The Dark Knight Returns Essay Example

first frame used in this graphic novel is the masks. are the monorail and the masks. In the novel, both Bruce and Dr. Jonathan Crane have masks. The mask of Crane is an old sack put over the head to terrify the drugged patients. Despite the masks on their heads, there is the reveal of their real identities that is their usual faces are disguise. The implication of the masks is the individual identity and therefore this frame is not a technique of deepening the plot.

The other notable frame in the novel is the use of rounded squares within the novel. It is the second frame used in the novel. The frames appear only in someone’s speech in the story. In case these frames did not appear in the speeches of the people, the implication would be that this is just a continuing story. The images begin as just sketches filled by colored pencils. They were made out to be more of impressionism. There is an obvious manner that the author will do a similar technique just like having a different signature from every individual. If there was no use of the colors for this novel, it would not be set out as it appears at the moment. There is the use of the process of the full color as they made the images appear nice. The colors appearing on the book are in between bold and mute but depending on the part of the story.

There is also a notable frame in the use of words like above and below. It is the third image that appears on the images in the novel. There is

the frequent use of the terms like below and above on the novel. Their implication is that whatever that appears as above is false i.e. the appearance of Gotham under control as well as the appearance of all well being at the enterprises of Wayne. On the contrary, the real truth is below i.e. the real Bruce Wayne is whoever he is as Batman on the cave under his house. The soul and heart of enterprises of Wayne lies on the basement below where Lucius Fox works. When Rachel needs to show Bruce the plain truth concerning Gotham, she drives down the ramp and she is suddenly in the seedy part of the town and mysteriously, it is on the dark of the night. The portraying of this frame by the camera is that it is a frame of concept. It is usually a technique of deepening the plot since it usually runs throughout the story and offers depth to the plot itself. The frame offers the concept of what is superficial as being above and what is real as being below and thereby runs throughout the plot.

The other outstanding frame that Miller uses in the novel is the heroes. It comes as the fourth frame in the images that are on the story. The use of the hero in the novel is to allow individuals to perceive the world that surrounds them. By doing so, the novel ends up in offering a criticism to the society of the twenty century. The reason is that Batman is only a point of just little public opinion that points away from the consideration of having no difference

from the likes of joker and the Two-Face. The manner that the camera frames this image is that the world surrounding the individuals will only make sense when the people in that surrounding force it to make that sense. If they do not force it to make some sense, it will automatically not make any sense.

Miller also uses the frame of internal dialogues in the story and it comes as the fifth frame. There was the great use of internal dialogues in the story in that there was the great placing of most of the internal dialogues above the actual frames. The portrayal of the internal dialogues is that they gave the effect that despite the freezing of the frame at times in the scene, there was an appearance of the thoughts corresponding with every appearing image to transcend the time itself. The overall effect is that it created the sense that while the action of the story appeared to be occurring at the present moment; the story itself seemed to have jumped around among the present and the past tense.

There is also the image of panel transitions. It comes as the sixth image that appears on the novel. Despite most of the novels using action to action mode of transition, there are at times when action of this novel intertwined with the memories and broadcasting of the concurrent news. In this manner, there is the occurrence of the subject to subject or even the very rare aspect to aspect transitions. An example is on pages twenty three up to twenty five whereby Bruce Wayne recalls the killing of his parents. In this manner, there

are the close-up frames of details of that event intertwining with the lines of action as he takes some shower. On a specific note, the reader views a hand on the necklace, a bullet, some angry eyes and more of the necklace as its pearls appears to break off of it in a manner of slow motion.

Moreover, there is the use of the frame of bleeding. This is the seventh image appearing in the story. Bleeding refers to a technique whereby instead of remaining within the text, there is a tendency of the story running to the end of the page. There is a claim that the use of this technique is drawing attention to the mood as well as letting the lingering of the scenery. An example to illustrate this is on page fourteen, at an instance where a newscaster describes a brutal wave of heat on Gotham. There is an aspect of the picture seeming to stretch into eternity thereby making the reader feel as if they are part of it. The writer of the novel uses this aspect of bleeding in another manner whereby he makes the running off of the sound words or at times carried in the other frame. An example is the cracking of the thunder that may be spelt out over numerous other aspects in the story to bring a connection of the action into a similar time span, or the manner that the siren of the police will continue during the whole drive of the police. All of the above framing techniques aim at setting out the stage of the story or pulling the reader into the

feeling of the plot of that story in the novel.

