History Awesome / BatmanTheDarkKnightReturns

--> '''Carrie:''' Carrie. Carrie Kelly. ''beat'' Robin.

** One gets the impression that he didn't care whether or not Batman decided to open fire or not (he doesn't, of course)--either he'd get a proper fight, or he'd end up DefiantToTheEnd. Either seemed perfectly okay with him.

--> '''Carrie:''' Carrie. Carrie Kelly. [[Beat beat]] Robin.

--> '''Carrie:''' Carrie. Carrie Kelly. ''beat'' Robin.

* The moment when Bruce asks for Carrie's name:

--> '''Carrie:'' Carrie. Carrie Kelly. ''beat'' Robin.

** Batman's sheer durability during the fight. Granted, his opponent is literally the Man of Steel, but an aging Batman took several hits from said man. Superman, at one point in the fight, brought Batman up in the air and slammed him back to the ground, ''through a construction site'', and he still gets back up from that. Shortly after ''that'', Superman ripped off his helmet and his torso armor, breaking three ribs, and still, he stood up and fight. Even withstanding a point-blank bomb explosion to his face and Superman slamming him through a car close to the end of the fight. If that didn't confirm that Batman was MadeOfIron, I don't know what is.

** The opening banter was then followed by Batman firing a sonic gun that made Superman '''''bleed'''''. Superman destroyed the gun? Batman supercharged his gauntlets with Gotham's '''entire power supply''', before unleashing it all on Superman, causing him to '''''scream'''''. During all that, Batman took the time to criticize the very government [[SummonBiggerFish who sent Superman to do their dirty work.]]

--->'''Batman''': Really? [[SummonBiggerFish Who do they send after you?]]

** How did the fight begin? Batman brought the FlyingBrick crashing to the ground with several missiles homing into Superman through his ''X-Ray vision'', setting up for the battle on the ground. The Batmobile, piloted by Kelley to soften Superman up barely hindered him, as he easily tossed the Tank around like a ragdoll, leaving the new Robin at his mercy, until Batman intervened.

** More specifically about the showdown. Batman, an aging mortal man with no supernatural powers, takes on Superman, an overpowered alien from another galaxy. How does he manage it? Superman's weakened from the nuclear missile that nearly killed him. Batman himself is in an exosuit enhancing his strength that he could lift the Batmobile ''with a single arm''. How did the fight begin? Batman brought the FlyingBrick crashing to the ground with several missiles homing into Superman through his ''X-Ray vision'', setting up for the battle on the ground. The Batmobile, piloted by Kelley to soften Superman up barely hindered him, as he easily tossed the Tank around like a ragdoll, leaving the new Robin at his mercy, until Batman intervened.

--->"I want you to remember...my hand at your throat. I want you to remember...the one man who ''beat'' you."

** Batman's sheer durability during the fight. Granted, his opponent is literally the Man of Steel, but an aging Batman took several hits from said man. Superman, at one point in the fight, brought Batman up in the air and slammed him back to the ground, ''through a construction site'', and he still gets back up from that. Shortly after ''that'', Superman ripped off his helmet and his torso armor, breaking three ribs, and still, he stood up and fight. Even withstanding a point-blank bomb explosion to his face and Superman slamming him into a car close to the end of the fight. If that didn't confirm that Batman was MadeOfIron, I don't know what is.

** Batman's sheer durability during the fight. Granted, his opponent is literally the Man of Steel, but an aging Batman took several hits from said man. Superman, at one point in the fight, brought Batman up in the air and slammed him back to the ground, ''through a construction site'', and he still gets back up from that. Shortly after ''that'', Superman ripped off his helmet and his torso armor, breaking three ribs, and still he stood up and fight. If that didn't confirm that Batman was MadeOfIron, I don't know what is.

** Batman's sheer durability during the fight. Granted, his opponent is literally the Man of Steel, but an aging Batman took several hits from said man. Superman, at one point in the fight, brought Batman up in the air and slammed him back to the ground, ''through a construction site'', and he still gets back up from that. If that didn't confirm that Batman was MadeOfIron, I don't know what is.

** The opening banter was then followed by Batman firing a sonic gun that made Superman '''''bleed'''''. Superman destroyed the gun? Batman supercharged his gauntlets with Gotham's '''entire power supply''', before unleashing it all on Superman, causing him to '''''scream'''''. During all that, Batman took the time to criticize the very government who sent Superman to do their dirty work.
--->'''Batman''': You say you answer to some sort of authority. They only want me dead because I'm an embarrassment, because I do what they can't. What kind of authority is ''that''?

--->'''Batman''': Really? Who do they send after you?
** The end of the fight, with [[ComicBook/GreenArrow Oliver's]] timely shot of a [[KryptoniteFactor Kryptonite arrow]], finally weakening him, allowing Batman to beat the alien within an inch of his life while delivering one of the most [[BadassBoast badass boast]] in his entire career.

** The end of the fight, with [[ComicBook/Green Arrow Oliver's]] timely shot of a [[KryptoniteFactor Kryptonite arrow]], finally weakening him, allowing Batman to beat the alien within an inch of his life while delivering one of the most [[BadassBoast badass boast]] in his entire career.

** More specifically about the showdown. Batman, an aging mortal man with no supernatural powers, takes on Superman, an overpowered alien from another galaxy. How does he manage it? Superman's weakened from the nuclear missile that nearly killed him. Batman himself is in a robot suit that's draining Gotham's entire power supply so he can be full levels of badass. Batman starts off by hitting Superman with missiles and a sonic gun to further weaken him. He hits Supes with an electrical attack that would be the equivalent of a human falling onto a transformer. He also has ComicBook/GreenArrow shoot Supes with a trick arrow filled with powdered Kryptonite. How does the battle go? Batman inevitably loses...but only because of a heart attack -- THAT HE FAKED. Not only does everything go according to plan, had he (for some reason) been so inclined he could have killed Superman then and there.

