Question

The most relevant feature at work here is semiotic. In this passage, and for the whole duration of the novel, “Miller replaces conventional comic book panels with representations of television screens” (Wandtke 2007: 92). Readers are thus presented with news reports, televised messages, and talk shows. These screens serve as a Greek chorus commenting on the events narrated, while different interpretations of Batman’s actions are disputed: the main character is alternately described as “ruthless, monstrous vigilante, striking at the foundations of our democracy” (The Dark Knight Returns, 65) and “a symbolic resurgence of the common man’s will to resist…a rebirth of the American fighting spirit. These screens – after DRK crystallized as one the author’s distinctive stylistic features – represent and mediatise the moral impasse that leaves the novel unresolved. As Wandtke suggests, “Media outlets are depicted as unwittingly supporting the move away from concepts such as good and evil” Identify the ways in which Batman is framed within a postmodern scenario, challenging his inherent modernity and raising complex ethical and political questions