Batman fans are experiencing the comic book equivalent of the "black or gold dress" discourse over which direction the hero is facing on one of his most iconic DC Comic book covers.
The cover of Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, a 1986 comic book written and illustrated by Frank Miller, famously depicts the aged caped crusader leaping into the night sky with his right arm cutting into the wind while his left arm arcs into a flexing motion à la WWE Hall of Fame wrestler Hulk Hogan.
For nearly 40 years, comic book enthusiasts have accepted that the silhouette of Batman's back is facing the reader as he strikes this iconic pose in front of a bolt of lightning. However, X/Twitter user @KrakenKaptain recently uploaded photos of the original cover art revealing that Batman has been facing the opposite direction the entire time. According to KrakenKaptain, Batman has his front facing the reader with the opposite arms in the pose.
Before this week I’d always seen Batman as back-facing here. Now I can see it both ways. I wonder if Frank did it on purpose. https://t.co/gxFG6oJZy1
— Andy Khouri (@andykhouri) November 28, 2023
While half of the discourse on comic book Twitter has fans saying they always assumed Batman's Dorito-shaped chest was always facing toward the reader the pose given Miller's tendency to draw him that way, other's like KrakenKaptain had their minds blown at the artistic revelation.
"For some reason I find myself wondering @mrmarkmillar‘s thoughts on this," KrakenKaptain wrote in their tweet. "Apparently, Frank Miller always intended for this shot to be Batman front-facing, when most people see it as his back-facing audience. Thought’s on artist vs audience interpretation?"
Mark Millar, the writer behind comic book series like Kick-Ass and Old Man Logan, replied to KrakenKaptain in a quote retweet saying "This blows my mind. I always, always thought it was a bold shot from behind."
Millar isn't the only creative who assumed Batman's pose had his back facing the viewer. During his battle against Doomsday in Zack Snyder's 2016 film Batman Vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice, Batman briefly strikes The Dark Knight Rises pose (with his back to the audience) before grapple hooking away from a laser beam and crashing into a brick wall.
https://youtu.be/SPtU9xEy66c?list=TLPQMjgxMTIwMjPGLGFR3pvVcA
Unfortunately, the 2013 cartoon movie adaptation of Batman: The Dark Knight Returns doesn't help clear up the ongoing discourse over which way Batman is facing either so your safest bet is to go with whatever direction you think is the coolest.
Isaiah Colbert is a freelance writer for IGN.
