Frank Miller’s ‘The Dark Knight Returns’: The Ultimate Reading Order of Miller’s Dark Knight Universe

While reading through the early Image Comics Universe I realized I was incorrect as a teenager when I though ‘Batman-Spawn: War Devil (1994)’ was set in the DC Comics Universe and ‘Spawn-Batman (1994)’ was set in the Image Comics Universe. It says right inside the front cover that ‘Spawn-Batman (1994)’ is “companion piece to DC Comic’s ‘The Dark Knight Returns'” even though it was published by Image Comics. (That means both stories took place in versions of the DC Comics Universe and it would not be until ‘Batman Spawn (2023)’ that a crossover story would take place in the world of Spawn.)

Intrigued, I took a deep dive into ‘The Dark Knight Returns’ and spin-off titles. I also looked at the other appearances of characters from this story. I wanted to learn all I could about Frank Miller’s Dark Knight series.

What have I learned? Quite a lot, actually!

Firstly, Frank Miller’s Dark Knight stories fall into two categories. Flashback stories that fill-in the backstory to ‘The Dark Knight Returns (1986)’ & stories that continue the world introduced in ‘The Dark Knight Returns (1986)’. Flashback tales often cover an important milestone for Batman (for example, the last time Batman saw Jason Todd or Batman meeting Superman for the first time) while the sequels are WILD new stories.

A chronological reading shows the important moments in Batman’s life leading-up to ‘The Dark Knight Returns’.

• Batman: Year One (1987)
  • Batman starts his career “after twelve years abroad”.
• Superman: Year One (2019)
  • Batman and Wonder Woman meet a young Superman for the first time.
• Holy Terror (2011)
  • While not officially “Batman”, early press and the final product suggest this book belongs here.
  • Batman (“The Fixer”) falls in love with Catwoman (“Natalie Stack”).
  • Batman (“The Fixer”) doesn’t have a partner (yet).
• All-Star Batman and Robin the Boy Wonder (2005)
  • Batman takes Dick Grayson on as his sidekick, Robin.
  • Issue #6 reveals that Bruce was six when his parents were murdered and that it has been nineteen years since this happened. This makes Bruce twenty-five during the time of this series. Dick Grayson is twelve years old.
• Spawn/Batman (1994)
  • A solo Batman is in his prime.
  • Based on Frank Miller’s interview with Hero Illustrated, Bruce Wayne is “in his early 30s” during this story.
• The Dark Knight Returns: The Last Crusade (2016)
  • After Bruce and Dick had a falling out which resulted in the latter’s firing, Bruce eventually met Jason Todd, a young kid who he took in and trained to be the next Robin. When Jason overhears Bruce say he isn’t ready to take on the mantle of Batman, he goes to find the Joker on his own. Unfortunately, after locating his hideout, Jason was beaten to death by the Joker’s henchmen.
  • This incident caused Bruce to retire from his role as Batman.
• The Dark Knight Returns (1986)
  • While “The Dark Knight Returns” was the title of Book One of “Batman: The Dark Knight (1986)”, collected editions of the story use that title for the collective.
  • Bruce Wayne returns from a decade of retirement to fight crime.
  • Bruce Wayne is fifty-five years old at the start of this story. Carrie Kelley is thirteen years old.
• The Dark Knight Strikes Again (2001)
  • Three years after the events of ‘The Dark Knight Returns’.
  • Bruce Wayne is fifty-eight years old here. Carrie Kelley is sixteen years old. Dick Grayson is forty-five years old.
• The Dark Knight III: The Master Race (2015)
  • Three years after the events of ‘The Dark Knight Strikes Again’.
  • Bruce Wayne is sixty-one+ years at the start of this story. Carrie Kelley is nineteen years old.
• The Dark Knight Returns: The Golden Child (2019)
  • Three years after the events of ‘Dark Knight III: The Master Race’.
  • Carrie Kelley is twenty-two years old.

