The Dark Knight on a Dark Night
Coming back from Singapore a few weeks ago, I had the opportunity (finally!) to read Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns. Actually, to read and RE-read Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns. Now, Frank Miller is one of those writers who can never go wrong in my book (mind the pun), but he really outdid himself in this one. OK, so comic buffs out there would probably be thinking; "What?!?! You just read DKR?!?!" but for the uninitiated, the Dark Knight Returns is Frank Miller, (and Batman, and comics in general) at its (their) most uncompromising, most brilliant, and most engaging. The most talked-about part of it (if only for Holy Sh*t value) is of course, when the aforementioned Dark Knight pounds the living daylights out of Mr. Smallville himself. Yes, the Big S, the one who leaps tall buildings in a single bound, who looks nothing like a bird or a plane (unless the bird wore red undies on the outside, and the plane wore a cape). Read it (if you haven't already) and you'll see why this graphic novel has changed the way people look at comics so profoundly, it's actually used as the basis of a course(Literature, Pop Culture, Philosophy?) in some universities over in the US of A. Then again, so is Madonna.

Why this sudden talk of Frank Miller and Batman? Two reasons; Sin City is coming soon (or not, once our censors are done with it), and after that (God willing), Batman Begins. Probably have to catch the former in Singapore or something, though; our "moral guardians" don't respond well to nudity (of which there's a lot in Sin City, hence the name. Duh.) As for Batman Begins, well, let's hope Christian Bale makes a better Batman than TMSKADO (or the Man Sometimes Known As Danny Ocean), and that there's no Robin. Unless it's Carrie Kelly (read DKR).