Warning: Spoilers for Batman #140 ahead!

Summary

• In Batman #140, the Dark Knight's struggle for control over his mind is depicted as a battle against Zur-En-Arrh clones from different Batman franchises.
• Frank Miller's Batman from The Dark Knight Returns stands out as the leader of the Zur-infected Batman copies, embodying Batman's worst aspects.
• The Dark Knight Returns' Batman serves as the precursor to Zur-En-Arrh, both advocating for extreme measures and the creation of armies to combat crime.

When Batman is confronted with dark mirrors of his psyche from across the multiverse, one figment — the Batman from Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns — stands out from the rest. The Dark Knight's role as the unofficial leader of the Zur-infected copies of Batman paint him as the ultimate embodiment of Batman's worst, darkest aspects.

When the Zur-En-Arrh programming inside his mind takes over Batman's body in Batman #140 by Chip Zdarsky and Jorge Jiménez, Bruce's mental struggle for control is depicted as him confronting an army of Zur-En-Arrh clones from across the multiverse, each one from a different Batman franchise. While all of them parrot Zur's dogma of isolation and ruthless extermination of criminals, Frank Miller's Batman quickly establishes himself as their leader, commanding the attack on Bruce's psyche.

After fighting off the hordes of Zur-Batmen, the Dark Knight Zur proves to be the final obstacle Bruce must defeat to take control of his mind once more, cementing his position as the Zur in charge.

Batman Faces Off Against a Dark Knight of Zur-En-Arrh

Released as a four-part miniseries in 1986, Frank Miller's Batman: The Dark Knight Returns (with Klaus Janson, Lynn Varley, and John Costanza) is famous for ushering in the "grim and gritty" era of '90s comics. This Batman inhabits a fairly black-and-white world: criminals are portrayed as irredeemable monsters (such as the inhuman Mutants gang), with society divided into the pseudo-intellectual apologists who enable them and the innocent, frustrated people they prey upon. As the hero, Miller's Batman is the one with the tools and force to confront these monsters, going beyond the law to mete out a brutally violent form of justice.

With this in mind, it makes perfect sense that Miller's Batman would be Zur's ultimate avatar in Bruce's psyche. Both Zur and Miller's Batman live in a world of extremes with no room for nuance: there is only the crusade against crime and the criminal monsters who need to be put down. Instead of nurturing a loving found family, both Zur and Miller's Batman advocate for building an army: Zur with his multiversal copies, and Miller's Batman with his Robin and the Sons of Batman gang. While not intentionally written as such at the time, The Dark Knight Returns shows a Batman that has wholeheartedly embraced the Zur mindset.

The Dark Knight Returns' Batman Is the Precursor to Zur-En-Arrh

Zdarsky and Jiménez's "Mindbomb" arc largely boils down to a battle for Batman's soul: the story is asking readers to consider if he is a man who seeks to heal his city or a destroyer of those whom he deems unfit to live in his world. While Zur's position as an antagonist strongly implies the former, The Dark Knight Returns' version of Batman has firmly embraced the latter. With his violent methods and punitive mindset, this Batman is functionally identical to the Batman Zur wishes Bruce Wayne to become, and that makes him the darkest incarnation of the Dark Knight yet.

Batman #140 is available now from DC Comics.