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DC Comics is celebrating 40 years of Batman: The Dark Knight Returns this year, and there's never been a better time to take a closer look at Frank Miller, Klaus Janson, and Lynn Varley's iconic Batman story. At ComicsPRO 2026, Klaus Janson and Frank Miller dished on secrets that have never before been revealed. And as it turns out, the man behind the cab driver in The Dark Knight Returns was modeled after another beloved comic book creator, Walt Simonson. 

At ComicsPRO 2026, Frank Miller teased how Walt Simonson, the writer and artist of books like The Mighty Thor, Orion, and more, came to make the jump into DC Comics. "Now I had drawn simply a nondescript cab driver. But a certain, other, artistic person, let's say, had read the book, whose name need not be mentioned. So I thought it might be nice to make a certain other artist [unintelligible]. Actually, it just happened by accident to turn the cab driver into a dead ringer for Walter Simonson," Frank Miller said.  

"I gotta add to that that at the time, I was sharing a studio space with Walter Simonson. So perhaps the muse speaks through me," Miller added. 

We're big fans of Walt Simonson (and his wife, Louise Simonson) here at Popverse, and can't think of a better person to have immortalized in the pages of The Dark Knight Returns. I mean, Walt in this book looks like Thor's human alter ego, Sigurd Jarlson, trying to disguise himself behind a pair of thick glasses. It's also worth noting that Walt himself created Sigurd Jarlson in Thor #341 in 1983. Where the hell am I going with this? Was Walt Simonson Sigurd Jarlson with glasses? I don't know. I'll have to ask him. 

Get ready for what's next with our list to upcoming comics and how to buy comics at a comic shop, and our guide to all the free comics you can get with this year's Free Comic Book Day and Comics Giveaway Day.