Sifting through the vastness that is the superhero world I became fascinated with Frank Miller’s graphic novel The Dark Knight Returns. A compilation of four comic books Miller released between February and June in 1986, this graphic novel has not only been at the center of much debate amongst fans but it also has produced one of the most talked about instances in any Batman comic: Batman’s possible killing of the Joker. It also is where the supposed past meets with the real future by referencing the end of the superhero. And the age old question with Bruce and Batman is addressed and answered: who is real and who is the façade? By looking at the duality in Miller’s work, the dichotomy between Bruce Wayne and Batman is shown to be the result of one body, one soul, being split by trauma. For this paper, I plan on deconstructing the Bruce/Batman pairing to reveal how Batman is Bruce’s doppelgänger, a product of his inner demons being brought forth.
If anyone has ever hear of Batman then they know about Bruce Wayne. And if they know about Bruce then they know the story of his childhood: losing his parents due to a robbery gone wrong in a dark alley. The traumatic experience of this results in the eventual creation of Batman. In “Acceptance and Action Questionnaire—II Scores as a Predictor of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms Among War Veterans”, Eric Meyer argues that the magnitude of trauma is directly related to the attitude and past experiences of a person. In Book 4, Alfred remembers reading young Bruce a bedtime story and how the trauma of the night his parents were killed left Bruce with a craving for justice (37). Couple this with the trauma of the bat, whether it is brought forth by a well or smashing through a window, it was inevitable that Bruce’s trauma would manifest into the Batman. Bruce deals with the past by dividing his self: the rich Wayne heir who conforms the ideology of Gotham society and the dark vigilante who fights against its corruption.
When looking at a graphic novel, there is a chance to delve deeper into the characters because of the visuals presented. The original printing of The Dark Knight Returns in 1986 reveals more about the duality of Bruce and Batman than a simple written novel ever could. Not only do the images create a connection between Harvey Dent’s and Bruce’s dual personalities in Book 1, thus reaffirming the connection between the selves, but the bat, as an animal, becomes the symbol for change in dominance between Bruce and Batman. There is also the coloring changes that happen as each book is printed. As this struggle for power between the two halves plays out, Lynn Varley, who worked closely with Miller, has the colors of the inner dialogue boxes change. Interestingly, only the superheroes in the novel have inner dialogue- everyone else, including the villains, speak out loud. By giving the character of Bruce an inner voice like the characters Batman and Superman, Miller again asserts the connected wholeness of Bruce and Batman.
Using the 1986 printed version of The Dark Knight Returns, theories on trauma and Freud’s doppelgänger, I will argue that Batman is not a separate person living in Bruce’s body but that Bruce Wayne and Batman are two pieces of a divided self.
If anyone has ever hear of Batman then they know about Bruce Wayne. And if they know about Bruce then they know the story of his childhood: losing his parents due to a robbery gone wrong in a dark alley. The traumatic experience of this results in the eventual creation of Batman. In “Acceptance and Action Questionnaire—II Scores as a Predictor of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms Among War Veterans”, Eric Meyer argues that the magnitude of trauma is directly related to the attitude and past experiences of a person. In Book 4, Alfred remembers reading young Bruce a bedtime story and how the trauma of the night his parents were killed left Bruce with a craving for justice (37). Couple this with the trauma of the bat, whether it is brought forth by a well or smashing through a window, it was inevitable that Bruce’s trauma would manifest into the Batman. Bruce deals with the past by dividing his self: the rich Wayne heir who conforms the ideology of Gotham society and the dark vigilante who fights against its corruption.
When looking at a graphic novel, there is a chance to delve deeper into the characters because of the visuals presented. The original printing of The Dark Knight Returns in 1986 reveals more about the duality of Bruce and Batman than a simple written novel ever could. Not only do the images create a connection between Harvey Dent’s and Bruce’s dual personalities in Book 1, thus reaffirming the connection between the selves, but the bat, as an animal, becomes the symbol for change in dominance between Bruce and Batman. There is also the coloring changes that happen as each book is printed. As this struggle for power between the two halves plays out, Lynn Varley, who worked closely with Miller, has the colors of the inner dialogue boxes change. Interestingly, only the superheroes in the novel have inner dialogue- everyone else, including the villains, speak out loud. By giving the character of Bruce an inner voice like the characters Batman and Superman, Miller again asserts the connected wholeness of Bruce and Batman.
Using the 1986 printed version of The Dark Knight Returns, theories on trauma and Freud’s doppelgänger, I will argue that Batman is not a separate person living in Bruce’s body but that Bruce Wayne and Batman are two pieces of a divided self.