Bill Finger and Bob Kane wrote "Dark Knight Strikes Back"???

Heh!

No, those are Batman's creators. The original writer/artist of DARK KNIGHT is Frank Miller.

As you know.

Wise-ass.

I think DKSA is an argument against Before Watchmen but probably not in the same way. I like the first issue of DKSA where Miller seemed to be putting forward the notion that super heroes are larger than life figures who by their nature challenge the status quo and that when you try to make them respectable or smooth out the rough edges they fall victim to the very forces they are intended to challenge. But I wasn't crazy about the direction he took that idea in and the story itself just seemed to fall apart as it progressed. All Star Superman at times almost felt like a counterpoint to DKSA. That's why I'd rather have the creators just make their own versions of the characters or take what is in the public domain for their own works than see something like Before Watchmen. I'm more interested in the creator than the character franchise and the continuity is the weakest aspect to me.

I didn't like much of anything about the DARK KNIGHT sequel. It felt like Miller doing a bad parody of Miller. But you're right, it really went off the rails as the mini-series progressed.

If I remember correctly, the 9/11 attacks happened in the middle of it -- and Miller took a few months off, putting the project on hold halfway through, to recast it as an angry 9/11 response. This is how we get Metropolis getting nuked and a weepy Superman pawing through the rubble for survivors.