History ComicBook / BatmanTheDarkKnightReturns

* StockSubtitle: "Returns."

* LopsidedArmOfTheLaw: Law enforcement puts way more effort into stopping Batman than the Mutants or the massive crime wave seizing Gotham.

* AdaptationalCurves: Joker is usually depicted as being very lanky and gaunt. Here, however, he looks like he could bench-press a truck. It's all the more shocking once you realize he's been catatonic in Arkham for a decade.

* In 2019, a published titled ''ComicBook/TheDarkKnightReturnsTheGoldenChild'', written by Miller once again and drawn by Rafael Grampá, which was published under the rated-R imprint Creator/DCBlackLabel.

-> ''"There are seven working defenses from this position. Three of them disarm with minimal contact. Three of them kill. The other'' - [[SickeningCrunch [KRAKK[=]=]]] - ''hurts."''

-> ''"There are seven working defenses from this position. Three of them disarm with minimal contact. Three of them kill. The other'' - [KRAKK] - ''hurts."''

* {{Forgiveness}}: Bruce Wayne has forgiven Joe Chill for killing his parents, finally understanding that all he ever wanted was money before the situation escalated. In spite of this, his Batman mindset still wants to punish him for robbery and murder in general.

-->'''Batman:''' You don't get it, boy. This isn't a mudhole, it's an operating table. And I'm the surgeon.

** After [[spoiler:Batman paralyzes the Joker, the latter decides death (especially once where he gets to frame Batman for it) is preferable to his current predicament and happily breaks the rest of his spine.]]

** The Joker’s conflict with Batman reveals just how much death and destruction is left in their wake because Batman lets the Joker live. Much of Batman’s internal monologue in the third issue is devoted to him seriously examining whether upholding his no-kill rule is really worth it in regards to the Joker. Also, the operatic nature of their conflict has the Joker all but confirming he treats their “relationship” as a twisted kind of romance.

* In 1987 Miller did ''ComicBook/BatmanYearOne'' with David Mazzucchelli during his one-arc-long run in the main ''Batman'' book. Though it was supposed to be the origin of New Earth's Batman, WordOfGod says that it also serves as a prequel to ''Dark Knight Returns''.

* In 2005 to 2008, Miller wrote a prequel, ''ComicBook/AllStarBatmanAndRobinTheBoyWonder,'' which was even more controversially received than ''Strikes Again''. It eventually went on hiatus, and [[DevelopmentHell was meant to return]] as ''Dark Knight: Boy Wonder''.

** The Joker’s conflict with Batman reveals just how much death and destruction is left in their wake because Batman lets the Joker live. Much of Batman’s internal monologue in the third issue is devoted to him seriously examining whether upholding his no-kill rule is really worth it in regards to the Joker. Also, the operatic nature of their conflict is taken UpToEleven with the Joker all but confirming he treats their “relationship” as a twisted kind of romance.

* FalselyReformedVillain: Happens twice, when the same psychiatrist [[WhatAnIdiot declares Two-Face legally sane and recommends the Joker make a talk show appearance as part of his rehabilitation]].

--->'''Reporter''': Police phone lines are jammed with citizens describing what appears to be a siege on Gotham's underworld... [[SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome by the Batman]].

* ParentalObliviousness: Carrie Kelley's parents, probably due to their drug abuse. Taken UpToEleven when they occasionally forget Carrie exists.

* ServileSnarker: Alfred has always been this, but in TDKR he takes it UpToEleven, as he is at first very unhappy with the way Bruce has let himself go in his retirement from the cowl, and is even more unhappy when he goes back to being Batman because it not only makes him seem like he's forgotten the lessons of the past, it means Alfred has to patch him up again when he's hurt.

** WordOfGod says that Batman didn't kill [[spoiler:the aforementioned Mutant who held the baby at gunpoint when he shot her with another Mutant's M-60, stating he shot her shoulder]]. The animated adaptation completely changes this sequence to remove the issue.

* WouldHitAGirl: Yindel is the only cop fast enough to escape the trap Batman sets for them in the Tunnel of Love, so Batman breaks her nose and glasses.

In this storyline, Batman has been retired for ten years, alcoholic and consumed with grief after the death of Jason Todd, the second ComicBook/{{Robin}}[[note]]a full '''two years''' before "A Death in the Family" canonized this, mind you[[/note]]. Franchise/{{Superman}}, still as young and handsome as ever, has become little more than an icon, answering to the government and trying to stay as neutral as possible. Commissioner Gordon is weeks away from retirement, ComicBook/TheJoker has been silently locked away in Arkham for years, and ComicBook/TwoFace is about to be released back into the world with a brand new skin. In Batman's absence, and in the midst of a killer heat wave, Gotham City is overrun with crime, plagued by a monstrously violent gang known as The Mutants. After encountering a Mutant gang in the alley where his parents were murdered, Bruce Wayne resurrects Batman, aided in his renewed crusade by Carrie Kelley, a 13-year-old girl who becomes the third Robin. Defeating the Mutants, though, turns out to be child's play compared to what Batman faces next...

