11/21 Superheroes Reconsidered

This week I read Batman The Dark Knight Returns, about Batman's return to crime fighting to stop the Mutant Gang and Harvey Dent, who escapes the hospital. The Joker had been in a mental institution and sort of laying low with no real purpose for being a criminal while Batman was no longer fighting crime. However with Batman coming back to the scene with passion to fight the Mutant Gang, Joker comes back too. Something that really caught my attention while reading this was how aging and being out of the crime fighting scene has put Batman at a disadvantage. He gets injured, makes mistakes and openly admits at times that he's not up with the new technology. It makes him much more relatable than other superheroes because it shows that he too is just a human. Another thing I really liked is that not only is Robin a young and not overly sexualized female, but Batman openly depends on her and relies on her to make up for his shortcomings. The only thing that I thought was strange in the story was the insertion of Superman, it just felt out of place. While it felt unnatural, at the same time it showed how mortal Batman is, since Superman hadn't aged or shown any signs of fatigue like he did.

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