After the intriguing revisit to Gotham City in The Dark Knight Returns, I wondered what sort of sequel The Dark Knight Strikes Again would be. As it turns out, the direct sequel aspect is quickly overshadowed by the expanding of the Justice League World. It’s not a world I’m familiar with, so I soon found my (admittedly limited) knowledge of the Justice League swamped after cursory characters from movies and TV shows I’d seen. It’s not a bad thing, per se, but I still consider myself to be a bit of a comic book tourist. So…I may not be continuing this series.
This episode begins pretty quickly after The Dark Knight Returns leaves off. Batman is presumed dead with an army of imitators and Carrie Kenney as his followers. Superman is suuuuper angsty. Wonder Woman appears. The Green Arrow is old and doesn’t get to do a whole lot. Batman’s transformation as an aged past-hero is quickly eclipsed by the workings of Superman, Wonder-Woman, and their daughter as they try to avert yet another nuclear crisis on earth.
The fact that this collection did not resonate with me is not promising for the rest of the series. I’ve decided it’s not the series, but this just wasn’t my cup of tea. And I’m totally okay with that. I’m not a hardcore comics person, but I’m going to continue with the Sandman series, since I really do like those a lot. If you’re a hardcore Batman/Dark Knight comic reader, you’ll probably like this a lot better than I did. And if so, please educate me. I’ve clearly outed myself as a bit of a philistine. 🙂
