Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Book 1

Send us Fan MailIn this RETRO SEASON of Special Topics in Media, host Garret Castleberry winds back the podcasting clock to the quarantine months of the 2020 global pandemic. The Comics Studies mini-series focuses on what many consider the great stand-alone superhero story ever told, Frank Miller's future shock crime thriller, Batman: The Dark Knight Returns. Released in four parts near the end of the real-world Cold War in 1986, Miller posits an iconoclast depiction of a city in turmoil, a country at the crossroads, and an isolationist antihero in retirement. Miller's punk rock penciling ignites the interior panels like a flame lit buzzsaw. The artist-author's boxy illustrations are further upstaged by Miller's sharper than glass Neo-noir internal monologues and terse scripted prose. Equal parts revenge fantasy, superhero love letter, mythic deconstruction, and political satire, Miller's work remains a crowning achievement ahead of its time and serving as a paradigm shift to the way superhero comics are perceived and received by critics and audiences. Each episode will focus on a single entry in the four-part series, followed by a discussion on the topic of adaptation as well as a scholarly roundtable that examines the media artifact's continuing impact on American popular culture.   Hosts: Garret Castleberry, Scott McMurryProducers: Garret Castleberry, Will McMurry (Audio Engineer), Alli Garner (Cover Art), Austin Foster (Music)Recommended readings paired with Season Two "Batman: The Dark Knight Returns":Frank Miller (with Klaus Jansen). Batman: The Dark Knight Returns. DC Comics, 1986.Chris Gavaler. Superhero Comics. Bloomsbury Academic Press, 2017.Robert Jewett & John Shelton Lawrence. The Myth of the American Superhero. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2002.Ways to Connect with us online:Follow and engage with Special Topics in Media on Twitter at @podcast_topics."Like" to follow our Special Topics in Media Page on Facebook (search Special Topics in Media).Join the Special Topics in Media Facebook Group and share your reviews of the film or this episode.Follow Kyla Hammonds's wider media insights in the Facebook Group MovieTalk, with Kyle Hammonds.Subscribe to Dr. Castleberry's academic YouTube Channel.Garret's academic website is available at https://garretcastleberry.academia.edu/.  Support the show