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From the Chicago Sun-Times. So bad it's funny.
quote:For a guy who's pegged as the father of the ''grim and gritty'' style of comics, writer/artist Frank Miller comes off as a very affable sort, who laughs easily and has a dry wit.
His ''Dark Knight Returns'' in 1986 redefined Batman in a three-issue, out-of-continuity story. In it, a retired Bruce Wayne is a decrepit alcoholic, a man far removed from his original ideas of justice. He has a new Robin, a spunky girl, who believes in him.
Superman, a sell-out now working for the government, is no longer Batman's best friend. In fact, they hate each other. The Joker is an over-the-hill laughingstock.
Basically, Gotham City in the future is very bleak, devoid of hope and in need of a hero or two.
This revised version of Batman was a hit with readers 15 years ago. ''Dark Knight Returns'' was a commercial success and an artistic triumph for Miller as well. Seeing how readers embraced the darkness of the once-sunny characters, the comics industry pumped out darker and more violent stories about superheroes for years.
When filmmaker Tim Burton directed the edgy ''Batman'' movie in 1989, he used Miller's interpretation as a blueprint.
Miller laughs when asked if he is indeed the guy who started the trend. Is he the real Father of Grim and Gritty Comics?
''There are a lot of people who start a trend,'' he says. ''Let's just say I have visitation rights.''
''The Dark Knight Strikes Again,'' the long-awaited sequel, is out on Wednesday. It's the first issue of three 80-page, softcover comics, set three years after the first story.
Miller has completed the first two issues and is working on the third now.
It may or may not be finished for a February release.
Why do a sequel now? ''Because I had a story to tell,'' he says simply. ''. . . Almost every time I finish a story, I have a sequel in mind.''
In this sequel, ''Batman isn't the guy who makes the story happen,'' Miller. ''He is very much the master of the scenes behind the game.
''The other characters are given the stage an awful lot. It's just not a Batman comic.''
In this story, Batman and his new Robin go on a trail to find what happened to members of the Justice League who haven't been seen in years. Wonder Woman, Flash and the Atom are primary characters.
Miller also has created characters and successors to well-known heroes.
Yet, don't expect grim and gritty from Miller this time around.
''I wasn't going to do anything redundant,'' he says. ''This one is much more an exploration of the character of the superhero. It's me fiddling around with DC [Comics'] pantheon.
''They have these wonderfully rich characters, and one-by-one I am exploring them and showing what makes them fun. I use them as I have before to conduct my satire of the contemporary world.
''The world has become a kinder, gentler Fascist state. All the news is good, but we don't have a Bill of Rights anymore.''
Already, advance sales orders are booming for ''Strikes Back.'' The numbers are double those of most comics.
Since his 1986 success, Miller has been keeping his hands in comics, writing mainly non-mainstream fare such as ''Sin City,'' crime comics and ''300,'' a historical series.
''I have very fresh eyes,'' he says, because he has been away from the monthly grind of writing superhero comic books. ''. . . It's an advantage I have right now. I can be a bit like an 8-year-old and see everything new again.''
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