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''The Dark Knight Returns'' (alternatively titled ''Batman: The Dark Knight Returns'') is a 1986 four-issue comic book miniseries starring Batman, written by Frank Miller, illustrated by Miller and Klaus Janson, and published by DC Comics. When the series was collected into a single volume later that year, the story title for the first issue was applied to the entire series. ''The Dark Knight Returns'' tells an alternative story of Bruce Wayne, who at 55 years old returns from retirement to fight crime and faces opposition from the Gotham City police force and the United States government. The story introduces Carrie Kelley as the new Robin and culminates with a confrontation against Superman. A three-issue sequel written and illustrated by Miller, ''The Dark Knight Strikes Again'', was published in 2001. An eight-issue third installment, ''The Dark Knight III: The Master Race'', co-written by Miller and Brian Azzarello, was announced in April 2015 and is scheduled for a twice-monthly fall 2015 release.〔()〕 The story became an influence for the films ''The Dark Knight Rises'' (2012) and ''Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice'' (2016), and was adapted into a two-part animated film. In the pre-Flashpoint DC Multiverse, the events of ''The Dark Knight Returns'' and its associated titles were designated to occur on Earth-31. ==Plot== ''The Dark Knight Returns'' is set in a dystopian near-future version of Gotham City. Bruce Wayne, at 55, has retired from crime-fighting for ten years. Levels of crime are rising. Wayne has a breakthrough and finds retirement is against his instincts and becomes Batman again. He first confronts Harvey Dent, who was thought to be cured after plastic surgery (which Wayne financed). Dent holds the city for ransom with a bomb. When Batman defeats Dent, he realizes that, despite his repaired appearance, Dent's mind is now entirely "Two-Face". Batman saves 13-year-old Carrie Kelley from an attack by a gang called the Mutants. Kelley buys herself an imitation Robin costume and searches for Batman, seeking to help him. She finds Batman at the city dump, where he fights an army of Mutants. Though Batman defeats the Mutant army with his weaponry, the Mutant leader beats him in combat. Kelley creates a diversion and helps Batman escape. With the help of retiring Commissioner James Gordon and the new Robin, Batman defeats the Mutant leader on his own terms. The Mutants disband and some rename themselves the Sons of Batman, using excessive violence against criminals. At the White House, Superman and the president discuss the events in Gotham, with the latter suggesting that the Man of Steel may soon have to rein in the Dark Knight. Superman is then deployed by Washington to the Latin American country of Corto Maltese where he fights Soviet combat forces in a conflict that may ignite WWIII. Batman's return stimulates The Joker to awaken from catatonia at Arkham Asylum. With renewed purpose, The Joker manipulates his caretakers to allow him onto a television talk show, where he murders everyone with gas and escapes. Batman and Robin track him to a county fair, where he is already killing people. Batman defeats The Joker in a violent confrontation, nearly killing him. To incriminate Batman for murder, The Joker snaps his own neck and dies. After another confrontation with the Gotham police, Batman escapes, and a citywide manhunt begins. Superman diverts a Soviet nuclear warhead which detonates in a desert. The United States is hit by an electromagnetic pulse, and descends into chaos during the resulting blackout. In Gotham, Batman realizes what has happened, and he and Robin turn the remaining Mutants and Sons of the Batman into a non-lethal fighting force. He leads them against looters and ensures the flow of essential supplies. In the midst of nuclear winter, Gotham becomes the safest city in the country. The U.S. government sees this as an embarrassment, and orders Superman to remove Batman. Oliver Queen (the former Green Arrow) predicts to Wayne that the government lackey Superman and the maverick Batman will have a final confrontation. Superman demands to meet Batman. Knowing he may die, Wayne chooses Crime Alley, where he first became Batman. He relies on Superman's weakness caused by near-death in the nuclear blast. Superman tries to reason with Batman, but Batman uses his technological inventions and mastery of hand-to-hand combat to fight him. During the battle, Superman compromises Batman's exoframe, while Queen shoots a kryptonite-tipped arrow to greatly weaken Superman. Batman reveals that he intentionally spared Superman's life by not using a more powerful kyrptonite mix; the fight and near-death experience was meant as a warning to Superman to stay out of Batman's way. Before he can finish his monologue, Batman suddenly has a heart attack, apparently dying. Alfred Pennyworth destroys the Batcave and Wayne Manor, dying of a stroke, exposing Batman as Bruce Wayne, whose fortune has disappeared. After Wayne's funeral, it is revealed that his death was staged using his own chemical concoction that can suspend his vital life signs. Clark Kent attends the funeral and winks at Robin after hearing Wayne's heartbeat resume. Some time afterward, Bruce Wayne leads Robin, Queen, and the rest of his followers into the caverns beyond the Batcave and prepares to continue his war on crime. With them by his side, Bruce Wayne plans to assemble an army and allies to bring order back to the world. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「The Dark Knight Returns」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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