Summary

• Marvel's The Immortal Thor: Annual #1 parodies the grimdark tone of Frank Miller's work, specifically The Dark Knight Returns.
• The introduction of Powerstone in the comic mocks the simplistic and violent nature of classic '80s and '90s power fantasies.
• Marvel uses Powerstone to showcase how comics have evolved to include more depth and nuance beyond traditional superhero power fantasies.

Warning: Spoilers for The Immortal Thor: Annual (2024) #1 ahead!We live in a golden age of comics and superheroes, in large part thanks to Marvel and the widespread success of the MCU. But the comic tropes that make the genre popular today are very different from the ones that popularized comics in decades past, and the comparison isn't always favorable to what came before. This is demonstrated by Marvel taking some potshots at the notoriously "grimdark" work of Frank Miller, particularly The Dark Knight Returns.

Al Ewing, David Baldeón, and Federico Blee's The Immortal Thor: Annual #1 introduces readers to yet another living incarnation of the Infinity Stones: Prince Otherone, who embodies the Power Stone (and later takes it as his superhero name). Eager to test his newfound strength, "Powerstone" immediately looks for the roughest planet he can find to try his hand at heroics.

Powerstone's inner monologue, coupled with the classic "lightning bolt" pose from The Dark Knight Returns, draws comparisons to the grimdark stories of the '80s and '90s - but his incredible stupidity also makes it clear that this is all parody.

Marvel Calls Out The Classic '80s And '90s Power Fantasies

Frank Miller, Klaus Janson, John Costanza, and Lynn Varley's The Dark Knight Returns is a classic tale of one man's fight against a corrupt world, and its dystopian, brutal worldview set the tone for comics in the decades to follow. Miller's Batman is a creature without nuance, fighting against monsters and the systems that would cosset and coddle them and meting out vigilante justice with extreme violence. This grimdark worldview would become Miller's hallmark, and his star would rise throughout the '90s with Sin City and 300 - works that shared this brand of machismo.

When the cultural zeitgeist moved on, however, Frank Miller didn't move with it. Miller's return to Batman in All Star Batman & Robin, The Boy Wonder (2005) was widely panned, with the outrageously callous take on Batman often held as a franchise worst. Similarly, Miller's 2011 response to 9/11, Holy Terror, was seen as reductive at best and outright racist at worst. Miller is still a prominent figure in comics, but has lost much of his cultural cache since the era of power fantasies he helped usher in has ed.

Marvel's Powerstone Is A Frank Miller Pastiche

Everything about Powerstone's introduction is a parody of The Dark Knight Returns. From the repetitive and hyperbolic narration ("A dirty planet orbiting a grimy star in a grubby sector") to the comically evil gangsters openly committing transparent crimes in an unjust society (their victim is an "innocent toxic waste manufacturer"), it could all be lifted straight from a Frank Miller plot. Instead of a lone beacon of justice, however, Powerstone is an idiot - a metaphor for how overly simplistic and thin these grimdark stories really are.

Comics have come a long way since the '90s. The medium isn't perfect, but there is much more room now for stories with depth and nuance alongside the classic power fantasy - even in the superhero genre - and Marvel has been a major player in helping to expand the medium. While there's a time and place for the grimdark power fantasy, Marvel also doesn't hesitate to point out how far comics have come - even if that means putting The Dark Knight Returns in its crosshairs.

The Immortal Thor: Annual (2024) #1 is available now from Marvel Comics.