Be careful what you wish for- this issue for Once and Future King races the plot along at a pace faster than I expected, but it is a breath of fresh air and gorgeous to behold.
Monthly Archives: October 2019
I have a weird affinity for the Ghost Rider. My older brother was and still is at heart a metal head. Iron Maiden is his jam and he still always finds a way to see them whenever they are on tour, even if it means traveling hundreds of miles to do so. So as a teen his room was often littered with album covers, cassettes, and posters of his favorite bands and while my music tastes trended more toward alternative music I was mesmerized by the heavy metal imagery.
Technically, “The Dark Knight Returns” is not a stand-alone comic, but rather a four-issue miniseries written by Frank Miller (“Sin City”, “300”). It is often considered one of the greatest modern comics of all time. Set in 1986 Gotham City, “The Dark Knight Returns” tells the story of a 55-year-old Bruce Wayne, who after years of giving up fighting crime, decides to resume the mantle of “The Batman”. However, after years of solitude and a lack of training, Bruce realizes he isn’t the same hero he was before.
The issue begins with an encounter between two friends, Lana and Blair. The two practice a trapeze act, which emphasizes the topic of trust, which is tied back into the larger narrative of the story later. The story then follow Lana as she visits a number of relatives and members of the town as she uncovers evidence of a potential murder from years ago. This is a slice of life story wrapped in a mystery with plenty of entertaining social commentary.
Let’s return to the magical year of 1990, when Cap was written by Mark Gruenwald (who may always be Captain America’s longest-tenured writer with a massive 105 issue run through the 1980s) and portrayed by artist Ron Lim (perhaps best known for his work on Infinity Gauntlet and its sequels). With talent like this, the Streets of Poison storyline was bound to be an instant classic. It was, but not perhaps the way it was intended.