best. If I had to give a tiny criticism, the art does look a little dated compared to the art of today. However, this novel is quite old, so that can be forgiven. The story will remain forever timeless.

One person found this helpful

Colin MacDonald

Small, cramped format version

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on November 29, 2021

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Was it really worth chiselling a few pennies on the cost to produce this narrow, overly-bound version that's hard to read? Given that most of its purchasers will be 40+ and buying it for nostalgia value, it really (quite seriously) should have been done as large-print, not ant-print.

2 people found this helpful

Mark.O

Amazing for fans of the dark knight

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on July 16, 2020

Verified Purchase

Brilliant all round.millers ideas and execution in this are amazing and really hammer home some truths.i won’t say much as you need this for yourself.i also really like the style of the artwork,it’s very different from lots of others I’ve read.dont be fooled by the slightly more cartoon appearance as this is definitely not one for the kids! As previously stated by many I think this was a pivotal point in graphic novels and really one every dc collector should have in their collection as things really changed after this.thanks miller you changed things for the better with this

One person found this helpful

Marky Mar

Great story but why so small print. Words are like tiny ants

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on August 24, 2021

Verified Purchase

Great book generally. The artwork leaves a bit more to the imagination than modern books, but the great story and dialogue make up for this. Unfortunately at the age of 39, my eyes really struggle to read the words on the pages. The font is so small it's like seeing tiny little talking ants. Would it hurt to make the book a readable size? Apparently I have 20/20 vision but this book just kills my eyes.

2 people found this helpful

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