SSR #1 Blog: Batman The Dark Knight Returns

   My first quarter read is a superhero novel, Batman The Dark Knight Returns, by Frank Miller which is 224 pages long. What is very interesting about this is that my whole first quarter read is that it wasn't a novel, but it was the whole The Dark Knight Returns comic book series. It was separated into 3 comic books and put together into a whole novel which sounds pretty awesome after enjoying such a amazing story.
  First of all, the main character as you may have already assumed is the iconic vigilante of Gotham City: Batman/Bruce Wayne. The only difference now is that he's 55 years old and has retired from being the Dark Knight of Gotham City for 10 years. A cause of his retirement is because of loss. His last apprentice, Jason Todd, was killed by one of his major villains, the Joker. As a reader one could see his emotions fighting him through the whole first comic book text read. Another emotion fighting through him in the whole series is how his parents died and how feels terribly awful that he couldn't do anything in the moment. That is when those emotions play together and get him to burst out into the Batman suit once again and fights his old foes with the addition to the new army of mutants. Supporting and important characters were Alfred, Carrie Kelley as the new Robin, and Commissioner Gordon.
  I like how this played out and to be honest I'm quite surprised, without spoiling anything, that there is never a clear villain. Many hero movies and books have a clear villain and it seems like a formula. Talking of the book or movie seems as if they're all the same and it does help the story get better. In this, ever foe he beats plays out as paying an old debt for something he feels that hurts it's conscience. Because of that, Bruce Wayne eliminates it. That is what I like about this comic book series. Even though Batman might seem like a unrelatable character to us because of he's rich, his gadgets, and the Batmobile, his mind and personal self is the same. He's human and is a loser. Not in the literal way, but I mean that we've all lost something that meant to us a lot such as a friend or family member and our mind can't let it go so easy. It is until we eliminate that feeling or thought when we accept the reality of the situation. Overall, it is the most intriguing Batman story I've read and kept me wanting more from it's interesting ending.