Rating: 
Summary: Things ain't what they used to be.
Review: The one honest thing Bob Schreck said about the Dark Knight Strikes Again is that it really wasn't a sequel to the Frank Miller classic The Dark Knight Returns. It isn't fit to polish the boots of the first series. And I have a hard time not judging it on those merits. But here's my opinion of the book as it stands, independent of the original series:If you think...
...nearly every superhero in the DC Universe would have looked better in spandex biker shorts,
...deep down, Superman really is a spinless, gutless pacifist,
...vomit jokes are funny,
...talking heads on news commentary shows are the center of popular American culture,
...naked women are okay to show in a comic book without a mature reader advisory as long as you don't detail certain parts of their anatomy,
...Jimmy Olson is the only sane person in the entire DCU,
then this book is for you. If not, don't believe the hype. Stay the heck away. Do not shell out the exhorbitant price tag for this anemic story.
Rating: 
Summary: Just wondering
Review: If Superman is so dim as to fall for the ol' synthetic kryptonite arrow trick twice in a row, I wonder how he survived as long as he did.
Rating: 
Summary: Obligations?
Review: There are some projects that seem to be completed only because of legal obligations -- or because the money is too good to turn down. At least the Godfather series didn't get bad until part III . . .
Rating: 
Summary: NOT the back-up toilet paper everyone makes it out to be
Review: After reading so many bad reviews of DK2, I thought I'd chime in too. I've been reading Miller since his comic code approved Daredevil monthly days. I bought the Miller / Sienkiewicz Elektra Assassin when they first came out and were for sale for a buck at the 7-11. I own an autographed, hard-cover edition of Elektra Returns. Pedigree established, let's move on to the review! I too have waited 15 years for this follow-up, but I cannot join the tidal wave of bad reviews published here. DK2, so far, is not a "got it out in a hurry just for profit" publication. It does double duty by revisiting Miller's bombastic, anti-Regan, nihilist approach to the medium while at the same time orienting new readers ( most of whom were not yet born when Dark Knight first came out ). As for the artwork, Miller's heavy-handed pen and ink suits the concept of deconstructing the superhero mythos perfectly well. In DK2, the line work and shadows are even more abstract, more coarse ( Didn't any of you ever take an art appreciation class!?!?!? ). It is at this point that I stopped defending Miller and join the chorus of critics concerning Varley's colors. It truly is amateurish and crude, as if she only now has been given a copy of Photoshop and is just starting to actually use it. But even given the poor digital coloring, that alone is not enough to "poo-poo" DK2. Finally let me share a very unsubstantiated rumor that the third book is delayed because of the events of September 11th. From what I've heard, Miller wrote a very, very unpatriotic and crass ( read: anti president Bush ) ending for the third DK2 book. This third book was completely scrapped voluntarily by Miller after September 11th. Seems that even ultra left wing Miller has conceded that this country isn't so bad after all. Ironic.
Rating:
Summary: At last!!
Review: When I heard that Miller had retaken Batman I was thrilled...then I was scared...is he going to be able to keep up to the standarts set in the first part? He is. This not exactly a sequel but a whole new adventure. In the first Dark Knight we could see glimpses of what this one could be: the mutants being the sons of Batman, the maturing of Carrie/Robin and the star appeareance of Oliver Queen.
All this plus some surprises is what you will find in the Dark Knight strikes again.
People have critized the change int he style. Miller doesn't use the same "shapes" as he used in the original and Varley goes over the top with the colors. This comic book is everything you expected. I think that the tandem Miller/Varley wanted to bring a "cutting edge" side to the comic and the've done it. It looks at times like it's a childrens approach but that only makes it better.
The best, the story, the worst...I can't tell I just read twice and bought it three days ago..
Rating:
Summary: The story so far...
