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How do you follow up a masterpiece? Frank Miller is in a
position nearly unprecedented in the comics industry. During the
experimental phase of the mid-1980's Miller created The Dark
Knight Returns, a Batman story that showed the dark future of
the character while returning him to his gritty roots. The Dark
Knight Returns was one of a seminal group of works that
influenced a grim and gritty style in comics which is still highly
utilized. Becuase of this tale Jason Todd had to die, Green
Arrow was destined to lose an arm and Batman creators
refocused the character on being an urban vigilante.
For Miller to return to the Dark Knight and draft a sequel is a
massive risk. Although he has created other incredible works
like Sin City and 300, Miller is best known for the Dark Knight
Returns. The only comparisons that come to mind to describe
the magnitude of this event would be George Lucas returning to
Star Wars or Chris Claremont returning to X-Men... not the
most positive examples. What both of those creators forgot,
and what Miller needs to consider, is that to remain relevant you
can't just rely on the style and legacy of the past. From what
DC has previewed of The Dark Knight Strikes Again looks
incredibly promising in this regard.
With Claremont's return to X-Men it was clear that his style had
not evolved or really changed at all in his absence. Excessive
continuity, expositional dialogue and a torrential influx of new
plot points. What was revolutionary and popular during the
1980's now came across as cliched and played out. Similarly,
George Lucas returned to his legendary Star Wars franchise
with a film that was revolutionary from a special effects
perspective but came across as a poor beginning for the series in
regards to storytelling. Like Claremont, Lucas's storytelling
technique had changed very little since his prior films. After two
decades of style influenced by the original work Episode One
just didn't seem relevant. After that sort of time there is no need
for a repetition of what has come before. If the work doesn't
blow the audience's mind and change the way they view a
medium like the original then it just seems like a pale imitation.
Luckily Miller is a creator who does not seem content to rely on
the success of his prior works. The majority of his projects push
boundaries across a variety of genres as well as experimenting
with style. Sin City was presented in black and white and
featured a gritty, crime noir story worthy of a feature film.
Miller's bold linework on this series was influenced creators such
as Jim Lee to experiment with style and was certainly important
in projects such as Batman: Black and White being developed.
His epic tale 300 was presented in widescreen style which DC
and Marvel are both utilizing in upcoming projects. After
finishing Dark Knight 2 Miller is planning to tell the story of
Jesus. The likelihood that Miller would tell a sequel to The Dark
Knight Returns without having something big in mind seems
pretty miniscule.
The images from the series released so far look like an evolution
of Miller's artistic style to a more exaggerated form. Also,
colorist Lynn Varley is utilizing computer tools for the first time
rather than her usual painted style. The result is a somewhat
psychedelic look that immediately sets The Dark Knight Strikes
Again apart from its predecessor. It would be very easy for
Miller and Varley to do a stylistic rehash of the original series,
but this is clearly not where their interests lie.
As Willy Wonka once said, "You can't go back. You have to
go forward to go back." To provide a thinly veiled remake of
the original Dark Knight series and call it a sequel would impress
few. Frank Miller, along with Lynn Varley, are attempting
something with The Dark Knight Strikes Back that will no doubt
put off some readers. With any luck though, this book will be as
influential on readers and creators as the original was without
relying on what has come before.
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