Frank Miller's latest project, The Dark Knight III: The Master Race, has been no stranger to controversy. Since the announcement of the title, some fans have been iffy on what exactly DC would be releasing, with many worrying that Miller may have lost his touch.
We now have our first look at one of Frank Miller's covers for one of the micro-comics that will be accompanying each issue of The Dark Knight III, and it has Superman fans confused and even a little angry.
The cover features a comically disproportionate Superman with massive fists striking a pose in the night's sky. He has a painful grimace on his face, and if you look closely at his shorts, you can see what clearly appears to be the outline of his, well, super junk.
This is obviously not the Superman most fans love, but Miller has never been a fan of Superman. In the original The Dark Knight Returns, Superman served as nothing more than a government lackey, doing America's dirty work and attempting to put an end to Batman's plans. Superman served as the villain, Batman the hero.
Perhaps it isn't surprising then that Miller would choose to portray Superman in this crude, raw way. To Miller, the American good ol' boy that always does the right thing and is a symbol of peace and justice doesn't exist. It's an interesting, if difficult to look at, take on the character, though one that Supes fans will likely have a hard time swallowing.
The good news is that Miller himself won't be doing the art for the main series, only various covers. Andy Kubert and Klaus Janson are on art duties for the main series. Miller is co-writing The Dark Knight III, but helping him will be Brian Azzarello. Each issue of the comic will come with a mini-comic that will examine various characters from The Dark Knight Returns universe, among them Dark Knight Universe Presents: The Atom #1, as seen above. Miller will do the pencils for the entire issues of Dark Knight Universe Presents: The Atom #1, so expect to see plenty more of this bizarro world Superman. Just be warned that once you've seen it, it can't be unseen.
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