Secondly, I learned that The Dark Knight Universe is unique, because depending on the time period, the elements of ‘The Dark Knight Returns’ represent the future, the present, or an entirely different universe.

I don’t believe that ‘The Dark Knight Returns’ was ever an “Elseworlds” story. My theory is that the world of ‘The Dark Knight Returns’ started as the “future” (separated from post-‘Crisis on Infinite Earths’ continuity only by time), became a separate universe (“Earth-31”), haphazardly re-joined the main DC continuity (during DC’s “New 52” era), and finally became an autonomous universe again (the “TDK Universe”).

DC Comics published ‘Crisis on Infinite Earths’ from April 1985 through March 1986. The idea for the series stemmed from Marv Wolfman’s desire to abandon the DC Multiverse as it was currently depicted, which he thought was unfriendly to readers, and create a single, unified DC Universe. The conclusion of ‘Crisis on Infinite Earths’ brought ‘The Dark Knight Returns’ future into existence. ‘The Dark Knight Returns’ was the future of this new DC universe.

‘The Dark Knight Returns’ was quickly followed by Frank Miller’s “Year One” story from ‘Batman (1940)’ #404-407. We saw Frank Miller’s vision of Batman’s end and then his very beginning, bookending the career of the modern Batman.

‘The Dark Knight Returns’ remained “the future Batman” until ‘Infinite Crisis’ was published (October 2005 – April 2006). It is at this point that the world of ‘The Dark Knight Returns’ became a separate universe, designated “Earth-31”.

After DC’s ‘Final Crisis’ event (July 2008 – March 2009), ‘The Dark Knight Returns’ started bleeding into the Prime Earth again (thanks to Neil Gaiman and Grant Morrison).

After ‘Flashpoint’ in 2011, elements of ‘The Dark Knight Returns’ became part of the current-day Prime Earth of DC’s “New 52” period. This can be seen in the inclusion of characters such as Carrie Kelley and the Mutant Gang. (The TDK Batman was not seen on Prime Earth, in any time period, during the “New 52” era.)

Most recently, DC’s ‘Rebirth’ event occurred in May 2016, ending DC’s “New 52” status quo. From here on, the world of ‘The Dark Knight Returns’ has been a siloed universe referred to as “The Dark Knight Universe”, or “the TDK Universe” for short. Side note, the current “Earth-31” is now a pirate-based world where the local Batman is Captain Leatherwing, first seen in ‘Detective Comics (1937)’ Annual #7 from June 1994.

‘THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS’ ULTIMATE READING ORDER:

