As the horrific details of the shooting at a Colorado theater continue to emerge, some are noticing a parallel between the incident and a page from "The Dark Knight Returns," a series of four comic books, originally published as a graphic novel written and drawn by Frank Miller.
The comic book includes a scene where a troubled young man shoots an audience inside a darkened theater. The character, named Arnold Crimp, is shown buying a movie ticket, entering a theater, and brandishing a gun. The last panel of the page states that three were slain in a "Batman inspired porn theater shootout." According to the book, which HLN has obtained, Crimp thinks he hears satanic messages in a song.
The panel depicts a relatively minor moment in the novel. Though it is clear a shooting takes place, no violence is portrayed and the event is used to illustrate other conflicts in the novel rather than to serve as a central plot point.
The "Dark Knight Returns" series also includes a scene where Bruce Wayne recalls the night when his parents were murdered outside of a movie theater. In other adaptations of the "Batman" story, the movie theater reference is changed to a live theater, or an opera house.
As with many comics franchises, there can be many plots and timelines attributed to one character. "The Dark Knight Returns" comic takes place when Bruce Wayne (Batman) is older, and its plot is not the same as the plot of the current movie, "The Dark Knight Rises."
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