A Reader's Response to 'The Dark Knight Returns'

The question asked is:
Do you like Bruce Wayne/Batman as he is presented in this comic? Why or Why not? What Kind of person is he?

Actually, I like how Bruce Wayne/Batman is presented in this comic. As to the reason why, it's because this story takes 20 years into Batman's future where Bruce is to say the least, old, and Gotham has grown even more gritty and messed up. You could say that because of this, Batman has changed to a point where he is not afraid to be a little more on the brutal side of things.

Now in most comics featuring the Dark Knight, he is normally in his prime, and has little trouble dealing with most baddies, with the exception of the main villains of course. However, as I said at the start, Bruce is old now, and no longer in his prime, because of this we see him struggle to deal with foes that he would have ordinary had no trouble dealing with when he was younger, which I find more interesting. This becomes especially apparent during the second issue, when Batman is fighting with the Mutant gang leader. The only things the Mutant leader have going for him is his speed and strength and is also in his prime, something of which batman comments on that he is jealous of. Because of this, batman is unable to go toe to toe with him, which leads to Batman getting his ass handed to him. However, during his second encounter with the Mutant leader Batman pretty much plays dirty (and I mean that literally) as he uses the mud to get the upper hand on the Mutant leader and beats him. Batman does not stop there, not only does he break his leg, but he goes farther, though as to how far he goes is not said, but considering the mutant leaders un-moving body, and the fact that he is never seen again, could imply that Batman REALLY messed him up, or maybe even killed him (though this is unlikely). He also does something similar during his fight against the Joker in the third issue, I mean he throws one of his batarangs  into one of the Jokers eyes and even goes to break the Jokers neck, which he does slightly, which results in the Joker being partially paralyzed.

I also like the fact that Bruce, after god knows how many years of donning his Batman persona may in fact be going slowly crazy. Superman points this out a few times, "--You, with your wild Obsession--" he is most likely referring to how Bruce has become obsessed with his Batman persona, and his one man vigilante quest to bring justice to Gotham city. Bruce is also making the same mistakes over again, as he ends up recruiting a young girl, named Carrie Kelly, who becomes the next Robin to help him, bringing a another innocent teen into his world, forgetting what happened to many of the other Robins...

Bruce has definitely become the kind of person who has let his alter ego and 'mission' take over his life. He has also probably come to the realization that due to his age, he can't be Batman for much longer, which I think can help explain his increased brutality when dealing with his enemies, if he messes them up enough, they won't be able to do anything bad anymore right? By now he must have realized that beating up your enemies and sending the to jail only creates a cycle, because they somehow escape or get let out, then he has to fight them again, I guess with this method he thinks he can break the cycle without having to kill his enemies.