• Batman: The Dark Knight (1986) Book One [DC Comics] 03/1986
  • “The Dark Knight Returns”
  • Frank Miller’s series chronicles an aged Batman in a future America ruled over by a fascist President Ronald Reagan and his soldier, Superman.
• Batman: The Dark Knight (1986) Book Two [DC Comics] 04/1986
  • “The Dark Knight Triumphant”
• Batman: The Dark Knight (1986) Book Three [DC Comics] 05/1986
  • “Hunt the Dark Knight”
• Batman: The Dark Knight (1986) Book Four [DC Comics] 06/1986
  • “The Dark Knight Falls”
  • Intended as ‘the final’ Batman story.
    • During the MCM London Comic Con 2018, Miller revealed that in his original plans for the ending of The Dark Knight Returns, Batman was going to be gunned down by the police while fighting them, but the story got away from him and he changed his mind.
• Batman (1940) #404 [DC Comics] 02/1987
  • Frank Miller’s four-part ‘Year One’ story illustrates Batman’s first year as the vigilante crime-fighter and how he built a relationship with (eventual Commissioner) Jim Gordon.
  • Until DC launched their ‘New 52’ initiative in 2011, the origin story presented here was shared by both ‘the mainstream Batman’ & ‘The Dark Knight Returns’.
    • During the ‘New 52’-era, Scott Snyder’s ‘Zero Year’ storyline was meant to supplement/update/replace Frank Miller’s ‘Year One’ story.
• Batman (1940) #405 [DC Comics] 03/1987
  • Frank Miller’s ‘Year One’ Part 2 (of 4)
• Batman (1940) #406 [DC Comics] 04/1987
  • Frank Miller’s ‘Year One’ Part 3 (of 4)
• Batman (1940) #407 [DC Comics] 05/1987
  • Frank Miller’s ‘Year One’ Part 4 (of 4)
• Spawn-Batman (1994) [Image Comics] 04/1994
  • In this Frank Miller story, Batman and Spawn meet while hunting the same villain.
  • In an interview with Frank Miller from Hero Illustrated #10 (April 1994), he said, “As I was trying to make up my mind whether to do it or not, I wanted to see what I could do with it that would mean I could do a good job. I realized that in ‘Batman: Year One’ I had done sort of the young bungler on his way to becoming Batman, and in ‘Dark Knight’, I had done the basically over-the-hill superhero who still had so much left in him he could be powerful but in constant pain, and a little out of touch with the times. I realized that this was an opportunity for me to do Batman, in his early 30s, where he’d be like Michael Jordan last year. You’d see him at his absolute peak, where he simply doesn’t make false moves.”
  • The inside-front cover has text that reads: Spawn Vs. Batman is a companion piece to DC Comic’s The Dark Knight Returns. It does not represent current DC continuity.
• Superman The Man of Steel (1991) #37 [DC Comics] 09/1994
  • This story is a tie-in with DC’s 1994 crossover event ‘Zero Hour’. ‘Zero Hour’ intended to deal with numerous possible futures and alternate timelines in the same way the earlier ‘Crisis on Infinite Earths’ had dealt with alternate realities.
  • Batman from ‘The Dark Knight Returns’ appears as a major character in this story.
    • This is the first time TDK Batman has appeared outside the works of Frank Miller.
    • This issue was written by Louise Simonson with art by Jon Bogdanove & Dennis Janke. Bogdanove draws the various Batmen in the styles of past Bat artists like Neal Adams, Frank Miller & Bob Kane.
  • This is a time-based story and the multiple Batmen that appear are from different times, not different dimensions. (This is not ‘Batmen of the Multiverse’.)
    • ‘Zero Hour’ was a crossover event that took place in 1994, intended to deal with numerous possible futures and alternate timelines in the same way the earlier ‘Crisis on Infinite Earths’ had dealt with alternate realities.
  • 
• Shattered Image (1996) #4 [DC Comics] 12/1996
  • This four-part series was written to explain the splitting-up of the original Image Comics Universe that started in Youngblood (1992) #1.
  • Each hero (or group of heroes) is tempted with the option to leave their previous collective and join a different universe.
