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Loading... Batman: The Dark Knight - Master Raceby Frank Miller
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Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. No current Talk conversations about this book. It doesn't amaze the reader by reinventing virtually everything on page after page like "Dark Knight Returns" once did, but unlike the confused and sadly uneven "Strikes Again" follow-up from 2001, this is a darned good story if given the (as is only fair) chance of being compared to your average super hero comic rather than the once-in-a-decade phenomenon that was the original. And Azzarello also pleasantly tones doen the chauvinistic testosterone nonsense that tends to litter Miller's solo outings, without in any way neutering the brutality and force that comes with it. A really good read, through and through. Blade Runner came back after 30-some years. Star Wars has a new lease of life. Couldn't The Dark Knight still work? Perhaps, but it doesn't. This has nothing of the original in it except an odd moment or two where Carrie shines. I've always been more about the writing than the art, but The Dark Knight Returns revolutionized the look of comics by taking a formal panel grid and then playing with page layouts. Most of the panels were tiny intricate works of art so that when there was a splash page, it sang. This is just a big dumb comic like a lot of other big dumb comics. The most damning thing i could say now about this project is that it's just nothing special. That said, I love my out-sized hardback edition which is simply beautiful to look at and hold. no reviews | add a review
In 1986, THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS changed comics forever. In 2001, THE DARK KNIGHT STRIKES AGAIN went back to the future of Batman and shocked the industry to its core. Now, living legend Frank Miller joins forces with superstar writer Brian Azzarello (100 BULLETS) and an alliance of comics' greatest artists to unleash the highly anticipated epic third chapter in the DARK KNIGHT saga: THE MASTER RACE. It's been three years since the Batman defeated Lex Luthor and saved the world from tyranny. Three years since anyone has seen Gotham City's guardian alive. Wonder Woman, Queen of the Amazons...Hal Jordan, the Green Lantern...Superman, the Man of Steel...all of the Dark Knight's allies have retreated from the front lines of the war against injustice. But now a new war is beginning. An army of unimaginable power led by Superman's own daughter is preparing to claim Earth as their new world. The only force that can stop this master race-Batman-is dead. Long live the new Batman... Collecting the full nine-issue miniseries and its mini-comic tie-in issues, BATMAN: THE DARK KNIGHT: MASTER RACE features incredible artwork from comics icon Andy Kubert (FLASHPOINT), as well as Klaus Janson (THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS), John Romita Jr. (ALL-STAR BATMAN), Eduardo Risso (100 BULLETS) and Frank Miller himself!. No library descriptions found. |
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And as for the art, don't even get me started. I'm pretty sure there are elephants and orangutans who can draw better than Miller, at this point.
The first Dark Knight book was brilliant. Batman: Year One was excellent. But Miller used up his talent long ago. He squeezed out a few memorable moments for The Dark Knight Strikes Again, but the decline in his abilities was already plain to see. Now? He's a joke.
He's used up all the great villains, so the primary villain in the book is effectively a nobody with no real history in the story of Batman that I'm aware of. In any case, he is an absolutely cardboard-flat character with no interesting qualities at all.
So why did I give this book two stars rather than one? There are two reasons: first, familiar actually did have one mildly memorable line from Batman. I suspect it's his last. Second, the two stars are a testament to the grotesque decline of writing in the mainstream comic book industry over the past couple of decades. Disappointing as The Master Race was, at least it wasn't as bad as Safespace or Snowflake or I Am Not Starfire. ( )