Finally got my hands on Dark Knight Strikes Back #2 (I know, many weeks late, but I got a good deal on it).

#2 is too much of a jolt in my opinion. Issue #1 was perfectly paced and seemed very exciting. #2 seemed to have too many plotlines going in it. Maybe I now understand why it was delayed by 2 weeks...it's because this issue makes absolutely no sense at all.

I think Miller put way too many peas in his pod in this issue and went off on far too many tangents for my liking. He had a good thing going at the beginning but now it looks like a train wreck. Where the hell is this story going? Maybe they should have greenlighted 4 issues instead of 3 which would leave more space to expound on things.

I sure hope Issue #3 is as great as the first issue was. I was just highly disappointed by #2. Miller is an excellent writer but when you put too many characters/plotlines into a work you can sometimes lose control of it. I understand the concert thing and Batman's wish to uncowl there, but did we really need all the background on who was doing the concert and what kind of effect they have on the sociological foundation of the country?

And is this a Batman series or a Superman series? Funny, I think Superman got more time in this book than Bats did. It's great that Superman is such an integral part and the idea that Bats and Superman are two sides of a coin, with the same idea but different ways of going about it, is a great idea (this has always been out there), but Superman should not take center stage.

And Superman/Wonder Woman's love child...where the heck did that come from, left field (or Elseworlds)? Brainiac/Lex is and has always been a brilliant combination. Anyone remember "What Ever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow" 2-part series where Brainiac took over Lex's body and they killed Superman only to end up killing themselves as well? However in this series they seem second rate...just don't get it.

And the Joker side story...that was just dumb as well. What use was it to be there other than to kill a few villians and eliminate some characters that seem to have no use being there even though they are given a good amount of space in the issue?

The pluses in this issue was the writings and thoughts between Ollie and Bruce. They have always been great friends and it was hilarious to read Ollie's egocentric self writing, "I shot my arrow...impeccably as ever" and then at the end Bruce saying the exact same kind of thing as Ollie gets everyone's attention for him.

Anyway, I think I've vented enough. Miller needs to pull in the reigns before this becomes a tragedy IMHO.

The art also sucked in this issue compared to #1 IMO, and they both pale compared to the original series.

Tuan Jim

I can overlook the poor art if there's a good story behind it. I do agree that it is pale in comparison to the original.

i really hope that this turns out to be a good series. i have put off buying this in the store in favor of getting the eventual HC that will come out. just as cheap probably and much cooler then the individual issues in my opinion.

Sorry for spoiling parts for you kevin. I wonder if this is going to have an HC release or not. DC has already gone to the level of releasing this in Prestige format (80 pages) for a good bit of money. I could be wrong though .

Wasn't the original 4 parter in Prestige format? At any rate, as Frank Miller Batman saga it'll most likely be released as an HC (definitely a high quality TPB at least).

Tuan Jim

I guarantee you won't find a better critical analysis of DK2 than this:
http://www.slushfactory.com/reviews/...1802-dk2-1.php

It's even better than the one I wrote. Which is why I ran that instead.

I'm with the camp that can't get through the art. I like my drawings clean, not looking like they came out of a washing machine. And that's no slight to Frank, he was kind to me the one time I met him. Even if he did never get back to me about an interview.

-Brian

That was a really good review of issue #1. I don't have any problems with the art, and the storyline is decent too. But it really pales next to DKR. And Batman is more of a supporting character than the main one. Still, can't wait to read #3.

I think anyone expecting this to be as good as the original was bound to be disappointed. Miller's style has changed (plus there is no Klaus J. inking his pencils). In addition this is just a different story than DKR. I've enjoyed parts of it more than others, but understand that for me at least, DKR is the ultimate Batman story.

There was an interesting interview with Pual Levitz on Newsarama, where he discusses a conversation that Miller and he had over lunch, where basically Miller said the original series received the same response: a vocal minority loved it, and a big part of the readers hated it.

I certainly wasn't expecting this series to be as good as the first, but I also wasn't expecting issue #2 to suck so bad. Too many characters/plots for a 3-part series. Had he held steadfast after the first issue things may have been better IMO. I sure hope #3 is excellent.

I somewhat liked #1, it had a good set-up and I didn't mind adding heroes such as the Atom and Flash in the mix, but #2 was just awful -- the art was the worst I've ever seen from Miller (and I love his Sin City work in recent years), the plot is all over the freakin' place and Batman's a supporting character in his own sequel. I've already preordered #3 and I might as well see how it ends but this is turning out to be a big, big disappointment for me after a fairly decent start.