Five Key Comics To Read Before Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice

THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS

Frank Miller's 1986 classic is one of the most important Batman stories ever told -- and while many fans criticize the way he depicts Superman in the book, it's impossible to ignore the influence his take on their relationship has had on future representations in the decades since.

"I've been particularly brutal to Superman, but that's not because I don't like the character; it's because the point-of-view has always been Batman's," Miller told me during a recent interview. "If I did a story where Superman was the lead character, Batman would be the antagonist. I adore Superman, it's just that Batman does not, so when I'm writing Batman, I do not. It's very much a writer's job to take on a character's point of view."

From the armor Batman wears to any number of visual callbacks, The Dark Knight Returns was clearly a major guiding force for Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice -- and worth a re-read even if it wasn't, becuase...well, it's The Dark Knight Returns.

THE DEATH OF SUPERMAN & DAY OF DOOM

While there's a lot of Doomsday's mythology that doesn't look like it will carry over at all between the comics and the movies, the fact that this Dan Jurgens-created monster is the film's big physical threat meant it's worth re-exploring his first appearance in the best-selling The Death of Superman storyline.

A bio-engineered Kryptonian monster, audiences first met Doomsday when he was bound head to toe in a green suit, with cables and chains keeping his limbs immobile, inside a metal cell far below the ground. He tore through the Justice League en route to killing Superman when the two finally had a spectacular final collision in Metropolis and fell.

Ten years later, Superman: Day of Doom celebrated the ten-year anniversary of The Death of Superman by bringing Jurgens and one of his favorite collaborators, artist Bill Sienkiewicz, together to examine what Superman means to the world and what his death -- even if it turned out to be temporary -- meant to the DC Universe.

Why should you read Day of Doom instead of literally any other Doomsday story that's more action-packed? The answer is pretty simple: aesthetically, Jurgens and Sienkiewicz create a gritty, messy world that feels pretty at home with the look and feel of a Zack Snyder movie...and while exploring what Superman's death meant to people, it managed to also explore what Superman's life and his very existence meant to the ordinary people of the world -- clearly a theme that they're exploring in Batman V Superman.

WONDER WOMAN: BLOOD

The first volume of the post-Flashpoint Wonder Woman falls squarely into love-it-or-hate-it territory for most fans...very much like any given Zack Snyder comic book adaptation.

The story sets the stage for the New 52 version of the character, giving a sense of her personality and her origin -- and is likely a major inspiration for the way Gal Gadot will play the character in Batman V Superman.

There's no guarantee of that, of course, but between the tone of the film and the look of the costume, it seems likely that's where Wonder Woman is coming from...!

DARK KNIGHT OVER METROPOLIS

Recently reissued in trade paperback, Superman: Dark Knight Over Metropolis explored the often-strained relationship between Batman and superman, eventually bringing them to a point where they could be not only the World's Finest team...but friends, as well.

Set in the post-The Man of Steel world of John Byrne, Jerry Ordway, and Dan Jurgens's Superman comics, Dark Knight Over Metropolis deals with a Batman who is at first suspicious of and hostile toward Superman -- and a Superman who believes Batman's authoritarian streak makes him a menace.

Soon, though, the two are working together to crack a difficult case and, by the time all is said and done, the two express their confidence in one another in surprising ways.

JUSTICE LEAGUE: ORIGIN

Justice League: Origin (adapted on video as Justice League: War) is (again) the first arc in the New 52...but this time we know for sure that elements of it will be playing a role in Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice.

In the post-Flashpoint DC Universe, the Justice League came together in response to a threat from Darkseid, whose Parademons launched an all-out assault on Earth.

We've seen Parademons, and hints of Doomsday's involvement, in a number of promotional stills and trailer beats assumed to be Batman's nightmares or fantasies -- and heard that we might even get a "vision" of The Flash showing up to warn them about what's to come...and of course, "Dawn of Justice" is in and of itself an implication that the Justice League -- complete with Cyborg, not Martian Manhunter -- will come together by the end of the movie.