Batman Noir: The Dark Knight Strikes Again by Frank Miller
comic-book, review
This review was originally posted at Goodreads and imported here later with next to no spell/grammar checking.
2/5 stars
I was quite excited to read this. I’ve never really read any of the "classic" comics, but Batman + Frank Miller sounds perfect. Plus, I’d read Batman: Year One (also by Miller) and it was great.
This one though… was quite head-scratchy. It’s set in a distant future. All the superheroes seem to be are out of commission one way or the other, some of the classic characters are not around, Superman has grown old and lethargic and basically, the bad guys (whoever they are) control the world?
It sounds like a great Watchmen-like setup Frank Miller style, but it never really reaches it. I can’t escape the Sin City comparison here. It’s got the same familiar art style, but where Sin City is crisp and rough and so damn atmospheric, this is busy, confusing and mushy.
The actual story didn’t catch me that much either. There’s little actual Batman in it. Instead, it’s got the full ensemble of the DC characters: Superman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Atom, Green Arrow and probably others I’m forgetting.
Don’t get me wrong! It’s not bad! But I don’t know, it just never transitions to being properly good either. There are excellent moments in there, but there’s also a ton of confusing ones and the whole thing suggests way more potential than it actually delivers.
