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Alejandro Anguiano
Professor Vana DerOhanessian
English 114B
8 May 2014
Superheroes Not So Super
Superheroes have a great amount of influence in todays society, especially with all the
films that are constantly being released. The films usually follow the typical superhero genre
where the hero is introduced with a problem, fixes the problem, and throughout the conflict they
meet their damsel in distress. However, Frank Miller took a different approach on the graphic
novel that he wrote known as Batman: The Dark Knight Returns. In this graphic novel he
presents some characters less powerful than the audience would think. Batman and Gordon are in
positions of power, but the text and images represent them in a weaker state; on the other hand,
the most powerful characters are the newscasters because they can manipulate the citizens of
Gotham without even knowing that they are doing so.
Batman, being the protagonist, is one of the characters with a great amount of power or
so the audience would think that he is. Batman seems to not only struggle with crime in the city,
but also had to confront his own problems that he knew he was going to face if he became
Batman. For example, there is a panel where Bruce Wayne is debating on whether he should
return to fighting crime as Batman while standing under a streetlight (13, Fig. 1). The ways the
text and images are positioned represent his struggle. When he stands under the streetlight that
represents how he is putting himself under the spotlight and the words being on the outside of the
panel represent how he is feeling like an outsider of the city. Even though Batman is known to be
a hero because of all the people he saves in Gotham, he still has to deal with his own personal
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struggles which make him weak and vulnerable. It is ironic because Batman is seen as a
powerful character and is given whole pages in the book dedicated to him, but since the people
of Gotham see him as a criminal more than a hero it ends up lowering his position of power.
Page seventy eight is given entirely to Batman, but to the people of Gotham he is not seen as this
much of importance or this big of a hero as he is made to be (78, Fig. 2). This is important
because these panels are great examples of how much can be analyzed in the graphic novel from
one panel of a page and shows the academic value that is hidden in the text. Analyzing this type
of text can be more difficult due to the fact that one must not only analyze the words but the
illustrations as well. Looking at the text in a different perspective by seeing where certain images
and text are positioned represent the academic value that graphic novels contain.
Another important character that is in a position of power is Commissioner Gordon.
Being a detective usually means that he makes good decisions for the protection of the people.
However, Gordon makes a mistake by killing a seventeen year old gang member without
hesitation (58-59, Fig. 3 and 4). Due to this mistake he is replaced as commissioner and the spot
is then given to Yindel. This shows how even those in positions of power can make the wrong
decisions because Gordon was given the power to protect the city and forgot to stabilize the
situation instead of jumping to the action and killing the gang member. Gordon is also
represented less powerful because he is replaced by a woman. Seeing this in the book must be a
way of making Gordon look weaker and embarrassed because women tend to be looked down
upon due to the stereotype of them being weaker than men. Miller knew the purpose of replacing
him with a woman because of the time that he was living in, which was not too long ago.
Batman and Gordon are the obvious powerful characters, but the most powerful character
in the graphic novel would have to be the newscasters. The news media are the center of
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attention whenever something happens in Gotham, especially when Batman is involved.
Anything the newscasters say has an effect on the people of Gotham, whether they agree or
disagree with what the newscasters are broadcasting. For example, Lola the newscaster
broadcasts that Batman has died of a heart attack (197, see Fig. 5). We as the reader know that
Batman is not dead, but the people of Gotham still think that he is dead because they follow and
trust what the news media have to say. Frank Miller realized the great amount of influence that
the television has on people, and used that in his graphic novel to illustrate the newscasters in an
important position of power. According to the article "The Influence of Message and Audience
Characteristics on TV News Grazing Behavior." from the EBSCOhost database, it states that In
2010 Americans spent more time (70 minutes daily) consuming news than ever before. This
quote signifies that Miller imagined the society that people would be living in the future and
created that society in his graphic novel. Another quality that makes them powerful is that even
though the newscasters are out in the open, the panels they are put into are usually small
compared to the larger panels that are given to Batman or other characters. The sizes of the
panels are sort of misleading to the readers when it comes to the newscasters, but I think it was
done on purpose because the newscasters are able to quickly give the news through the panels
just as they would on television. This is another example of the difficulty of reading a graphic
novel because most readers would not notice the size of the panels, but when the reader takes the
time to analyze each image, they can figure out why Miller chose to put them in these small
panels.
Some people would say that newscasters are not powerful characters or state that they are
not considered characters at all because they are a group of people. However, I would disagree
because not only are they constantly shown throughout the graphic novel, but the newscasters are
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also given names such as Lola and Dave. I dont think Frank Miller would give the characters
names for no reason. He wanted them to be noticed and be just as important in Batmans life as
other characters in the story are. The newscasters position of power has an effect on Batmans
and Gordons position of power because it makes the people of Gotham look down on them for
their actions. The news media in our society gets a great amount of attention when people in
positions of power are gaining publicity such as political figures. In the article "The Politics of
Emotion: News Media Attention, Emotional Responses, and Participation During the 2004 U.S.
Presidential Election." from the EBSCOhost database, it says that During political campaigns,
media portrayals of political conflict are one of the main reasons for increased emotional arousal
among the electorate. This quote shows how media impacts political figures and can affect how
they are portrayed in situations such as political campaigns. Even though the newscasters are a
group of people working in news media they still count as characters because the Mutants are a
group of people and count as characters also.
Overall I think all these characters are in great positions of power, even though some are
greater than others. Frank Miller did a great job of illustrating that power through the different
techniques used in the text such as positioning the text in certain areas or making the panels
different sizes to make a statement. Another thing he does great throughout the graphic novel is
that he puts characters in positions of power, but is still able to include some irony to them. For
example, Batman being given a whole page to himself, but still hated by Gotham. Gordon was
given the title of a protector by being a detective, but ends up making a mistake by killing a
seventeen year old. The newscasters given small panels, but in reality are more powerful and
have a great impact on Gordon and Batman. Frank Miller keeps shifting the positions of power
throughout the graphic novel, and done in a scholarly manner.
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Works Cited
Bailey, Rachel L., Julia R. Fox, and Maria E. Grabe. "The Influence of Message and Audience
Characteristics on TV News Grazing Behavior." Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic
Media 57.3 (2013): 318-37. EBSCOhost. Web. 26 Apr. 2014.
Miller, Frank, Klaus Janson, and Lynn Varley. Batman: The Dark Knight Returns. New York:
DC Comics, 2002. Print.
Namkoong, Kang, Timothy K.F. Fung, and Dietram A. Scheufele. "The Politics of Emotion:
News Media Attention, Emotional Responses, and Participation During the 2004 U.S.
Presidential Election." Mass Communication & Society 15.1 (2012): 25-45. EBSCOhost.
Web. 26 Apr. 2014.






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Bruce Wayne is standing under the streetlight. (See Fig. 1)
A whole page dedicated all to Batman. (See Fig. 2)
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This is the page where Gordon kills the seventeen year old gang member. (See Fig. 3 and 4)
Lola is announcing the death of Batman. (See Fig. 5)