With work this revered and universally acclaimed it almost feels pretentiously contrarian to have anything bad to say about it. Given how long of a review I left here for it's sequel, I can't even think of any reason to break up this one into paragraphs.

Dark Knight Returns treats it's story of obsession, legacy and perseverance like a footnote to it's sloppily drawn panels upon panels of clichė dystopian socio-political babble, flat characters with no growth or change throughout it's 4-issie run, and would-be stylish action sequences, had they been drawn by literally anyone else but Miller. There is very little here of substance - none of it's first sequel's post-modern commentary, it's second sequel's grand, epic scale, or Year One's weight and importance.

I did however enjoy it in the context of it's supposed cult following and resonance in further Batman media. It was nice to trace the Cape Crusader's dark side to it's roots. Even mere holding it in my hands felt strangely important. It's a mysterious and mystic allure, I just wish there was something more tangible to it once you actually read through it.

Also, "balls nasty". What a ring it has! It's gotta be Millers most "Miller" line of dialogue ever.