Counter-Currents
Dark Right: Batman Viewed From the Right
Multiple authors
San Francisco: Counter-Currents, 2018
222 pages
Greg Johnson & Gregory Hood, eds.
About Dark Right
Why is Batman a staple of Right-wing discussions and memes? The entire superhero genre is inherently anti-liberal, for even though superheroes generally fight for liberal humanist values, they do so outside the law. They are vigilantes, and vigilantism only becomes necessary when the liberal system breaks down.
But the character of Batman, particularly after being rebooted in Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns and developed in Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight Trilogy, is not just anti-liberal, but decidedly Right-wing. The essays in Dark Right show us why, focusing on Traditionalist, masculinist, and New Right themes in Nolan’s Dark Knight Trilogy, but also exploring other films, comics, and graphic novels.
Dark Right includes essays by the leading cultural critics of the New Right, including editors Greg Johnson and Gregory Hood, plus Trevor Lynch, Jason Reza Jorjani, Christopher Pankhurst, Will Windsor, James J. O’Meara, Zachary O. Ray, Jonathan Bowden, Spencer J. Quinn, David Yorkshire, and Andrew Hamilton.
In Praise of Dark Right
“Few on the Right understand the importance of engaging popular culture like Dr. Greg Johnson and Gregory Hood. This collection of essays is not just a reminder of why their work is so vital, but also why they represent two of the most stalwart leaders and thinkers of the Dissident Right.”
—Paul Kersey, Stuff Black People Don’t Like
“Dark Right is a landmark collection, demonstrating the power of New Right ideas for understanding popular culture—and the power of popular culture for inspiring Right-wing thought and action. Read this book, and I guarantee you will want to join the League of Shadows.”
—Jeff Costello, author of The Importance of James Bond
Contents
Editors’ Introduction—Gregory Hood & Greg Johnson — 1
The Dark Knight Trilogy
Batman Begins—Trevor Lynch — 11
The Dark Knight—Trevor Lynch — 15
The Dark Knight Rises—Trevor Lynch — 27
The Order in Action: The Dark Knight Rises—Gregory Hood — 39
Conservatism’s League of Stupidity: Christopher Nolan as Fascist Filmmaker?—Gregory Hood & Luke Gordon — 50
Gotham Guardian: Will the Real Batman Please Stand Up?—Jason Reza Jorjani — 67
Superheroes, Sovereignty, & the Deep State—Greg Johnson — 83
Caesar Without Gods—Christopher Pankhurst — 95
A Dark Knight without a King—Will Windsor — 105
The Ponderous Weight of the Dark Knight—James J. O’Meara — 116
Batman vs. Superman
Man of Steel—Trevor Lynch — 126
Superman & the White Christ: Man of Steel—Gregory Hood — 131
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice—Trevor Lynch — 141
Justice League—Trevor Lynch — 146
Comics & Graphic Novels
The Alt Knight: A Retrospect of Frank Miller’s Dark Knight Returns for the Current Year—Zachary O. Ray — 150
Batman: The Dark Knight Returns—Trevor Lynch — 161
Batman & the Joker—Jonathan Bowden — 165
Arkham Asylum: An Analysis—Jonathan Bowden — 169
Batman as Comedy—Spencer J. Quinn — 176
Tim Burton’s Batman Movies
Tim Burton’s Batman: Putting the Gothic into Gotham—David Yorkshire — 181
Batman Returns: An Anti-Semitic Allegory?—Andrew Hamilton — 191
Index — 203
About the Authors — 217