The Mundane Within a World of Heroes

Although the entire story line of Batman: The Dark Knight Returns is focused on super-powered individuals and superheroes of different kinds, there are also moments throughout the graphic novel that touch on intimate, normal moments of life for random individuals.  These mere passersby in the story actually breathe a sense of normalcy into the rather outlandish plot lines of Batman, Joker, and Superman.  They surround the heroes within a grounded and very realistic population that carries on about their daily life despite the struggles our hero protagonists are facing.  But these ordinary insights into bystander's daily lives are also used for shock value to juxtapose with the violence of the heroes.

For example, on page 69 we are introduced to a woman named Margaret Corcoran who is riding the subway on an average day.  We the readers are given a peek into her thoughts as she's riding the subway.  Margaret runs through her doctor visit and surgery, her insurance worries, and Robert, her supposed son, of whose accomplishments she's very proud.  Margaret Corcoran is average.  And when her purse gets snatched and she begs, she reacts as most victims would - she doesn't fight or use superpowers or pull out an arsenal of weapons.  She gets scared and desperately tries to get it back.  When she does, it's already too late when she realizes the bomb that has been placed inside.  The next panel is merely a newswoman's face reading that a random woman (but one that the audience got to know and feel for to some degree) blew up at a subway station.  Not only does this abrupt turn of events from normalcy to terrorism shock the audience, it also parallels acts of terrorism in real life and how they are treated by news media outlets.  In a way, the dry presentation of a woman getting blown up in a subway actually makes the story seem more realistic and in tune with how people portray the news in real life, versus a news story based on a superhero fight.  I find this scene to be very interesting because of Frank Miller's choice to use an average woman to ground a story with a lot of unrealistic elements.