  • Spawn’s temptation comes in the form of Batman, who references their previous crossover. The art style is obviously meant to evoke the way Todd McFarlane drew Batman. This further solidifies the idea that ‘Spawn-Batman (1994)’ took place in Batman’s world, not Spawn’s.
  • 
• Fanboy (1999) #5 [DC Comics] 07/1999
  • Frank Miller draws 2 pages of a (semi-) Dark Knight story
  • 
• Superman and Batman World’s Funnest GN (2000) [DC Comics] 11/2000
  • 3 pages of the story are drawn by Frank Miller, showing Bat-Mite & Mister Mxyzptlk in the TDK Universe.
  • 
• Dark Knight Strikes Again (2001) #1 [DC Comics] 12/2001
  • In Frank Miller’s first return to the character since Spawn-Batman (1994), an aged Bruce Wayne returns after three years in hiding, training his followers and instigating a rebellion against Lex Luthor’s dictatorial rule over the United States.
  • “I was out to remind readers about the inherent joy and wonder these superheroes offer, and also to celebrate their delicious absurdity. I saw the superheroes as Gods and Heroes in the Classic sense … I wanted to drag these Gods and Heroes out of that musty museum they’d been stuck in and drag them back to the streets where they belong.” – Frank Miller
• Dark Knight Strikes Again (2001) #2 [DC Comics] 01/2002
  • Book 2 (of 3)
• Dark Knight Strikes Again (2001) #3 [DC Comics] 08/2002
  • Book 3 (of 3)
• Planetary Batman Night on Earth (2003) [DC/Wildstorm] 06/2003
  • The team from Planetary travel the multiverse while visiting Gotham City.
  • For 7 pages, Gotham City is warped to resemble the world of TDK.
  • The book claims that these are Batmen of the Multiverse, but they all appear to be referencing time periods in a manner similar to ‘Superman The Man of Steel (1991)’ #37 during DC Comic’s ‘Zero Hour’ crossover event.
  • 
• Teen Titans (2003) #18 [DC Comics] 01/2005
  • This issue’s story is “Part 2” of a tale set “10 years” ahead of the then “current” continuity. During a fight in a graveyard full of stones for Batman friends and foes, a stone for Carrie Kelley can be seen.
  • 
  • 
• ‘INFINITE CRISIS’ HAPPENS (October 2005 – April 2006) — The world of TDKR is now ‘Earth-31’
• Holy Terror HC (2011) [Legendary Comics] 09/2011
  • This graphic novel was originally proposed as a Batman story for DC Comics, titled ‘Holy Terror, Batman!’, but was reworked along the way to feature an original character of Miller’s creation called The Fixer.
  • It is OBVIOUS that The Fixer is Batman, Natalie Stack is Catwoman, and Empire City is Gotham City.
  • If it remained a Batman story and released when intended, this is where it would be placed.
  • Viewing the story through the lens of Batman: This is the story of Batman, a solo vigilante, falling in love with Catwoman after sharing the trauma of a terrorist attack and experiencing the catharsis of revenge.
  • 
• All Star Batman and Robin the Boy Wonder (2005) #1 [DC Comics] 09/2005
  • This Frank Miller series retells the origin story of Dick Grayson, who became Batman’s sidekick Robin.
• All Star Batman and Robin the Boy Wonder (2005) #2 [DC Comics] 11/2005
• All Star Batman and Robin the Boy Wonder (2005) #3 [DC Comics] 12/2005
• All Star Batman and Robin the Boy Wonder (2005) #4 [DC Comics] 03/2006
• All Star Batman and Robin the Boy Wonder (2005) #5 [DC Comics] 04/2007
• All Star Batman and Robin the Boy Wonder (2005) #6 [DC Comics] 09/2007
• All Star Batman and Robin the Boy Wonder (2005) #7 [DC Comics] 11/2007
• All Star Batman and Robin the Boy Wonder (2005) #8 [DC Comics] 01/2008
• All Star Batman and Robin the Boy Wonder (2005) #9 [DC Comics] 04/2008
• All Star Batman and Robin the Boy Wonder (2005) #10 [DC Comics] 08/2008
  • #10 is the final issue of the series.
• Superman Batman (2003) #25 [DC Comics] 05/2006
  • Bizzarro and Man-Bat join a battle with a bunch of different Supermen and Batmen, including the Dark Knight Returns Batman.
  • 
• Justice League of America (2006 2nd Series) #0
  • Earth-31 appears for single story page.
  • 
