“Blame it on the Kryptonite rain”

So where to get started on this one? Well, admittedly to me Frank Miller‘s original The Dark Knight Returns is the greatest comic book ever created. However after reaching that pinnacle he has never seemed to quite get back there. With each and every project announced that ties into this world I get my hopes up, waiting for a flash of greatness. Then each time, well let’s just say it’s how Cleveland Browns must feel every season.

This time around the story had a great opening first issue and I thought finally we are getting back to the spirit of my favorite Batman tale. Well after the very cool cliffhanger with Carrie Kelly aka Robin, aka Catgirl, aka Batman, it shortly fizzled out. The mystery of whether Bruce was dead (after all he’s like a billion in this series now) and Carrie was truly carrying on in his stead was very intriguing.

Fast forward to this issue. What we have is a surreal scene with the Kandorians (formally a peaceful people, now all monstrous warlords, seriously not one good one) falling from the sky as a result of Batman’s acid Kryptonite rain attack. Yes you heard me, acid Kryptonite rain. Believe me, the explanation is beyond ridiculous. It does look cool though.

So now we have Batman and Superman (Shaped in armor that looks like himself) ready for a cosmic show down. At least Bruce seemed to have raided Ben Affleck’s closet and got his armor back. Don’t worry if the odds seemed good enough they are now joined by Bargirl, the latest neon alias of Carrie Kelly.

The issue from there is just one big throw down with the Kandorians versus the norms. Oh and to boot Superman’s daughter Lara is fighting to bring down Earth too. It’s pretty abundant that Frank Miller has horrible disdain for the character of Superman since he tortures him and bastardizes him every chance he gets. No one does cranky Ol’ Bruce better than Miller though.

The remainder of the issue is a smash up brawl ending in a very weird cliffhanger that is reminiscent of the original The Dark Knight Returns story. With a few more issues to go, will they have the guts to actually go through with that cliffhanger, or is it total view bait and switch? At this point it’s truly hard to care one way or another as the story has been all over the place. If the prior issues were written better it would have much more of the punch it needed but as it is, the twist just misses the mark.

With a few chapters left, I’m not quite sure this book can do the turnaround it needs. On the plus side Andy Kubert is putting out some tremendous eye porn and has the feel down perfect, just doesn’t get to shine like it should due to the hack writing. Of course, as a Batman completist,  I will see this one to the end. However, I’m sure this will be my last stop in Millerville for quite some time.

Story: Frank Miller and Brian Azzarello Art: Andy Kubert
Story: 5 Art: 8 Score: 6.5 Recommendation: Pass

DC Comics provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review