In Miller's Batman, one sees a man waging war on a world that has sold its soul for empty slogans and nationalism: the Dark Knight represents a kind of spirit reminiscent of what the old world used to call the Church Militant -- he is virtue violently opposed to all forms of vice -- even those that bear the letter S. On their chests and come in fine wrapping.

Miller's graphic novel paved the way for Burton's dark film noir adaptation (the ill-fated Lt. Eckhardt is an homage to Orson Welles' fat, corrupt police chief in the noir film Touch of Evil), and the 90s found Batman back on the television screen -- this time in an animated series that had Mark Hamil (of Star Wars fame) voicing what many fans have claimed to be the best Joker of all. Batman: The Animated Series returned the Batman myth to the...
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