  • (Thanks to Martin P. for his email!! This book was NOT on my radar until Martin emailed me.)
  • This book was later reprinted and released as Justice League of America FCBD (2007) #0 as part of 2007’s Free Comic Book Day offerings.
• Justice Society of America (2006) #5 [DC Comics] 06/2007
  • “Batmen of the Multiverse”, including the TDK Batman, appear as an illusion.
  • 
• Countdown Arena (2007) #1 [DC Comics] 02/2008
  • Writer Keith Champagne has stated that the Superman of “Earth-31” (appearing in all issues of this series) is the same Superman from Frank Miller’s ‘The Dark Knight Returns’.
  • 
• Countdown Arena (2007) #2 [DC Comics] 02/2008
  • Earth-31/TDK Superman appears
• Countdown Arena (2007) #3 [DC Comics] 02/2008
  • Earth-31/TDK Superman appears
• Countdown Arena (2007) #4 [DC Comics] 02/2008
  • Earth-31/TDK Superman appears
• ‘FINAL CRISIS’ HAPPENS (July 2008 – March 2009) — ‘TDKR’ starts bleeding into the Prime Earth
• Detective Comics (1937) #853 [DC Comics] 04/2009
  • This book is Part 2 (of 2) of Neil Gaiman’s “Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader?” story.
    • Part 1 is from Batman (1940) #686
  • The Batman of the first panel on page 1 is meant to be Frank Miller’s version from The Dark Knight Returns.
  • 
• Batman (1940) #700 [DC Comics] 08/2010
  • The Mutant Gang appears in this story from Grant Morrison.
  • 
• ‘FLASHPOINT’ HAPPENS / ‘NEW 52’ BEGINS (2011) — ‘TDKR’ becomes part of Prime Earth
• Batman Incorporated (2012) #1 [DC Comics] 07/2012
  • The Mutant Gang appears in this story from Grant Morrison.
  • 
• Batman Incorporated (2012) #5 [DC Comics] 01/2013
  • The Mutant Gang appears in this story from Grant Morrison.
  • 
• Batman Incorporated (2012) #9 [DC Comics] 05/2013
  • The Mutant Gang appears in this story from Grant Morrison.
  • 
• Batman Incorporated (2012) #13 [DC Comics] 09/2013
  • The Mutant Gang appears in this story from Grant Morrison.
  • 
• Batman and Robin (2011) #19 [DC Comics] 06/2013
  • Carrie Kelley makes her first canonical appearance in the mainstream DC Universe (New 52) in this issue.
  • 
• Batman and Robin (2011) #20 [DC Comics] 07/2013
  • 2nd Carrie Kelley appearance in DC Universe (New 52).
  • 
• Batman and Robin (2011) #22 [DC Comics] 09/2013
  • 3rd (and final?) Carrie Kelley appearance in the main DC Universe (New 52)
  • 
• All Star Western (2011) #21 [DC Comics] 08/2013
  • Jonah Hex arrives in modern Gotham City and has a run-in with the Mutant Gang resulting in his getting locked in Arkham.
  • 
• All Star Western (2011) #22 [DC Comics] 09/2013
  • Jonah Hex kills more of the Mutant Gang after escaping from Arkham.
  • 
• All Star Western (2011) #23 [DC Comics] 10/2013
  • The story opens with Jonah Hex’s escape from the Mutant from issue #22.
  • 
• Batman Arkham Knight (2015) Annual #1 [DC Comics] 11/2015
  • A 2-page splash showing a hallucination of many Batman variants includes Batman from ‘The Dark Knight Returns’.
  • This book takes place in the ‘Arkhamverse’, not the “normal” DC multiverse. (‘Arkhamverse’ is a fan-originated term for the shared continuity of the video game franchise originating from ‘Batman: Arkham Asylum’.)
  • 
• ‘DC REBIRTH’ HAPPENS (May 2016) — The ‘TDKR Universe’ is a siloed universe
• Dark Knight III Master Race (2016) #1 [DC Comics] 01/2016
  • In Frank Miller’s third ‘Dark Knight’ series, The Atom restores 1,000 inhabitants of the Bottle City of Kandor to full-size, but they immediately begin to terrorize the Earth. Batman sets out to assemble his former allies against the invaders.
• Dark Knight III Master Race (2016) #2 [DC Comics] 02/2016
• Dark Knight III Master Race (2016) #3 [DC Comics] 04/2016
• Dark Knight III Master Race (2016) #4 [DC Comics] 06/2016
• Dark Knight III Master Race (2016) #5 [DC Comics] 08/2016
• Dark Knight III Master Race (2016) #6 [DC Comics] 12/2016
• Dark Knight III Master Race (2016) #7 [DC Comics] 02/2017
• Dark Knight III Master Race (2016) #8 [DC Comics] 05/2017
• Dark Knight III Master Race (2016) #9 [DC Comics] 07/2017
