Culture on My Mind
Giants Walk The Earth: The Dark Knight Returns 40th Anniversary
July 27, 2026

In 1986, Frank Miller crafted a story about Batman that became a pivotal moment for comics.

The Dark Knight Returns tells the story of a 55-year-old Bruce Wayne who has hung up the cowl and cape. He returns from a decade of retirement to fight crime once again, facing Two-Face, the Joker, and Superman while being confronted by Gotham police and the US government. It is widely considered to be one of the greatest and most influential Batman stories, and is routinely discussed as one of the greatest comics of all time.

On April 15th, Joe Crowe, Gary Mitchel, and Kevin Eldridge of The FlopCast explore the story, the themes, and the legacy of this 40-year-old title.

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These Classic Track Quarantine Panels are hosted by Gary Mitchel and Joe Crowe, the diabolical masterminds behind the Dragon Con American Sci-Fi Classics Track. If you want to play along at home, grab your internet-capable device of choice and navigate the world wide webs to the track’s YouTube channel and/or the group on Facebook. If you join in live, you can also leave comments and participate in the discussion using StreamYard connected through Facebook, YouTube, and Twitch.

Gary can also be found on A Podcask of Amontillado, a horror-themed podcast that he co-hosts with Erin McGourn.

If you want to connect with the track, Joe, and/or Gary on the socials, you can find them on Twitter (ClassicTrack, JoeCroweShow, and sneezythesquid) and Instagram (SciFiClassicTrack, JoeCroweShow, and Gary_Mitchel). And, of course, to celebrate more pop culture awesomeness, you can find Dragon Con all year round on the internet, Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

You can find those discussions and more every other Thursday as the American Sci-Fi Classics Track explores the vast reaches of classic American science fiction.

The episode art each week is generously provided by the talented Sue Kisenwether. You can find her (among other places) on her website Subspace Sue.

Culture on My Mind is inspired by the weekly Can’t Let It Go segment on the NPR Politics Podcast where each host brings one thing to the table that they just can’t stop thinking about.

For more creativity with a critical eye, visit Creative Criticality.