December 6, 2001

12:29 PM

DK2The Dark Kinight Strikes Again came out yesterday and all I can say is "wow!" The first issue of this three issue limited series alone was worth the 15 year wait. What took The Dark Knight Returns a whole limited series to get to, happens in the last few pages of DKSA. It even has a Flash trailer. Frank Miller and Lynn Varley do it again.
posted by rathikd (19 comments total)

hey cool, goin to the comic book store tonite.
posted by kliuless at 12:45 PM on December 6, 2001

YES!!!!!!

YES! YES! YES!!


yesyesyesyesyesyeseyseyesyesyes.....
posted by o2b at 12:56 PM on December 6, 2001

Oh man, just when I thought that I was cured of buying comics...err, I mean graphic novels.
posted by MrBaliHai at 1:12 PM on December 6, 2001

I bought it yesterday and immediately brought it home and read it -- twice. Mmmmmmmmm. Like fine wine, Miller and Varley just get better with age.
posted by brand-gnu at 1:32 PM on December 6, 2001

......yesyesyesyesyesyeseyseyesyesyes YES!! WOO!!
posted by o2b at 1:43 PM on December 6, 2001

I am going to go buy this baby.
posted by riffola at 1:53 PM on December 6, 2001

Dammit, dammit, dammit. Like MrBali, I quit comics. But I can't miss this. Thanks for posting.
posted by frykitty at 2:00 PM on December 6, 2001

Apparently the comic business is making a bit of a comeback, sales are up this year.

Looks cool, but remember the last time Frank Miller was near Batman was the Batman/Spawn crossover, eww did that stink. And isn't Claremont back on xmen?
posted by bobo123 at 2:01 PM on December 6, 2001

I reread the Dark Knight Returns recently. and it was a mistake. Nothing can compare to being 12 years old and seeing Batman kick the crap out of Superman. Now, it just seems like a pretty decent comic.

I'm skeptical of the sequel, as it seems unnecessary, but I'm sure I'll give it a try.
posted by Doug at 2:04 PM on December 6, 2001

That big "DK2" they have all over that sight keeps making me think that they are releasing a sequel to Donkey Kong. Guess I am the wrong kind of geek.
posted by donkeymon at 3:45 PM on December 6, 2001

Though I kicked the comics habit, my coworker insisted on dragging me to the store today. Unfortunately, once I got in there (at that point already looking forward to tying my arm off and spiking it all over again), all I found was that they were sould out.

. . . sequel to Donkey Kong. Guess I am the wrong kind of geek.

Guess so. They already did that. Twice.
posted by yerfatma at 3:53 PM on December 6, 2001

There's a good interview with Frank Miller about the new series and whatnot over at the Onion's AV Club.
posted by jga at 5:21 PM on December 6, 2001

Oh baby, oh baby.

The updating of the Dark Knight might just be as exciting and revolutionary as the first was. I'm very interested in seeing how it plays out, as it deals with some political issues very, very close to our reality. (Such as the president being a hologram...) Miller mentions in the AV Club interview that the second issue is eerily reminiscent of Sept. 11, though it was written long before. Most comic work that has come out recently has dealt with the tragedies in a mournful, patriotic way. It'll be nice to see the subversive angle.

Claremont did return to the X-Men, but all his magic is gone. His work is very frustrating now, tons of sub-plots dangling, poor character work, too unfocussed. The powers that be gave him a new X-Book to play with, rather than have him hurt the core books any more.

Grant Morrison is writing New X-Men now, and is doing an excellent job. It's no DK2, but the story telling is surprisingly fresh and inventive, something long lacking from X-books in general. Joe Casey is writing Uncanny X-Men, and he's doing horribly in comparison to Morrison.

And, being as I have already outed myself as a comic geek, I'll say that there are good things happening in the field right now all around. Marvel Comics has been rejuvenated by some daring maneuvers and has attracted a lot of very talented writers and artists to their company. It's a good time to be a Marvel fan, though I'll still hide all my books when girls come over.

If there were more writers/artists like Miller, maybe I wouldn't have to be ashamed of what I enjoy reading.
posted by daedsiluap at 8:17 PM on December 6, 2001

though I'll still hide all my books when girls come over.

Girls? What are girls?
posted by rathikd at 4:51 AM on December 7, 2001

though I'll still hide all my books when girls come over.

Definitely a good way to make people like you - pretend you're something yer not. Instead, have a copy of something like the Land Of Nod Treasury around to hand out while you read spandex adventures.
posted by videodrome at 12:08 PM on December 7, 2001

Definitely a good way to make people like you - pretend you're something yer not.

To clarify - I don't hide the books to pretend I'm not a comic fan. I hide them because it's one of those second or third date revelations... When do you tell significant others about your embarrassing love of Journey or your strange attraction to Divine? When it won't scare them off.

And I've introduced girlfriends to comics quite a few times, most natably to Terry Moore's Strangers In Paradise.
posted by daedsiluap at 12:37 PM on December 7, 2001

the Onion article mentions Batman: The Animated Series in Dark Knight style. anyone know how to get a hold of such a thing?
posted by Sean Meade at 1:04 PM on December 7, 2001

Right now is the best time in comics in at least a decade. period.
posted by dig_duggler at 3:32 PM on December 7, 2001

I just finished reading the first issue of DK2.
I'm a Marvel fan from years ago (the last time I collected comics with regularity was 1993) so I don't know the entire DC continuum very well (Who is "The Question"? What are his powers?). I had previously purchased the Dark Knight Returns graphic novel and The Watchmen since I'd heard they were excellent stories, which turned out to be true.

However, the first issue of DK2 blows them both away. I'm not a huge fan of the dialogue from Frank Miller, but he does tell an excellent story. I have no choice but to visit the local comic store and pick up the next two issues when they are out.
(and the remaining 3 issues of "Origins", the Wolverine back story)
posted by Grum at 8:32 AM on December 8, 2001