* In 2015 to 2017, a third book titled ''ComicBook/DarkKnightIIITheMasterRace'' ran, co-written by Miller alongside Creator/BrianAzzarello.
* In 2019, a fourth book was announced titled ''The Dark Knight Returns: The Golden Child'', written by Miller once again and drawn by Rafael Grampa, which was published under the rated-R imprint Creator/DCBlackLabel.

* CurbStompBattle: Batman's second fight with the Mutant leader. He uses his brains instead of pure brawn, and while he doesn't come away unscathed, he does win decisively.

* RealityEnsues: Batman's first fight with the Mutant Leader, a hulking, feral, bloodthirsty brute with filed teeth and claws in the prime of his life. Batman gets badly mauled and beaten and is only saved by Carrie Kelley's intervention.

Creator/CryptozoicEntertainment held a Website/{{Kickstarter}} campaign [[https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/cze/the-dark-knight-returns-the-game to fund]] ''Batman: The Dark Knight Returns - The Game''.

* The Bruce Wayne played by Creator/KevinConroy in ''Series/{{Crisis on Infinite Earths|2019}}'' borrows a lot to TDKR Batman as well.

* Gonk: One of the ways Miller shows his contempt is to place viewpoints he doesn't like in characters that are either SuperDeformed or otherwise bizarrely drawn. Case in point the ineffective mayor seems to have a trapezoid for a head or the mutant leader having no neck and circular jaws.

* Retcon: In the comic, Bruno is strongly implied to be a transgender female, with the store clerk even mocking her, claiming he can barely tell anymore. However, having the sole Trans character being a Neo-Nazi criminal is deeply problematic. So future depictions of the character, adaptions of the comic and it's sequels deliberately make Bruno more feminine and drop any suggestion she is Trans.

* RobotKid: Abner builds them...to spray poison gas everywhere, then explode.

* StrawmanPolitical: Features vapidly meaningless strawmen for all parts of the political spectrum because [[GoldenMeanFallacy that's how you make a valid point, right]]?
* StrawmanHasAPoint: Dr. Wolper exists for Frank Miller to vent his hatred of Pop-Psychology. However, Wolper is correct that Gotham is like a membraine and Batman returning is akin to hitting it with a hammer sending out myriad ripples. That while it will cause a temporary decrease in crime, ultimately it will makes things much worse. Sure enough once Batman returns both the Joker and Two Face come out of hiding and commit their deadliest crimes ever. Furthermore, street violence actually increases as bystanders start fighting back more often leading to criminals becoming more violent to affect their schemes.

** UsefulNotes/RonaldReagan is portrayed as a folksy buffoon who thinks country wisdom can run a country and almost starts a nuclear war. It fact it's even stated by Miller, through Commissioner Gordon, that every President since Roosevelt has been inadequate.
** Frank Miller has a deep seeded hatred for pop-psychology that is firmly shown by Wolper constantly spewing technobabble while having a Hitler mustache.

** UsefulNotes/RonaldReagan is portrayed as a folksy buffoon who thinks country wisdom can run a country and almost starts a nuclear war.

* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: Two of the Joker's victims were David Endochrine and Ruth Weisenheimer, who were clearly based on Creator/DavidLetterman and Dr. Ruth Westheimer.

* ImpliedRape: After the Joker uses his mind-control lipstick on Selina, she is found beaten, crying, and tied up in a Wonder Woman costume when Batman finds her. And one: this is one of the works that depicts the Joker was a DepravedHomosexual or DepravedBisexual and two: there was rumors that would've made it explicit rather than implied that the Joker killed Jason -- after raping him.

* PowerDynamicsKink: Implied if not outright stated to be the case of Franchise/{{Superman}} and Franchise/WonderWoman's relationship. In ''ComicBook/TheDarkKnightStrikesAgain'', her response to Superman feeling down about Batman beating him (again) is to punch him in the face and say, "Where is the man who threw me to the ground and made me his prize?". In ''ComicBook/AllStarBatmanAndRobinTheBoyWonder'', she gets aroused and kisses Superman after he knocks her over by shouting and stomping the ground.

* AnimeHair: [[CoincidentalBroadcast TV reporter]] Lola Wong and her improbably triangular hair. See FashionableAsymmetry.

* PowerDynamicsKink: Implied if not outright stated to be the case of Franchise/{{Superman}} and Franchise/WonderWoman's relationship. In ''ComicBook/TheDarkKnightStrikesAgain'', her response to Superman feeling down about Batman beating him (again) is to punch him in the face and say, "Where is the man who threw me to the ground and made me his prize?". In ''ComicBook/AllStarBatmanAndRobin'', she gets aroused and kisses Superman after he knocks her over by shouting and stomping the ground.