Rant: I tried reading the 'Dark Knight Returns' after all the hype

Everyone said it was the definitive Batman story, but honestly, I found Frank Miller's writing style super jarring and the art felt dated, which really surprised me. Has anyone else felt let down by a classic book everyone else loves?

3 comments

3 Comments

juliaa253mo ago

My book club picked Watchmen last year and half of us had the same issue. It feels like a lot of these "classic" stories get praised so much that the actual reading experience can't live up to it. You just end up noticing all the dated parts instead of getting swept away.

mark_hernandez123mo ago

Yeah, my book club's high expectations ruined Moby Dick for me too.

karent751mo ago

Oh man, I gotta respectfully disagree here! I just finished Dark Knight Returns last month and I thought it was brilliant. Sure, the art style is definitely a product of its time, but I feel like that rough, gritty look actually adds to the story's mood. Miller's writing can be choppy, but once I got used to it, I realized how much he packs into each panel. I get that high expectations can ruin things, but for me, this book totally lived up to the hype. Maybe it's one of those stories that just clicks for some people and not others.