Batman (Dark Knight Universe)

The Dark Knight Universe Batman is comic book writer/artist Frank Miller's version of DC Comics character Batman. He first appeared in February 1986's Batman: The Dark Knight Returns #1. In addition, he has also appeared in Batman: Year One, All Star Batman and Robin the Boy Wonder, Batman: The Dark Knight Strikes Again, and the upcoming Holy Terror, Batman!.

Concept

According to Frank Miller in his introduction to The Dark Knight Returns #1, he got the idea of the character while going through a midlife crisis of being on the verge of turning thirty.. Basically, 1 he "could stand that my little brother was older than Spider-Man, but that I myself was getting older than Batman, that was something that needed to be stopped."

Origin

Much like the mainstream New Earth/Post-Crisis Batman, Miller's Batman began his journey after his parents were murdered by a two-bit thief named Joe Chill. After returning to Gotham in his early twenties, Bruce took up the mantle of the Batman. In his first few months, he exposed police corruption in the Gotham City Police Department, unsettled the empire of crime lord Carmine Falcone, and gained an ally in Sergeant James Gordon. At some unspecified point, shortly after the events of Year One, he defended Gotham from an Al-Qaeda attack.

In the second year of his career, Batman took on a protege in young acrobat [...] Grayson, who was orphaned after his parents were killed by a hitman on orders of The Joker. Although rough at first, Batman accepted Grayson into his inner circle, and he debuted as Robin. After six to seven years on the job, [...] was fired for disobedience and negligence, and he was later replaced with the younger Jason Todd. Like [...], Todd was reckless and full of rage, but according to Batman, "Jason was a good soldier."

Retirement

After Jason was killed in some unknown circumstances, Bruce decided enough was enough and retired in his late thirties. Fifteen years prior to the events of DKR, he had been involved in "the riots," during which he modified the Batmobile to its tank-like structure, and that was around the time Jason died. Exactly what happened is unknown, but it is mentioned that the Joker had a hand in his death. Batman's meetings with Commissioner Gordon grew less frequent, his exploits diminished, and for ten years, the Batman had simply disappeared.

For the rest of his thirties and forties, Bruce took to drinking heavily and engaging in [...] sports like racing. Despite maintaining his image as a foppish playboy, he invested a considerable amount to the rehabilitation of his former foe and friend Harvey Dent. Following an "anniversary" of Batman's last crusade with Jim Gordon, a 50-year old Bruce was almost mugged by a group of street hoods, but he defended himself, realizing that he could not ignore the new rise of crime. A new teenage gang called "The Mutants" had begun to terrorize the police and citizens of Gotham. By this point, he began suffering a series of night terrors and somnabulism that resulted in him waking up in the Batcave. After watching The Mark of Zorro and reliving the [...] of his parents, he donned the cape and cowl once again.

Continuity

Although All Star Batman is printed under the All Star DC Comics imprint, it takes place in its own continuity outside of Grant Morrison's All Star Superman canon. According to Miller, All Star Batman is the same version of his character set in the Dark Knight Universe continuity of Dark Knight Returns, Year One, The Dark Knight Strikes Again, the upcoming Holy Terror, Batman!, and his collaboration with Todd MacFarlane on the Batman/Spawn crossover. Out of all of these, Year One is the only one still in current DC continuity.

At the end of 52, it was revealed that the Multiverse of 52 different Earths still exists. The DKU is designated Earth-31.