The opening panels of “Dark Knight III: The Master Race” depict a break-in at the Batcave. A display case containing the imposing costume of Batman, the DC vigilante, is smashed open and his emblematic cape and cowl are stolen, leaving only a bare mannequin.

This sequence can be seen as metaphor for the transformative effect that the “Dark Knight” comics, created by the artist and writer Frank Miller, have had on the 76-year-old Batman superhero.

When his original series, “Batman: The Dark Knight Returns,” was published in 1986, its depiction of an older Bruce Wayne, who had returned to fight crime after a period of retirement, reinvigorated the character. It was a shadowy hero for a new generation and it helped strip away the colorful affectations of the 1960s “Batman” TV show.

Beginning with Mr. Miller’s comics and culminating with Christopher Nolan’s multibillion-dollar “Dark Knight” movie franchise, this somber Batman became the character’s definitive incarnation.