Throughout The Dark Knight Returns there exists a tension between a fantastical world and a world based on reality. This distinction stands out for me in the contrast of black-and-white versus color images, most notably in that the images of Commissioner Gordon are always in black-and-white. Gordon’s contrast is particularly evident on pages 58-59. On page 58, fourteen of the sixteen images consist of Commissioner Gordon and the only one with color is the image of a member of the mutant gang. The adjacent page includes images of the television, Robin, and Batman all in color. Even the darker image of Batman stands against a blue sky and the density of the black used to color him, well, colors him. Even in the color heavy second half of the DKR Gordon’s images remain in black and white as can be seen on page 175.
The juxtaposition of these pages pronounces a distinction the book desires to make between Commissioner Gordon and the other images of the book. Perry Nodelman’s article on picture books states that black and white pictures remind us of our “experience with newspaper photographs” and that they “tend to imply seriousness and authenticity” (137). I agree with this in that having the Commissioner in black and white we are reminded of his humanity. Look at Gordon’s face and the evidence for seriousness and authenticity can be read in the marks of age and stress as compared with the lack of these lines and expressions in the faces of the people on the adjacent page. Moreover, Gordon is a kind of realistic batman or maybe the poor man’s version of batman because he fights crimes and fights for justice from a more real-world perspective. Or maybe the black and white evokes a sense of nostalgia for a Gotham City before the mutant gang and before Batman was needed to instill justice.
If black and white is meant to bring a sense of “seriousness and authenticity,” what sense are the heavy color images throughout, but particularly those of the television, supposed to evoke? I don’t want to say triviality and falsehood, but maybe to be very literal it speaks to the idea that television colors the seriousness and reality of its reports. The character of Batman also coincides with this idea – one must look past the costume and mask to discover the real man behind it all. Do we see a triumph of authenticity in the end when Bruce leaves Batman behind and rallies his troops as Bruce?
I agree with your thoughts on Gordon, and really like the connection between the black-and-white images and the view of Gordon as a more authentic hero.
I enjoyed the Gordon story-line in Book 4, and felt it added a little more optimism to what was, for the most part, a pretty negative portrayal of society. Especially in Book 4, Gordon seems to offer readers a more balanced approach to solving the problems the book raises when compared to the extremes of vigilantism and rigid acceptance of authority as represented by Batman and Superman.