Posted in: Batman, Comics, DC Comics | Tagged: dark knight returns, Facsimile, frank miller, jim lee

SCOOP: Jim Lee & Frank Miller's New Variants To Dark Knight Returns

Jim Lee and Frank Miller's new variant covers to the Batman: The Dark Knight Returns facsimile out in February

Published Fri, 23 Jan 2026 08:57:23 -0600

Last updated Fri, 23 Jan 2026 09:13:47 -0600

Article Summary

Frank Miller and Jim Lee debut new variant covers for Batman: The Dark Knight Returns 40th anniversary
DC releases a facsimile edition in February 2026, closely reproducing the original 1986 comic
Special editions include Miller's latest style, Lee's variant, foil covers, and a blank sketch option
Frank Miller's Dark Knight Returns redefined Batman for a darker, more mature era of comics

The first issue of Batman: The Dark Knight Returns from 1986 by Frank Miller, Klaus Janson and Lynne Varley is getting a Facsimile version from DC Comics in February 2026 for its fortieth anniversary. And as well as the standard version that reproduces the original as closely as possible, there are a variety of variant covers, including a new cover by Frank Miller in his more recent style as well as one from current DC Comics Publisher, President and CCO Jim Lee, and foil and sketch versions for sale on the 25th of February.

SCOOP: Jim Lee & Frank Miller's New Covers To Dark Knight Returns — Batman: The Dark Knight Returns Facsimile 2026 Edition: Open-to-Order Variant Cover by Frank Miller $5.99

And this is a look ahead to a variant for Batman: The Dark Knight Returns Facsimile 2026 book 3 out in April from Frank Quitely.

Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, published by DC Comics as a four-issue limited series, it tells an Elseworlds-style alternate future story of an aging Batman. Set about 10 years after Bruce Wayne retired the cape and cowl, the world has changed: superheroes are largely outlawed or retired, Gotham City is overrun by violent crime (including a savage gang called the Mutants), and society is crumbling amid Cold War tensions. A 55-year-old, physically worn Bruce Wayn, haunted by guilt, his parents' murder, and the death of Jason Todd, is pulled back into action when Gotham's chaos becomes unbearable. He dons an upgraded, armoured Batsuit and returns as the Dark Knight, narrated through Batman's inner monologue, TV news reports, and public reactions. It helped shift superheroes toward darker, more mature, psychologically complex portrayals in the 1980s, influenced Tim Burton's 1989 Batman film, Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy, especially The Dark Knight Rises, and Zack Snyder's Batman v Superman, which heavily referenced the older, armoured Batman and the Superman fight.

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