THE DARK KNIGHT III: THE MASTER RACE

If anyone asks how Batman morphed from the candy-colored, oh-so silly 60's TV show to the dark-infused, noir-based, nihilistic Christopher Nolan films, look at Frank Miller's mid-80's mini-series, The Dark Knight Returns. It was revolutionary at the time, and so well-regarded that it's still producing sequels thirty years later. The first sequel, The Dark Knight Strikes Again, was mostly a misfire, and I think even DC realized that Frank Miller is not the same Frank Miller, so for this third time around they've brought on a co-artist, Andy Kubert, and a co-writer, Brian Azzarello. Miller is still here, but only co-writing, drawing the back-story, and drawing a few variant covers. The story is a continuation but it's a new world; a new, female police commissioner, thugs that text in txt speak, a female Robin who takes over as Batman while admitting that, "Bruce Wayne is dead." There's also Wonder Woman and her daughter, who wants to break open a bottled world of Kandor, a still-dead, frozen Superman up in Antarctica, and a really bad, really weird back-story with The Atom, a guy who can shrink. Granted, it's only book one, and perhaps it will eventually reveal an epic tale worthy of publication, but for now it feels tired, stale, same-old. DC should have just let Miller write and draw the whole thing, as it's his world and creation. Azzarello is not the best writer, as he often tries too hard to tap into what's "cool" about street life (he just comes across as an old man yelling at kids to get off his lawn). Kubert does a good job, though, and his art is a lot better than Miller's these days. This feels a lot like Before Watchmen. When Dan Didio took over at DC he went bold. He made every book a new #1 then brought back Sandman and Watchmen and now The Dark Knight. But Watchmen was a mistake without Alan Moore. And this, even with Miller, feels like a mistake. What was fresh and new in 1986 is not fresh and new now. It's not an awful book, and maybe in the end it will at least just be entertaining fluff, but what was once a shot of adrenaline to a character now just feels like a cash-grab.
**

THE GODDAMNED #1

Jason Aaron and R.M. Guerra's Scalped was one of the best books to come out in the last decade. They're back with a new book loosely based on characters in the "Genesis" section of The Bible. If this were a film or TV show or regular fiction book I think it'd be getting a ton of press because it's controversial. But, alas, it's a comic book. Who cares (Airboy #2's controversy over the "tranny" bar scene in July was pretty much known to only those that frequent comic book news sites and transgender-rights blogs)? Which is a shame, because it's a book worthy of talking about. The art is the star, but the story is interesting enough to cause debate. Cain, son of Adam and Eve, is the main star. In this version he's a gorgeous, un-killable hunk wandering the wastelands of Earth. The villain is Noah. Yep. There's not much else in this first issue but a set-up, and so far it's not even half as good as Scalped or Aaron's other Image book, Southern Bastards, but it does has potential to be a wild, intriguing ride. The art here is gloriously gritty. The cavemen-like people remind me of the infected characters in Crossed. The world is a dirty, nasty hell-hole. It's certainly a violent, rough book. I'm not sure if Aaron is trying to say anything about religion or if he's just out to entertain and write a good story. With art this good, does it matter? **1/2