Batman: The Dark Knight #1

Trivia · 8 facts

• Written and pencilled by Frank Miller, inked by Klaus Janson, colored by Lynn Varley, and edited by Dick Giordano and Denny O'Neil; the cover date is June 1986, with an on-sale date of February 25, 1986.
• Issue #1 was originally titled 'The Dark Knight Returns' on its own cover; that title was later applied to the collected miniseries when all four issues were gathered into a single volume, with each issue having carried its own unique chapter title.
• First appearance of Carrie Kelley (Earth-31), a 13-year-old girl who becomes this universe's Robin — the first full-time female Robin in the Batman franchise's publication history, predating Stephanie Brown's mainline debut by roughly two decades.
• First appearance of the Earth-31 versions of Alfred Pennyworth, Commissioner James Gordon, Harvey Dent/Two-Face, and Lana Lang, as well as the Mutant gang and their leader, all of whom are distinct from their mainstream DC counterparts.
• Lana Lang appears in this issue as managing editor of the Daily Planet and Batman's most outspoken public defender, participating in televised debates — a reinvention of the Superman supporting character into a media-political voice.
• The concept for Carrie Kelley as a female Robin originated in a conversation between Frank Miller and artist John Byrne during a flight to a comics convention; Byrne sketched the idea on the spot and Miller incorporated it into the story.
• Published in DC's prestige format — square-bound with glossy pages and card-stock covers — which was an evolution of the format DC had tested with Miller's earlier Ronin series and helped normalize the format for the industry.
• The series has been collected and reprinted continuously since 1986, including a 10th-anniversary hardcover in 1996, an Absolute Edition in August 2006, a 30th Anniversary Edition in 2016, and a two-part animated film adaptation released in 2012–2013.

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