The Dark Knight Returns
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Last night I finished reading The Dark Knight Returns - yes, a comic book or graphic novel or whatever - and I loved it. Characters I’ve known since childhood are reintroduced many years after we last saw them and they are in situations they just don’t want to be in. Throughout I felt as if I was visiting a forgotten hometown, seeing old friends who have grown and changed, yet still living the same bland life that we all struggle with daily. These characters felt more alive than ever before.
I say all this because the story really is about the characters. Bruce Wayne is crazy, unstoppable, and at times suicidal in the pursuit of his own concept of justice. Commissioner Gordon knows that the city needs Batman and risks his own career and life on that increasingly unpopular idea. Superman is terrified of Wayne, not because of what he can do, but what he represents to the people they both protect. And the Joker needs Batman and is thrilled by that very fact: while musing over his victims he thinks “No, I don’t keep count. But you do. And I love you for it.” Reading that gave me goosebumps.
Again, I loved this story. The writing was amazing. The story was put together wonderfully. Real suspense often followed each page turn. I wish everything I read was this much fun.
As a side note, I read this on my iphone and it was suprisingly intuitive. Holding the phone vertically allowed me to see the entire page, holding it horizontally let me read the text while still seeing the entire width, pinching would zoom in and out, and simply tapping turned the page. It’s reasons like this that I love that phone.
It just occurred to me that I might have been misinterpreting the phrase “there is a time and place for everything.” To me the proverb has always been that everything fits in somewhere somehow - that anything is possible. But after reading a clearly negative opinion I now see that people often use it to strictly limit concepts or actions. “Everything has its place.”