At the Diamond Retailer Summit in Fort Wayne, DC Comics announced that the first issue of Frank Miller's Dark Knight Strikes Again will go on sale on the fifth of December.  Miller's Dark Knight Returns was one of the most influential comic books of the past 20 years, and both fans and retailers are eagerly awaiting the sequel.  The Dark Knight Strikes Again will be a three-issue series, with each issue appearing approximately six weeks apart, which should provide ample time for sell through.

 

Taking place some four years after the action in The Dark Knight Returns, The Dark Knight Strikes Again will reportedly find the aging Batman in better shape as the result of a workout regimen.  Each of the three issues of The Dark Knight Strikes Again will be 80 pages long and will be printed in the deluxe, squarebound 'prestige' format that DC inaugurated with the original Dark Knight Returns series.  Each issue of The Dark Knight Strikes Again will retail for $7.95.  Just as with the original Dark Knight Returns, Frank Miller will both write and illustrate The Dark Knight Strikes Again and the talented Lynn Varley will provide the coloring.

 

Given the fact that The Dark Knight Returns and Alan Moore's The Watchmen were the two most influential comics of the past 2-3 decades, Frank Miller's return to Batman is certain to receive major coverage in both the fan and mainstream press.  The release of the first issue in this new series is an event, and savvy retailers will treat it as such.