The premiere issue of the series The Dark Knight Returns (known as DKR by fans) is a superhero comic book story published by DC Comics between 1985 and 1986, starring Batman. The story's creator, Frank Miller, sought to create a fitting "end" for the character of Batman: just as the Norse myths had their Ragnarok, so would Batman meet his end at some tragic moment in the near future.
The book is set in a dark, depressing world of the future where criminals run amok, and Batman's home of Gotham City is being terrorized by a gang of murderers called The Mutants. Bruce Wayne (Batman) is approaching sixty years old, and he gave up the role of Batman ten years before the story begins. But he reaches a point in his life where he cannot sit back and watch the world be overrun by thieves and murderers, and so he dons the mantle of the Caped Crusader one last time and embarks on a final battle against the world.
In the series Batman battles two of his established foes Two-Face and The Joker. With both Miller sets up the debate that it is only Batman's return that draws them out of periods of inaction (Two Face having been 'cured' while The Joker is in a catatonic withdrawal state following an encounter with Batman years before) and so diffuses the often parodied masochistic relationships between superhero and supervillain. It is also suggested that the murder of the second Robin years before by The Joker contributed to Batman's retirement (see A Death in the Family). As a result when The Joker goads Batman into a confrontation in the third issue he finally sees The Joker die.
As a backstory a belligerent US President has turned Superman into an active military agent who has been used to defeat a force in Latin America. This leads to a foreign power launching a massive nuclear device that causes a disruption of power supply in North America. As widespread chaos appears about to ensue Batman and an army of followers take to the streets and restore order. However by now Batman has become a visible threat and Superman is dispatched for a final confrontation. Using a powered exo-skeleton suit and synthesized Kryptonite Batman is on the verge of defeating Superman when he experiences a heart attack. At precisely the same moment Alfred oversees the destruction of the Batcave and has a fatal stroke. Superman as Clark Kent arranges a dignified funeral for his old friend but at the last minute hears a heartbeat from the coffin. Recognizing that Bruce Wayne wants nothing more than to start a new life Kent ignores the sound.
Upon its publication, The Dark Knight Returns turned the comic book industry on its ear. It helped to introduce an era of more adult-oriented storytelling to the mainstream world of superhero comic books, and it received media attention the likes of which had never seen before in a medium long believed to be little more than children's entertainment.
This story, along with Alan Moore's Watchmen (published in the same year) and Art Spiegelman's Maus, helped to raise the medium to a more mature level of literature, and it ushered in the popularity of graphic novels as a form of literature that truly differs from child-oriented "comic books." Critics have accused this story of giving birth to the era of "grim and gritty" comic books that lasted from the late 1980s through the early 1990s, when comic books took many adult-oriented themes (especially violence and sexual situations) to "the limits of decency."
In 2001 and 2002, DC Comics published The Dark Knight Strikes Again, Miller's sequel to The Dark Knight Returns. Despite a heavy promotional campaign by the publisher, the book failed to gain the same acceptance that the original story received.
| 
