Can Someone explain this to me?

This is a "what if" type story line. It's set after Jason Todd (one of the Robins) is killed by the Joker. This story takes a look at what would happen if Bruce was so overcome with guilt that he retired from being Batman. The others were forced to retire by the government. Green Arrow refused and loses his arm in a battle with Superman. It sort of explains it in the movie, but very briefly

Oh and that was Catwoman, not Wonder Woman. I'm not sure why the Joker dressed her up like that though. Probably just because he's crazy. Lol. Hope I answered your questions!

I would watch these movies before the two-part "The Dark Knight Returns":

Batman: Year One (w/t Catwoman short)
Batman: Gotham Knight
Superman/Batman: World's Finest
Justice League: The New Frontier
Batman: Under the Red Hood

Though Year One is the only true prequel and all of the other features are intended for different 'verses, they all give a pretty good perspective for the kinda future Bruce is at in The Dark Knight Returns. Gotham Knight for how gritty a life Wayne lives so soon after the start of his dual-identity, World's Finest for a solid "meeting Superman" story, New Frontier for getting his first Robin and Superman starting to be a government pawn, plus Under the Red Hood for showcasing Jason Todd's murder. Also, that wasn't Wonder Woman being a hooker, it was Selina/Catwoman dressed up as Diana by Joker.

Superman & The [Red-Blue] Blur = The Man of Steel

Miller asks "What if Bruce Wayne retired as Batman following the death of Jason Todd?" This was well before Jason was killed in the regular Batman titles, and probably helped the folks at DC to decide to follow through with the idea. The book is deliberately operatic and over-the-top, but I still recommend it.

Some of the background material is covered better in the book. That is Selina Kyle/Catwoman who the Joker overcomes and dresses in a Wonder Woman costume. Oliver Queen refused to cave in to the Feds and lost his arm to Superman.

"You seem familiar with my name, but I don't remember smelling you before."

In the movie it explains that the reason for the retirment of all of the heroes except superman is because of the government, I did not catch exactly why but Wonder women went back to the Amazons, Hal Jordan who is the GL for this particular canon went back to Oa with the rest of the corps. I did not really catch the rest but you get the picture.

Yeah and you can read Dark Knight Strikes again to see what happened to the rest of the justice league

Asparagus makes your pee smell bad. I wonder what happens if you give asparagus to a cat?

This is a 'What If' story written by Frank Miller.

You have to look really hard for the clues as to what happened (its a little better in Miller's graphic novel) but its there as well in this story.

The "normal" people eventually rejected the supers because of collateral damage and just being so darn awesome.

I don't remember the quotes exactly but the two that really say this are both spoken by Superman and go something like:

Superman: This is their world Bruce and they don't want us in it.

Superman: We must not remind them that giants walk the earth.

Superman and the "Government" (personified by Ronald Reagan) always get a bad rap in this because people always seem to see Reagan as some kind of ultimate Master Mind Villain and Superman as his enforcer/stooge. The reason for this is because the genera is '4-color comic book' and we are used to painting people in white and black hats. But Miller is more subtle than that.

The truth is a lot deeper and more cynical (and a lot less satisfying for most comic book readers). The people, the average Joes (aka...US), are the ones who rejected the supers and demanded their retirement or elimination. From that desire, a government rises up that supports their ideas and moves to eliminate the supers. Superman, a pinnacle of "Truth, Justice and the American Way" by his very nature will honor that desire and supports the people by making his activities less visible and "encouraging" the other supers to retire...This is "not reminding THEM that giants (the supers) walk the earth".

Its also implied (rather blatantly) that the Green Arrow refused and Superman cut his arm off to "persuade" him a little more strongly...thus his desire for revenge.

Batman, on the other hand, at the beginning of the story, can not accept operating in the shadows (a true irony of his characters is that, given that his style is stealth, his persona is all about a grand stage and a lecture to the public) and so he returns to his overt ways and, eventually, Superman is brought back into play. At first its to try and talk some sense into Bruce and then, when that fails, to "persuade him more strongly".

Bruce, of course, knows this and has been planning that fight for more than 20 years.

The brilliance of Miller's work here is that both characters are exactly the way they have always been depicted in the comics (neither are "bad guys"). Its just that, for the first time, the driving force of each character's personality is in direct conflict against each other. From one perspective or another, both are "good guys".

Gorden's speech about if FDR knew the Japanese were going to bomb Pearl Harbor is about the most important piece in the entire graphic novel because it is really Miller's message. Are terrible acts sometimes necessary for the greater good? And every major character in the story struggles with this very message throughout the piece.

Its really a masterpiece.





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There are 10 kinds of people in the world, those who get binary and those who don't.