The Dark Knight III: The Master Race, also stylized as DK III: The Master Race and later collected as Batman: The Dark Knight – Master Race, is a 2015–2017 nine-issue DC Comics limited series co-written by Frank Miller and Brian Azzarello and illustrated by Miller, Andy Kubert, and Klaus Janson.Johnston, Rich (September 17, 2015). "Page From Dark Knight III: The Master Race Used As Official Art For NYCC". Bleeding Cool.
The series is a sequel to Miller's 1986 Batman miniseries The Dark Knight Returns and the 2001 miniseries The Dark Knight Strikes Again, continuing the story of an aged Bruce Wayne resuming his identity as a crimefighter, aided by his sidekick Carrie Kelley (Robin) and featuring an ensemble of DC Universe characters including Superman, Green Lantern, and Wonder Woman.Schedeen, Jesse (November 23, 2015). "DC Reveals Every Variant Cover for The Dark Knight III #1". IGNMcMillan, Graeme (November 22, 2015). "Frank Miller Talks 'Dark Knight III': "When It Comes to Batman, I'm a Raging Dictator"". The Hollywood Reporter. In DK III, Ray Palmer restores 1,000 of the inhabitants of Kandor to full-size, but they immediately begin to terrorize the Earth. Batman sets out to assemble his former allies against the invaders.
The series is accompanied by a series of one-shots that fill in events between issues. All but the first are written and drawn by Frank Miller, which continues his experimentation with noir-style writing and art style.
Publication history On April 24, 2015, DC Comics announced that Frank Miller was co-writing a sequel to The Dark Knight Strikes Again with Brian Azzarello titled The Dark Knight III: The Master Race and that it would be an eight-issue limited series and would be the third installment in a trilogy that began with The Dark Knight Returns. The series, however, ultimately had a ninth issue that was published on June 7, 2017.
Andy Kubert and Klaus Janson provide art for the main story while the tie-in stories are illustrated by a rotating team of artists including Frank Miller himself, John Romita Jr. and Eduardo Risso. Numerous guest artists have contributed variant covers for each issue including some limited print variants that were exclusive to specific book shops like Ssalefish Comics.
Plot
Issue #1
Three years have passed following the deaths of Lex Luthor and Dick Grayson/the "Joker". Bruce Wayne has not been seen since. In the Batcave, someone unseen shatters a display case and removes the Batsuit from therein.
On the streets, a suspect is chased by Gotham City police officers but saved when Batman appears to attack their pursuit vehicles.
In a jungle setting, Wonder Woman battles a four-legged minotaur while her infant super-son, Johnathan, rides in a papoose on her back. Upon returning to the Amazons' new city, she learns that her truant daughter Lara is visiting Superman, father to her and consort to Diana.
Superman is now mysteriously iced over, seated on a throne in his rebuilt Fortress of Solitude. Lara speaks to him absently about the Kryptonian relics on display, including the bottled city of Kandor. Upon looking closely at it, she discovers a distress signal.
Back in Gotham, Commissioner Ellen Yindel ponders the derelict Bat-Signal. Her career is mired by the media frenzy surrounding the Batman sightings and a new mayoral spokesperson trying to put words in her mouth. She answers a call reporting Batman's imminent arrest.
The ensuing chase results in Batman surrounded and abandoning a motorcycle. After considerable resistance, the cops manage to beat Batman down with night sticks. Disregarding the surprise of a female Batman, Yindel joins the arrest, unmasks her, and demands the whereabouts of Bruce Wayne. Revealed, Carrie Kelley claims the original Batman is dead.Miller, Frank; Azzarello, Brian (w), Kubert, Andy (p), Janson, Klaus (i). "Book One", The Dark Knight III: The Master Race #1 (January 2016). DC Comics
First tie-in Dark Knight Universe Presents: The Atom #1: Dr. Ray Palmer finishes a sparring session with a reptile specimen in his lab. He regrows to normal human size and reads news cards about the Kelly arrest, worrying about the implications. The sounds of intruders prompt him to arm himself. One, he finds, is a miniaturized man we will come to know as Baal. The other is Lara who has come calling to see if Palmer can restore the inhabitants of Kandor to full size.Miller, Frank; Azzarello, Brian (w), Kubert, Andy (p), Janson, Klaus (i).Dark Knight Universe Presents The Atom #1 (2016). DC Comics.
Issue #2 The beaten and bloodied Carrie Kelley is manhandled into a police vehicle. When prompted, she madly repeats her claim that "Bruce Wayne is dead" three times. She is incarcerated as a Jane Doe and Commissioner Yindel spends a month interrogating her, with mixed success. Carrie claims the aging Bruce Wayne finally succumbed to battle injuries after years of holding on. But when asked about his final resting place, Carrie only makes a sick joke and chides Yindel about her anti-Batman beliefs.
Back at his laboratory, Ray Palmer fills in Lara about the horrible consequences of his earlier attempts to resize Kandor. Baal joins the conversation through a wall-mounted speaker. Lara super-hears a summons from her mother and flies away in the blink of an eye. Baal and Ray continue talking, leaving off with Baal frowning when Ray makes a reference to God.
