The Dark Knight: The Master Race #4 Review and *SPOILERS*

Bruce Wayne vs. The World

Written by: Frank Miller, Brian Azzarello

Art by: Klaus Janson, Andy Kubert

Cover Price: $5.99

Release Date: April 27, 2016

*Non-Spoilers and Score At The Bottom*

This series has so much promise to it. The Dark Knight Returns was a great story, but Strikes Again has dragged it through the mud. The first two issues were great, but the third disappointed especially when the issue was delayed for 2 months… Now we reach issue 4, the halfway point of this conclusion, and the world isn’t looking too good. After Quar, leader of the Kryptonians from Kandor, begins attacking capitals across the globe and demand control. Bruce and Carrie travel to the Fortress of Solitude and wake up Superman from his best imitation of World of Warcraft’s Lich King. Superman agrees to step in, but instead of fighting Quar, he now has a new enemy… HIS DAUGHTER?! So what happens when the Last Son of Krypton goes up against the Last Cult of Krypton? Let’s find out!

We open where we left the Man of Steel last issue; Staring down his turncoat daughter, Lara. She has decided to stand with the Kryptonians(for reasons that aren’t explained) and has asked her father to join Quar and his cult. However, Superman refuses because he’s Superman and he would never put himself above humanity… Lara and Quar don’t like that response and begin to beat him badly. Now I bet you are expecting some epic battle between the Kryptonian Cult and Earth’s Protector… NOPE! In fact, not only does Superman not fight back, but the beat down isn’t even shown. The closest we see is of him looking pained on giant television screens… What a rip-off! The worse part to this is how dumb our heroes act in the situation. Clark, I get it’s your daughter, but fight back! She clearly can handle it, and is being corrupted by the cult! Then there’s Bruce who refuses to help and says that the only person who can refuse… There's only a handful of people who can help. One’s missing his hand, one is caring for his son, and the others died in Strikes Again… AND YOU HAVE KRYPTONITE GAUNTLETS! WHY CAN’T YOU HELP?!

Clark is beaten all the way up to the top of the world, and stands bloody and beaten at the doors to the Fortress of Solitude. Since he refuses to join, Quar and the rest of the Kryptonians pronounce him guilty. Quar pulls out, I #$%^ you not, plastic dark matter from his sleeves and seals Superman in it… WHAT?! I’m sorry, but no! I believe Kryptonian science is advanced, but not advanced enough to capsulize a hypothetical matter that is the black between stars! That's ridiculous even for comic science standards! With Superman unable to fly away or absorb sunlight, the Kryptonians melt the Fortress and the ground beneath it and have Superman sink into the icecap before they freeze it over… Now there’s no Superman… And the Kryptonians are now heading for Gotham…  Crap…

Quar contacts the city and tells them that they have 36 hours to present the infidel that is Batman for execution… First off, that’s a pretty lenient timetable for a man who blew up Moscow. Secondly, how does he know Batman’s City is Gotham? At this time, he’s only been there for like 3 days, and it consisted of destroying $#!#... He had no time to read all the files of the Justice League. SPEAKING OF JUSTICE LEAGUE, one of the few things I liked about the Dark Knight Strikes Again has appeared: The Flash has come to enter the fray, saying that his kind was always ready to stand up against oppression. He runs right into Gotham City… and gets his legs broken by a Kryptonian… WAIT A MINUTE! In Strikes Again, he was proven to be faster than Superman, but to this run of the mill nameless Kryptonian can go at high speed to break Flash’s legs!? BULL CRAP!

We end our main story with Bruce and Carrie going out on missions(we’ll get to Carrie’s in a bit) as Gotham is falling apart trying to find Batman. Yindel laments about how the city is coming apart, and Bruce arrives as Batman telling Yindel that they’re going to fight this, and she should quit drinking. Oh, and it’s revealed the Atom is alive, just going through what happened at the end of the Ant-Man movie when he shrank out of control… Yeah, I don’t get it either.

The mini-comic, this time, revolves around Carrie Kelly in her newest persona, Batgirl with her mission...and it probably is the WORST of the minis we got so far. Don’t get me wrong, it makes perfect sense to make her the Batgirl of this earth, she has earned it... But her outfit is absolutely terrible. It might look like Batman’s but the color scheme… What The Flying Dutchman is up with this color scheme!? Light green and pinkish purple?! THOSE ARE JOKER COLORS! Not only that but the penciling for her is just atrocious, like the rest of the characters in the mini. The worst of the character designs is the man she was trying to get: Aquaman, who from a distance looks like the Tasmanian Devil Tornado has replaced his face. It seems like these mini-comics are just half-!@#ed and tagged on to try and justify the price.

Bits and Pieces:

Oh, how the mighty have fallen! The main issue is full of ridiculousness and subpar art as compared to the rest of the series. The heroes are acting dumb or are underpowered, the villain has gone full stereotype by allowing Gotham a LARGE time period to do his bidding, and while there are some moments that shined, it’s just not good. The mini comic was what really brings down the score with it being ridiculous with more bad art than the main comic. I can’t recommend this… I really can’t…

4/10