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Today has the final and most important question in our 30 day series: favorite Batman moment. Spanning over 70 years, Batman has had more than enough breathtakingly cool, funny, emotional, bad A moments. I thought more on this one than any other question but I kept coming back to one moment that had a huge degree of inevitability lent towards it.
Many have abandoned Frank Miller recently, due to both his creative downturn and public comments. I for one liked All Star Batman and Robin the Boy Wonder, despite it being one of the most reviled comic work in recent memory. His comments against Occupy Wall Street protesters were mostly unneeded and unnecessary. He's a lot like George Lucas in the sense that people remember how great they were in their younger years and how cool it is to not like them anymore. I personally like and respect both men and still like them, even if their creative works aren't what they once were.
That being said, I have always had my own distinct opinion on what many consider Miller's masterwork, The Dark Knight Returns-one that I'm surprised I don't hear more often. The story is one of the great Batman yarns that follows the Dark Knight coming out of retirement. There are plenty of great character moments and the themes of the graphic novel are still very pertinent to today. However, I still quite get past the art. Miller also "draws" some of his comic books and has a fairly distinct style: it looks like shit. Yeah, there are some good or great moments he can muster up enough in his hands to create beautifully. But mostly, it looks like pure garbage that isn't worthy of the great story he's telling.
One of the few great moments of both story and art is when Batman squares off against the Mutant Leader in Gotham City who taunts Batman to get out of his vehicle so he can "eat his heart". However, this idiot has no idea who he's messing with. With his army watching, the Leader takes on Batman undisciplined and stupidly, which is just what Batman wants. Playing on Batman's complex and involving methodology and tactics, Miller single handedly gave me the best Batman moment when the Dark Knight mutters "This is an operating table. And I'm the surgeon" right as he snaps the punks back. Wow, just epic.
The moment was given animated justice in The New Batman Adventures in the episode Legends of the Dark Knight", where different possibilities of who Batman could be as discussed by three children. That fantastic segment is also paired with an equally great, albeit very different segment that shows a jovial, happy-go-lucky Dick Sprang era Batman. The juxtaposition is simply hilarious. Anyways, here's the talked about segment:
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