Following some media commentary, Yindel takes reports on the lack of protesters or resistance to Carrie's legal situation, implying that the Mayor is manipulating opinions. Yindel remotely oversees Carrie's prison transport. At a strategic point en route, Carrie whistles to trigger a non-lethal missile strike on the transport. The Batmobile advances on the transport. A waiting force of squad cars and drones scrambles to surround the Batmobile. As it continues to shoot police vehicles, Yindel orders a drawbridge raised to cut off its escape route. Police corner the Batmobile against the drawbridge, but find no one inside. Its afterburner fires, propelling it over the drawbridge. Carrie, who has wedged herself in the undercarriage, escapes when the Batmobile lands on the other side of the river.
In a desert, Ray attempts his Kandor restoration project involving cables connected to the bottle and a chest-mounted beam projector. After a blinding flash, the area is populated by full-sized Kandor citizens. However, Ray is shocked to see that some of their number are freshly dead and many more wear the raiments of a cult soon revealed to be twisted, fanatical, and polygamous. The regrown Baal introduces their leader as Quar. Quar redirects the beam on Palmer. Palmer shrinks to a tiny height and Baal steps on him. Quar orates about their new home and power. He picks up the bottle city, whose inhabitants no longer include any of his followers, and obliterates it with heat vision.
In the Batcave, Carrie disembarks from the Batmobile and approaches the Batcomputer terminal. Bruce Wayne stands there with a crutch and turns to look at her with an unreadable expression.
Second tie-inDark Knight Universe Presents: Wonder Woman #1: Super mother/daughter friction occurs as Lara returns to the new Amazon city, late for a sparring session with Wonder Woman. Lara laments her upbringing in secret near-isolation while Diana focuses on the upside of having a defiant daughter; she will fight for her own in life. Lara complains that combat training is needless, given her potentially unrivaled superpowers. Diana attacks harder in an effort to enliven Lara's performance. All the while, super baby Johnathan remains in the papoose, possibly not even awake. Diana speaks of her fighting Amazonian heritage and thrusts a sword at Lara. Lara allows the sword to break on her chest, counters that she prefers her father's heritage, and flies away.
Issue #3 Now released from Kandor, the Kryptonians led by Quar make an announcement to the world, asking that they be acknowledged as gods or face destruction. Faced with this ultimatum, but recognising that he is too weak to face such a threat himself, Bruce takes Carrie to the Fortress of Solitude to inspire Superman back into action, who since The Dark Knight Strikes Again has left himself to freeze in the Fortress. When they reach the Fortress, Bruce strikes Clark with a sledgehammer to rouse him. Clark awakens to Carrie saying that Kryptonians are involved. While Superman agrees to help, Quar and his followers breach the Pentagon, demanding an answer to their ultimatum. The monitors around the room go black and Bruce declares: "Go to Hell". At that moment, Superman arrives, but is shocked to see his daughter Lara now aiding Quar, declaring him a traitor to his own race.
Third tie-inDark Knight Universe Presents: Green Lantern #1 - Hal Jordan: Learning of the Kryptonians' arrival on Earth, Hal travels back to try to make them stand down. Encountering the three wives of Quar in Egypt, Hal is toyed with by the women as they assess his Green Lantern powers and, realising that without his Ring he is no threat, they sever his right hand (and the Ring) with their heat vision, casting it into the atmosphere, and leaving Hal wounded and in shock in the dirt by the shadow of the Sphinx.
Issue #4 Superman stands his ground, but refuses to fight back as Lara pummels him all across the world to the Fortress of Solitude. Quar cocoons Superman in black matter and orders his legion of Kryptonians to sink the Fortress into the ocean, and Superman with it. He then gives out an order to Gotham City demanding that they hand over the Batman or they will take it out on Gotham. As the city falls into chaos, Bruce orders Carrie on a special mission, giving her some sort of pill and her new Batgirl costume. Wonder Woman, meanwhile, stands alone on Themyscira in the rain, ignoring the call to action from Bruce. As Ellen Yindel waxes on the worth of the people of Gotham and that of the GCPD, Bruce in his Batman garb appears behind her and tells her to stop trying to drown out the needs of her people.
Meanwhile, Ray Palmer, revealed to still be alive, is sinking into a subatomic universe when he suddenly grabs hold of an atom, realizing that he might be able to fix his mistake. The Flash is on his way to Gotham City at super-speed but is intercepted by one of Quar's followers who breaks both his legs.
Fourth tie-in Dark Knight Universe Presents: Batgirl #1: In the middle of the riots in Gotham City, Carrie Kelly fights her way to the Gotham piers wearing her new Batgirl costume. She casts a pill given to her by Bruce into the bay as she is about to be overtaken. At that moment Aquaman reaches out from the water and grabs the item she had thrown in, riding on the back of a whale. Carrie jumps on top next to Aquaman and he tells her to hold her breath as he holds her close.
Issue #5 With Gotham City under attack, Batman's followers bring Flash to the Batcave, but Batman is worried he cannot fix the Flash's broken legs. Meanwhile, Carrie Kelly, Aquaman and his army have found Superman in the Arctic. Carrie Kelly frees Superman from the matter he is trapped in using a golden needle given to her by Batman. Back in Gotham, Batman prepares to fight Quar and his legions. Superman brings Carrie back to the Batcave, where the Flash is now attached to a computer to interfere with the weather. Using power from the Bat-Signal, the Flash makes it rain synthetic kryptonite, weakening the Kryptonians and causing them to fall from the sky by the hundreds. Batman, Superman (clad in kryptonite-resistant armor), and the people of Gotham bring the fight to them.
Fifth tie-in