Over-saturation of The Dark Knight Returns?

[Slash Man]

Not so be negative, but we've seen A LOT of inspiration taken from Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns over the past few years in the Batman universe. The thing that really sticks out to me; we're seeing two back-to-back Batman feature films that take DIRECT influence from the comic. The Dark Knight Rises took the whole premise from the comic, and now Batman Vs. Superman is due to follow suit, made even more obvious by the costume(s), and the confrontation with Superman.

The craze even revived Miller's series (which wasn't even originally intended to be a series to begin with). We've already got TWO new installments on the way. Not that it's a bad thing, necessarily, but it shows how much ONE graphic novel by Miller is still reigning supreme in influence.

You can see on the official Batman Facebook page that TDKR is just about every other post. Again, great graphic novel, I won't even call it overrated; it deserves its place in history... but how about using some other works as influence? I was glad that we got the full-length animated adaptation, though. I was hoping that instead of continuously half-assing TDKR adaptions, a dedicated film would put it to rest, but apparently not.

It's strange that this revival is more prominent now than ever. IMO the earlier films incorporated Miller's themes and visuals much better and less overtly than just copying and pasting part of the story into the film.

[Edd Grayson]

Personally, I do not understand just why it is considered the best of the best. I have read other Batman works and it does not seem to me that TDKR is above all else, without denying its quality.

[The Dark Knight]

To me it's the best. The plot beats are memorable and speak to who the character is. Batman is burned into Bruce Wayne's soul, regardless of his age. The comic also presents Batman as a dark character who deals with enemies ruthlessly.

But you also feel this is a living, breathing human being who has mental scars from years of conflict. It ticks a lot of boxes.

[The Laughing Fish]

You can see on the official Batman Facebook page that TDKR is just about every other post. Again, great graphic novel, I won't even call it overrated; it deserves its place in history... but how about using some other works as influence? I was glad that we got the full-length animated adaptation, though. I was hoping that instead of continuously half-assing TDKR adaptions, a dedicated film would put it to rest, but apparently not.

It's strange that this revival is more prominent now than ever. IMO the earlier films incorporated Miller's themes and visuals much better and less overtly than just copying and pasting part of the story into the film.

This thread reminds of this blog entry I posted last year.

nationalave.com/2014/08/04/dc-doesnt-understand-batman/

You may have a point that the earlier films were more subtle by the way they made references to TDKR, but I'm still looking forward to Batman v Superman's spin on it, and I think it potentially plays well to the premise of how the two heroes would react to meeting each other for the first time. 

But I don't agree that Dark Knight Rises took the whole premise of the comic. At best, you can say it was inspired by parts of it, but by and large, the comic and the film were vastly different. One retired for ten years following Robin's until he decided to come back during an unprecedented crime wave; the other retired for eight years for taking the blame for crimes he didn't commit and came back because of Bane and the League - the latter were a group who Bruce had a past link with. What's telling is that unlike Rises' Bruce, Dark Knight Returns Bruce still lived a life post-Batman...although he was borderline suicidal at times.

[thecolorsblend]

Personally, I do not understand just why it is considered the best of the best. I have read other Batman works and it does not seem to me that TDKR is above all else, without denying its quality.

I think it's a classic case of "You had to be there".

Batman was Adam West for a goodly bit of the 1960's. Denny O'Neil (and others) dimmed Batman considerably but I wouldn't go so far as to say he was once again the Dark Knight. He was more like the Poorly Lit Knight. Frank Miller completed the transition Batman had made from The Dark Knight to the smiling Gotham City's Most Famous Citizen to the grounded, more serious detective... and, thanks to Miller, back to The Dark Knight.

If you read most Batman stories from the early to mid 1980's, the stories were tonally quite similar to what O'Neil set up back in the early 70's. Miller is who pushed Batman into unrelenting darkness. O'Neil made Batman "grim". Miller made him "dark".

The mainstream didn't take much notice of O'Neil. Comics fans did but the mainstream didn't. But they sure as you-know-what took notice of TDKR. In the public consciousness, "Batman" meant "Adam West". So everything about TDKR was a major shock to the system. The New York Times Bestseller crowd thought they knew who Batman was (to the extent they bothered thinking about him at all). TDKR proved they didn't know jackanything.

We can skip how comic pros reacted to TDKR. Some liked it, some didn't. Frank Miller called the response to TDKR in the comic industry a bar fight. He got nastygrams from people who outright told him he'd destroyed Batman. You're hard-pressed to find anybody who thinks that these days but back then there was a near mutiny in the industry over TDKR.

In the continuum of who Batman is and what makes him tick, I think TDKR is only insightful for historical input. It started a revolution. But if you're conversant with relatively modern Batman stories, I'd say TDKR is nothing special. And in fact is relatively tame. But keep in mind that stuff like Bruce Wayne- Murderer, War Games, Batman Begins, Court of Owls and other stuff never happens without TDKR to blaze the trail and show people what's possible to do with Batman. THAT is TDKR's lasting legacy. It opened the doors for darker stories.

Whether or not that's ultimately a good thing is up to the individual and, to some degree, history.

[Edd Grayson]

I get it, and I did hear about its influence often    but I still don't think it's the best ever with no contest. I guess it's more my personal taste that decides here.

[Dagenspear]

But I don't agree that Dark Knight Rises took the whole premise of the comic. At best, you can say it was inspired by parts of it, but by and large, the comic and the film were vastly different. One retired for ten years following Robin's until he decided to come back during an unprecedented crime wave; the other retired for eight years for taking the blame for crimes he didn't commit and came back because of Bane and the League - the latter were a group who Bruce had a past link with. What's telling is that unlike Rises' Bruce, Dark Knight Returns Bruce still lived a life post-Batman...although he was borderline suicidal at times.

Bruce did try to live a life post Batman, by trying to help the world with his clean energy project. But that didn't work out, so that drove him into seclusion.

God bless you! God bless everyone!