  • Final issue of the series.
• Dark Knight Returns The Last Crusade (2016) #1 [DC Comics] 08/2016
  • Frank Miller’s prequel one-shot. Batman is struggling to train his sidekick, the new Robin, Jason Todd.
• Batman The Red Death (2017) #1 [DC Comics] 11/2017
  • Mutant Gang members are seen rioting in Gotham.
  • 
• Batman (2016) Annual #2 [DC Comics] 01/2018
  • Carrie Kelley cameos as a member of the Bat-family, standing by Bruce’s bedside as he dies.
  • 
• Dark Nights Metal (2017) #6 [DC Comics] 05/2018
  • TDK Batman cameo
  • 
• Action Comics (2016) #1000 [DC Comics] 06/2018
  • A story page is a direct reference to Superman from ‘The Dark Knight Returns’.
  • 
• Batman (2016) #50 [DC Comics] 09/2018
  • Frank Miller is among the all-star artists contributing pre-wedding flashback scenes. Miller contributes a single page in the style of ‘The Dark Knight Returns’ Universe.
    • QUESTION: Does this count as a “flashback”?
  • 
• Harley Quinn (2016) #50 [DC Comics] 11/2018
  • Near the end of the story there is a cameo appearance of Carrie Kelley’s Robin as part of “Justice League Multiverse”.
  • 
• Superman Year One (2019) #1 [DC Comics] 08/2019
  • Frank Miller’s ‘Year One’ origin story for Superman
• Superman Year One (2019) #2 [DC Comics] 10/2019
  • Frank Miller’s ‘Superman Year One’ Part 2 (of 3)
• Superman Year One (2019) #3 [DC Comics] 12/2019
  • Frank Miller’s ‘Superman Year One’ Part 3 (of 3)
  • Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman meet for the first time in ‘The Dark Knight Returns’ Universe.
• Dark Knight Returns The Golden Child (2020) [DC Comics] 02/2020
  • Three years after the events of ‘Dark Knight III: The Master Race,’ Lara has spent time learning to be more human, and Carrie Kelley has been growing into her new role as Batwoman. Young Jonathan Kent, “The Golden Child,” has a power inside of him unlike anything the world has ever seen.
• Dark Nights Death Metal Guidebook (2020) #1 [DC Comics] 10/2020
  • Harley Quinn fights Mutant in the Arkham Wastelands
  • 
• Stargirl Spring Break Special (2021) #1 [DC Comics] 07/2021
  • Clock King uses a device on Green Arrow giving him “total vision” of his “timeline at once” trying to break Green Arrow’s mind. During this there is a cameo of Green Arrow from the TDK Universe.
    • This suggests a “future version” as opposed to a “multiversal variant”.
  • 
• Batman the Audio Adventures Special (2021) #1 [DC Comics] 12/2021
  • Page 7 of the story “A Better Mousetrap” includes cameos from members of the Mutant Gang.
  • 
• Gotham City Villains Anniversary Giant (2022) #1 [DC Comics] 01/2022
  • Mutant Gang appearance
  • 
• Joker the Man Who Stopped Laughing (2022) #1 [DC Comics] 12/2022
  • Joker tries different looks to find the best one for his upcoming date. These looks reference famous iterations of the Joker from DC history. One of these looks is Joker in his white suit from ‘The Dark Knight Returns (1986)’.
  • 
• Batman (2016) #134 [DC Comics] 06/2023
  • Last page of story includes a minor cameo of the TDK Batman
  • 
• Batman (2016) #135 [DC Comics] 07/2023
  • Jumping through the “multiverse”, Batman encounters the world of ‘The Dark Knight Returns’ for 3 pages.
  • 
  • Story ends with a cameo of the TDK version of Zur-En-Arrh.
  • 
• Knight Terrors Batman (2023) #2 [DC Comics] 10/2023
  • cameo of the TDK version of Zur-En-Arrh
  • 
• Batman Superman World’s Finest (2022) #20 [DC Comics] 12/2023
  • The 2nd story page includes a cameo of the TDK Batman.
  • 
• Batman (2016) #139 [DC Comics] 01/2024
  • cameo of the TDK version of Zur-En-Arrh
  • 
• Batman (2016) #140 [DC Comics] 02/2024
  • TDK version of Zur-En-Arrh appearance
  • 
• Batman (2016) #141 [DC Comics] 03/2024
  • TDK version of Zur-En-Arrh appearance
  • 
• Outsiders (2023) #3 [DC Comics] 03/2024
  • cameo of the TDK Batman
  • 
• Deadpool Batman (2025 [Marvel Comics] 09/2025
  • This book contains a 3 page story, “Showdown”, written and drawn by Frank Miller where the TDK Batman fights Old Man Logan.
    
