Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Book 3

Send us Fan Mail

In this RETRO look back at Season 2 of Special Topics in Media, hosts Garret Castleberry and Scott McMurry explore the narrative discourse emanating out of the pages of Frank Miller's seminal superhero spectacle, Batman: The Dark Knight Returns. The dialogic duo discuss "Book 3" in which an aged Bruce Wayne comes to terms with the limits of his mythic presence across the dystopian Gotham City landscape. With its stylistic prose and uber-punk aesthetics, Dark Knight Returns, Book 3 will pay off certain readerly anticipations while also usurping traditional expectations within the traditional genre of superhero comics.

Hosts: Garret Castleberry, Scott McMurry

Producers: Garret Castleberry, Will McMurry (Audio Engineer), Alli Garner (Cover Art), Austin Foster (Music)

Recommended readings paired with Season Two "Batman: The Dark Knight Returns":
Frank Miller (with Klaus Jansen). Batman: The Dark Knight Returns. DC Comics, 1986.

Chris Gavaler. Superhero Comics. Bloomsbury Academic Press, 2017.

Robert Jewett & John Shelton Lawrence. The Myth of the American Superhero. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2002.

Ways to Connect with us online:
Follow and engage with Special Topics in Media on Twitter at @podcast_topics.

"Like" to follow our Special Topics in Media Page on Facebook (search Special Topics in Media).

Join the Special Topics in Media Facebook Group and share your reviews of the film or this episode.

Follow Kyla Hammonds's wider media insights in the Facebook Group MovieTalk, with Kyle Hammonds.

Subscribe to Dr. Castleberry's academic YouTube Channel.

Garret's academic website is available at https://garretcastleberry.academia.edu/.  

Support the show