With the release of a new trailer for The Dark Knight Rises, the hype about Batman seems to be increasing again. And I was not spared from it, and I’m getting restless about having to wait for months before seeing Christopher Nolan’s epic conclusion to his Batman trilogy on the big screen.

So this morning, I decided to download a pdf copy of Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns, which is supposed to be one of the greatest, if not the greatest, Batman stories ever told. And after reading the first book of the four-part series, I’d have to say I wasn’t disappointed.

What I love about Batman is how his vigilantism sparks a debate within the reader’s mind as to whether he really is doing the right thing. There is just something disturbingly authoritarian with the way he takes the law into his own hands in his war against crime. His sanity also comes into question, and it could be argued that he is indeed psychotic. Like Joker says in The Killing Joke, ”Why else would you dress up as a flying rat? You had a bad day, and it drove you as crazy as everybody else… Only you won’t admit it!”

With these issues being raised, it could be seen that the Batman story has very much veered away from the campy Adam West Batman in the 60s, and thanks to Frank Miller and Christopher Nolan has evolved into one that is more dense, blurring the lines between being a morality play and a typical superhero story.

Gargh, why can’t it be next year already?