  • It is hard to be precise, but I would chronologically place this story between ‘The Dark Knight Strikes Again (2001)’ and ‘The Dark Knight III: The Master Race (2015)’.
  • The book was released with a 1:50 Retailer Incentive Variant Cover by Frank Miller.
    

ADDITIONAL READING:

• Comics Collector (1983) #8 [Krause Publications] 06/1985
  • Batman and Robin (Carrie Kelley) appear in an article on page 51 almost a year before Batman: The Dark Returns is released.
  • 
• ‘Mazing Man (1986) #12 [DC Comics] 12/1986
  • The cover is a jam piece by Stephen DeStefano & Frank Miller.
  • DeStefano drew ‘Mazing Man who has fallen asleep reading The Dark Knight Returns #1.
  • Frank Miller drew ‘Mazing Man’s dream, him fighting crime with Batman and Robin (Carrie Kelley).
  • cover only; no appearance in-story
  • This is the main cover for the issue, there is no variant.
  • 
• Uncanny X-Men (1963) Annual #10 [Marvel Comics] 01/1987
  • A quick cameo of Carrie Kelley appears in Mojo’s audience.
  • 
  • 
• Batman Black and White (1996) #2 [DC Comics] 07/1996
  • cover only; no appearance in-story
  • This is the main cover for the issue, there is no variant.
  • 
• Legends of the Dark Knight (1989) [DC Comics] 11/1997
  • Book contains a Carrie Kelley pin-up by Frank Miller.
  • 
  • (Thanks to Josh P. for his email about this book!!)
• Batgirl (2009) #4 [DC Comics] 01/2010
  • Phil Noto’s cover includes the Mutant Gang from the TDK Universe, but they do not appear in the book.
  • This is the main cover for the issue, there is no variant.
  • 
• Essential Wonder Woman Encyclopedia HC (2015) [Del Rey Books]
  • page 464: entry for “Wonder Woman of Earth-31” says pre-Crisis the TDK Universe was “Earth-686”. “Post-Infinite Crisis” it was “reborn as Earth-31”.
    • The TDK Universe is not referred to as “Earth-686” in any comic books that I can find.
    • I believe this is an error.
    • I believe that ‘The Dark Knight Returns’ was the future until ‘Infinite Crisis’ when it became Earth-31.
    • 
• Robin 80th Anniversary 100 Page Super Spectacular (2020) #1 [DC Comics] 05/2020
  • Book contains a Carrie Kelley pin-up by Frank Miller.
  • 
• Wonder Woman 80th Anniversary 100-Page Super Spectacular (2021) #1 [DC Comics] 12/2021
  • The pin-up “Wonder Women of the Multiverse” includes Wonder Woman from the TDK Universe. (She is third from the right.)
  •