Yesterday marked of course the release of the made-for-DVD animated film Batman: The Dark Knigth Returns, Part 1, which is an adaptation of the first half of comic book writer Frank Miller's classic 1986 comic book limited series Batman: The Dark Knight Returns. Originally, I was going to buy a copy of the DVD film right way as I was feeling hungry for a more dark-and-edgy animated superhero drama, but as it turns out, that day would be a rare moment in my life as a fanboy where I decided to buy a copy of the trade paperback of the entire series collected first before watching the film itself so as to do a compare and contrast scheme to see whether or not the makers of this PG-13 rated film toned down too much on Miller's grim-and-gritty dramatic content, a kind of content that many readers and critics consider to be important in redefining and revitalizing Batman's image as an anti-hero-type superhero for the modern age of (western-made) comic books, although it usually does not matter to me on what to do first between read the book or or watch the film version. Once I finish reading the book, then I may or will buy both parts 1 and 2 of the animated feature. And here's hoping that part 2 of the animated version of this Batman classic goes for an R rating from the MPAA so as to ensure that the animated grim-and-grittiness still matches the legendary comic book limited series itself, otherwise I fear that Warner Bros. has made no effort to evolve the dark-and-edginess for animated DC Universe content (especially for Batman of course) to the level of today's awesome canon continuity DC Universe comics, though I am usually neutral between the classic comics and the modern ones when it comes to DC Universe and Marvel Universe.

11:29 PM Canada EST