Review: One of the best comic book stories I have ever read was Frank Miller's "The Dark Knight Returns". Since the mid-90s though, I have gotten away from reading and collecting comics. It seemed like every book was/is about killing the hero and resurrecting them. Blah Blah. When I heard that Miller was going to release a sequel to his original masterpiece, I decided to come out of hiding, just for this event. Having read the first 2 installments, I felt the time was right to offer my two cents on the saga of "The Dark Knight Strikes Again", up to this point. THE STORY-It begins in much the same way that the first story did. The world is a mess, Batman is presumed dead, and the other heroes are trying to find their way. Three years after the previous tale, it is a whole new ballgame, the earth is now a peaceful place. However, the so called peace is just a falsehood, and a great threat still exists. The Dark Knight comes out of the shadows to do battle with friend and foe alike in order to save humanity. The story started off strong. Miller's use of social commentary and satire have always been put to good use. The anti establishment tone set forth in many of his stories is made clear from the start here too. When part one ended, I thought we were off to a pretty good start, but something was still missing. I couldn't put my finger on it. Then I read part two.. One of the best elements of the previous story was its use of grit and the fact that Batman still used his brain to solve problems. He only used brute force when pushed into it. For much of the second book's 80 pages its just Batman and other heroes battling it out with very little else. I like a good comic book battle as much as anybody but c'mon. This technique would probably be ok if the art weren't such a disappointment... THE ART-The pencils and inks seem very rushed and unfinished. Not at all what I expected. The layout is all over the place and it only serves to frustrate rather than offer any panel or page worth framing. I plan to stick this one out to see where it ends up. In fairness, its difficult to review, just 66 and 2/3rds of anything. Perhaps my expectations are too high after the original. Maybe Miller and Varley can still pull this off. I certainly hope they will with part 3
Rating:
Summary: DEFINITELY A LESSER WORK
Review: I know the work of Frank Miller since his years of Daredevil and Elektra. I love those years, they hold still in my memory. And, after some years away from the cartoon world, I took from the shelf a magazine called The Dark Knight, I could tell that the man had not one bit of his mastering lost. His art had even went to a higher status. BUT, my friends, after another bleak distance from cartoons, now I come to face this Dark Knight Returns and what I can tell is simple: Frank Miller lost his magic.
This work was done in a way that it seems that Miller was trying desperately to make ends meet, in a completely bankrupt, and was read to do anything to pay his bills. Man, this new series is horrible. I am not axagerating. Not even the art and coloring is safe. Everything was done with wich looks like a complete hurry and unimaginative way. I am sorry mr. miller but it is like this. And sometimes I wonder if he wasn't forced in someway to do this unwilling work.
Pass along and don't touch it!
Rating:
Summary: Badly Drawn Art and Useless Use of Pornography
Review: DK1 was a great graphic novel featuring a new Robin and a newly retold Batman. But when I read DK2, the whole story of the Dark Knight Returns fell unsuccessfully. The story had no structure and there was no meaning. DK2 is definetely not the best choice of comic books and graphic novels to purchase. Avoid this book only if you are a civilized man. If you are a man who is in need of passion, purchase this book and read off the pictures of nude women.
Rating:
Summary: Not as good as the Dark Knight Returns
Review: I'm sad to say that this over-hyped sequel doesn't live up to its billing. It has interesting ideas in it, but doesn't follow through on them to the same degree as Dark Knight Returns.
Rating:
Summary: The Dark Knight gets upstaged by Lara the Super Amazon
Review: I never expected any sequel to "The Dark Knight Returns" to top the original, but I figured Frank Miller had to have something up his sleeve in "The Dark Knight Strikes Again." For my money, Volume 1 did a sort of reset to the middle of the last volume of the original, with Batman and Superman at each other's throats. It is not until this second volume that Miller unveils the character that is going to make or break this graphic novel series. I remember several years ago that there was a Superman annual with a "What if..." story in which Superman and Lois Lane were married and she died carrying his baby because it kicked in the womb with super strength. That story came to mind when reading this volume because we learn that Superman and Wonder Woman have had a daughter. Her name is Lara, and, as she points out at a key moment in the narrative, she isn't from Kansas. So the good news is that we now have a pretty good hook for "The Dark Knight Strikes Again," but on the downside it really does not have to do with Batman--at least not yet. Certainly there is analogy to be drawn between Superman's relationship with Kara and Batman's relationship with Catwoman (nee Robin). However, I expected young Lara might find herself in a psychological tug of war between her father and the Dark Knight. We shall certainly see in the rest of the story, because there has to be more than caricatures of Mathews, Stephenopoulus, Will, Imus, Roberts and other notable talking heads to carry this one off. The main thing is Miller has a pretty good track record and I find it hard to believe that he would finally trot out a sequel without it being worthwhile. I do think that at this point, the pieces might be coming together.
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