The eighth image appearing on the story is the mansion. The mansion represents the legacy of Wayne. However, after the making of closer inspection, there is the reveal that the importance of the mansion is the changing relationship of Bruce to it that is, unlike the stethoscope, an item that he does not have a varying relationship with it. Bruce grows up with the mansion but later rejects it and tells Alfred that it is a mausoleum. At the time that Bruce rejects the mansion, before he joins the world of criminality, the inner spaces and furniture of this mansion have a sheets covering, just in the manner that one may cover up a dead body. However, at the end, he develops the need of rebuilding the mansion and even making it stronger than before.

Therefore, through the reconstruction of the mansion by Bruce but still making some changes on it means that he embraces the legacy of his father, of being a healer, but has the likelihood of altering this legacy in some way just to fit the individual personality. The rejection of the mansion by Bruce indicates that he rejects what his father stood for and his need of wanting to rebuild the mansion means that he is embracing the legacy.

The other image appearing on the novel is the monorail. The monorail interestingly represents the city of Gotham. When the city is vibrant at the moment Bruce is young, the tram is in a better shape. It is not only uplifting but also beautiful, figurative and literal. When there is the deterioration by Gotham into

the city of corruption and crime, this newly decrepit aerial of the tram reflects the decay of Gotham into the city of crime and corruption.

Batman also uses the images of bats in his novels and this is the tenth frame on the novel. Bats are some forms of symbols. A symbol in the novel is not something that is intellectually figured out or decoded. When it operates correctly in movie or film, it carries an emotional impact within it. For example, Batman uses the symbol of bats in his novel. They are probably the most obvious symbols within the film. They symbolize the association of Bruce Wayne’s, Christian Bale’s, to fear. When there is the use of the symbol or relating a character of an individual to a symbol, the symbol parallels the character growth usually referred to as symbolic subplot. It is among the numerous forms of the symbols. The association of Bruce to bats entails a Symbolic Subplot since the individuals will know the manner that Bruce is doing in relative to overcoming his fears through watching the changing relationships to the bats. At some critical moment, Bruce stands on the cave that is beneath his house and at the same time bats swirls all around him and he no longer appears fearful. At the end of the novel, he himself flies like the bats thereby evoking fears on the others. The above type of symbol falls under the category of character deepening techniques since it provides a feeling of emotional depth through echoing the growth in a second layer. The camera reviews this frame as a symbol that evokes emotions.

The characters in

the novel have a certain appearance and they have a role to play. For example Bruce Wayne appears as an old man emanating from retirement to become a Batman again. He does the work of stopping Two-Face from trying to blow up the Gotham City. There is also Harvey Dent that looks like a Two-Face despite the fact that there was the repair of his scars long ago and plays the role of threatening to blow up the twin towers of the Gotham city. The other character is Commissioner Gordon who looks very old and forced to retire due to old age and his replacement by Ellen Yindel, who critics Batman fiercely. The other character is the Joker who looks an old catatonic Arkham Asylum prisoner. He acts like a criminal and he becomes a criminal again after seeing the return of Batman and sets the motion of confronting with the hero. There are also the characters like mutant leader and the sons of Batman. The mutant leader appears strong, savage brute that puts a hit on Gordon. After conquering Batman in first encounter and killing the major, he escapes from the jail. Several mutants join Batman and calls themselves the Sons of Batman. They are teens, corrupt and unruly. They take severe measures of controlling the streets and even Batman. There is also the superman, a military super-agent. He stays out of sight and performs as instructed and at the exchange, he continues saving lives. Frank Miller as the author takes the angel of seeking to create an end that is fitting for the character Batman.

The other aspect of the paper is the elaboration

on the function of graphic style and the way that images rework. Graphic styles refer to the set of reusable attributes of appearance. Their function in the film or the novel is that they allow the individual to change the look or appearance of an object quickly. An example is that one may change the fill and stroke color of an object, altering the transparency and application of effects on one step. They also allow for the reversibility of all the changes made in an object during the presentation. They also allow more understanding of an object by the readers of the story, illustrating to them as well as offering extra information to the story readers. They may also act as a form of offering entertainment to those that read a particular story. Concerning the reworking of images in a setting of the story, they do not really take the story to anywhere new. For example in the novel, they do not rework to take it to any new aspect but they work by adding extra information on top of the present information. The main aim of reworking images is to offer extra information and not bringing new settings of the theme of the story. The images in the novel rework by making slight changes to the flow of the story and making attempts of bringing the novel to be more of up to date. They also rework by correction of the failed, defective or non-conforming parts of the story.