Striking Again

Bruce Baugh has written the finest review of Frank Miller & Lynn Varley’s wildly controversial Batman miniseries The Dark Knight Strikes Again I’ve ever read. And he loves the book–but maybe not in the way you’re thinking.

I’ve begun to notice that this graphic novel’s defenders, in the process of explaining why it’s a great book, may be doing more harm than good. DKSA proponents tend to emphasize Miller & Varley’s iconoclasm toward the realist-superhero trend, a trendw which began with the “grim ‘n’ gritty” “revisionist” superhero tales of the mid-80s (notably Watchmen and Miller & Varley’s own The Dark Knight Returns) before transmogrifying into the retro-tinged reverence of works by Kurt Busiek, Mark Waid, and Alex Ross. DKSA, these proponents say, is basically the anti-realist manifesto, pegging superheroes as over-the-top and even ridiculous, and revelling in it. It is to the superhero comics of the post-Marvels industry what the Ramones were to Emerson, Lake & Palmer, and anyone who doesn’t like the book (here comes the dreaded phrase) Doesn’t Get The Joke.

The thing is, it’s not that these proponents are wrong–I think they’ve latched on to an important aspect of DKSA, and I myself have made statements supporting these interpretations (probably not the “ridiculous” bit, but, y’know, most of the rest) from time to time, because I think that stuff is indeed present in the text. But this is not the only important aspect of the book. Moreover, saying of a book’s detractors that they don’t get the joke leads too easily to a retort of “I get it; it’s just not funny.” Take a look at Christopher Butcher’s review of the book:

“I gotta say, I really enjoyed THE DARK NIGHT STRIKES AGAIN…but that