* Toward the middle of the book we see the negative effects Batman has over the populace, inspiring copycats or lunatics with guns to take the law into their own hands. At the end of these long, drawn-out scenes, we get a brief glimpse of a normal citizen reading about all of these incidents in the news and thinking about how disgusted he is at Batman's return [[note]] Maybe. The panel that speaks on him not approving Batman has him reading the paper with a huge smile on his face which implies he isn’t as disapproving of Batman as he’d like to outwardly state[[/note]]. In four panels we see that in spite of all the violence, Batman does spark something in decent Gothamites who just want a better life for themselves. Doubles as a SugarWiki/{{Heartwarming Moment|s}}.

* Toward the middle of the book we see the negative effects Batman has over the populace, inspiring copycats or lunatics with guns to take the law into their own hands. At the end of these long, drawn-out scenes, we get a brief glimpse of a normal citizen reading about all of these incidents in the news and thinking about how disgusted he is at Batman's return. In four panels we see that in spite of all the violence, Batman does spark something in decent Gothamites who just want a better life for themselves. Doubles as a SugarWiki/{{Heartwarming Moment|s}}.

* The Mutants have a military arsenal big enough to wage open warfare on Gotham--not just assault rifles, but grenades, mortars, and rocket launchers. How does Batman counter this? [[spoiler: By driving into their big war meeting in the dump with [[TankGoodness an upgraded Batmobile.]] ]]
** Props to the Mutant Leader as the dust settles--having witnessed [[spoiler: Batman's huge riot-killer making short work of his heavily-armed henchmen, he actually has the guts to call Batman out for a fistfight. ''While the Batmobile's cannon is pointed straight at him.'']]

** One gets the impression that he didn't care whether or not [[spoiler: Batman decided to open fire or not (he doesn't, of course)]]--either he'd get a proper fight, or he'd end up DefiantToTheEnd. Either seemed perfectly okay with him.
* The Joker [[spoiler: breaking his ''own'' neck to frame Batman. ''After'' becoming quadriplegic.]]

* But most famous of all is his [[spoiler:beating of the mutant leader. Having gotten his ass kicked by him earlier for trying to fight him head on, he tricks the leader into fighting in a mud pit. Batman fights dirty, striking nerve clusters, throwing mud in his eyes and doing ''something'' to his leg, saying "This isn't a mudhole. It's an operating table - and I'm the surgeon." while thinking "Something tells me to stop with the leg...I don't listen to it."]]
** [[spoiler: Going by the film's adaptation and a close re-reading of the comic, Batman utilized some good-ol' Judo to break the mutant leader's arm via an arm bar...which left the schmuck's leg vulnerable to a knee bar...that Batman understandably just kept wrenching.]]
* We also have Crowning Moments like [[spoiler:Superman and Batman's not-so-final showdown]], not to mention [[http://mendthiscrack.files.wordpress.com/2009/09/horse.jpg?w=400&h=232 Batman riding a horse]].
** More specifically about [[spoiler:the showdown. Batman, an aging mortal man with no supernatural powers, takes on Superman, an overpowered alien from another galaxy. How does he manage it? Superman's weakened from the nuclear missile that nearly killed him. Batman himself is in a robot suit that's draining Gotham's entire power supply so he can be full levels of badass. Batman starts off by hitting Superman with missiles and a sonic gun to further weaken him. He hits Supes with an electrical attack that would be the equivalent of a human falling onto a transformer. He also has ComicBook/GreenArrow shoot Supes with a trick arrow filled with powdered Kryptonite. How does the battle go? Batman inevitably loses...but only because of a heart attack -- THAT HE FAKED. Not only does everything go according to plan, had he (for some reason) been so inclined he could have killed Superman then and there.]]

** Also, about [[spoiler:the showdown. Superman is weakened by the nuke... And yet, until the powdered Kryptonite, ''nothing could stop him''. Batman hit him with missiles, a sonic gun, an electrical attack charged by Gotham's entire power supply... And it ''barely slowed him down'', with Superman [[DontMakeMeDestroyYou begging Batman to not force him to kill him while casually showing he could do just that any moment]].]]
*** However, after “The Master Race” came out, this one unfortunately may or may not be moot, depending on how you see it, since it’s was revealed that [[spoiler: Superman was holding back during the entire fight and could’ve easily beaten Batman. Even Batman himself admitted this when he realized the truth.]]
* During [[spoiler:Joker's final rampage at the carnival, a young boy walks up to him and says, "You're the Joker, right? Batman's gonna ''kick your ass.''"]]
** And even after [[spoiler:being shot by the Joker while saving the young boy, he takes the time to correct him.]]
--->[[spoiler:'''Batman''': ...Watch your LANGUAGE, son...]]
--->[[spoiler:'''Boy''': Yes, sir.]]

* "This should be agony. I should be a mass of aching, muscle--broken, spent, unable to move. And, were I an older man, I surely would...but I'm a man of thirty--of twenty again. [[RedemptionInTheRain The rain on my chest is a baptism]]--[[HesBack I'm born again."]] A SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome for both Franchise/{{Batman}} and Creator/FrankMiller.

*** However, after “The Master Race” came out, this one unfortunately, may or may not be moot, depending on how you see it, since it’s was revealed that [[spoiler: Superman was holding back during the entire fight and could’ve easily beaten Batman. Even Batman himself admitted this when he realized the truth.]]