a Rogue superman vs. a Kryptonite gloved Batman ?

[justincredible]

so i'm playing heroclix at a friend's house and i put out my U-Batman and i ask why would Batman ever need kryptonite gloves ? to fight Superman ?

and he told me that one time Superman went rogue or beserk and Batman had to subdue him. My buddy didn't know anything else and i'm interested in finding out how that turned out.

can somebody give me a crash course in what happened that time when Batman had to put on the Kryptonite gloves ? did superman really go insane ? and how ?

[EvilGenius]

Read Frank Miller's excellent Dark Knight Returns, and the new and not so good Dark Knight 2.

In the first, he sets up a not so distant future where the government demanded that the Superheros unmask themselves, which resulted in almost all of the Heros retiring or leaving earth altogether.

Superman became an Agent of the US Government. Batman didn't give up his ID, just retired.

Eventually, Bruce came out of retirement, and people started talking about Superheros again. The Government didn't like that, and sent Clark to bring him in.

I won't spoil the outcome for you, but it was glorious. :)

In DK2, Bruce and Clarke are still at odds. Bruce has spent considerable time and $ synthesizing kryptonite, and makes the gloves in case he has to get jiggy with Clarke again.

[justincredible]

wow sounds interesting. so this is in a trade paperback that i can buy in one fell swoop right ? or am i going to have to buy like 14 different issues of Dark Knight comics ?

[ScrewOnHead]

man....dk2 was a disappointment imo, but the first book...oh the first book was a masterpiece.....

[Rynth]

You could also read Batman 612(I think, the one with Superman choking Batman on the cover) to see how a Batman armed with kryptonite can handle Superman

Dark Knight returns has been collected in TPB format.

[savasyn]

Woo hoo, and I still have vitual mint first printings of all four of the original books! Wish I had another copy of them so I could read it again, I was around 15 when I got them and didn't quite understand all of it. Alas, I'm not about to open them back up now.

Anybody know if they are still available in some form today?

[esfoad]

Both Dark Knight series have since been reprinted in TPB form and are still readily available. There are many, many reprints and editions of the DRK TPB so it's not even all that pricey anymore.

The original DKR is an utter masterpiece and singlehandedly rejuvinated the Batman titles and the character itself. Shaping him into the darker knight we know and love today.

It was impossible for DKR2 to live up to the hype and expectations generated from the original, but it was still a great read in it's own right (especially when read together).