YMMV / Dark Knight III: The Master Race

• Awesome Art: Andy Kubert's pencils have been well-received as a nice blend of his own style with Miller's.
• Complete Monster: Quar is a Kryptonian cult leader who was shunned by the citizens of Kandor for his fanatical beliefs. Believing it was his right to be worshipped by humanity, he slaughtered any who opposed him and tricked Ray Palmer into enlarging his congregation back to normal size. Quar destroyed the remaining citizens of Kandor with his heat vision and led his "children" on a trail of mass destruction across the globe. After having one of his followers suicide bomb the city of Moscow, Quar ordered humanity to surrender or face his wrath. He turned Superman's daughter Lara against him and threatened to destroy Gotham if they didn't surrender Batman to him. After a failed attempt to kidnap Superman's infant son, Quar killed most of his flock when they express a desire to leave humanity alone. With his remaining children, he planned to destroy the rest of the Earth by blowing themselves up at a fault line. With a massive god complex to go along with his powers, Quar believed that Kryptonians were the true Master Race.
• Improved Second Attempt:
  • Superman shows intelligence, tactical strategy, might, and retires as a Humble Hero — the direct opposite of his portrayal in the series. Not only that, but it's revealed he had been holding back in all his previous fights against Batman, to the point Bruce himself admits he probably wouldn't have been able to defeat him had he fought at full strength.
  • Miller seems to have gotten his act together in the art department as the backup stories titled "Dark Knight Universe Presents" has artwork by the man that are infinitely better than what we've seen of him recently. Even if it's not Frank but the efforts of the colorist and some clean-up intern, it's still this trope in play.
  • The Last Crusade one shot, a prequel that occurs just before Jason Todd's last days as Robin was likewise very well received.
• Like You Would Really Do It: The first issue ends with Carrie claiming that Bruce Wayne is dead. Sure enough, the second issue reveals he's actually alive.
• Narm: The political and contemporary references don't feel as natural as they did in DKR. Donald Trump tweeting throughout the story (even noting his election victory in issue 7) feels almost comically forced.
• Surprisingly Improved Sequel: While it definitely isn't giving The Dark Knight Returns a run for its money, The Master Race is generally considered to be a step up from The Dark Knight Strikes Again. Strikes Again was widely criticized for its garish artwork and nonsensical, meandering story, but The Master Race features much more consistent artwork (still clearly influenced by Miller's signature stylism, but much more reined in with better color palettes) and a narrative that — while still quite heavy-handed in political allegory as Miller usually is these days — is vastly more coherent and restores the meaningful characterization of its heroes, especially Batman himself.
• Tainted by the Preview: Previews for Frank Miller's art were generally poorly received, with many fans claiming that Miller had lost his touch. His cover for the Atom back-up story from the very first issue was especially criticised◊.

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