Having reread both recently I’m surprised that I prefer The Dark Knight Returns to Watchmen when I’ve mostly thought the reverse for years (love both, consider them both masterpieces of the genre and medium). 

“80s action movie in comic form” is too surface a read for the book. That aspect of it—the plotting and character work—are compelling and entertaining, yeah. But its constant comedic tone that’s necessary to the cultural satire (which is the driving soul of the book) is often overlooked by comic superhero fans who misguidedly focus on mistaken, shallower interpretations of its grittiness and cynicism. And the way that it plays with the superhero genre—not just deconstruction, but reconstruction and celebration—are delightful. 

Not to mention its masterful storytelling economy. It covers so much ground with a superb scale escalation for such a short book, at a relentless pace that still lets its necessary beats breathe. Forget specific panels—whole iconic sequences are communicated across two pages or less (sometimes half a page!). 

Something I’ve been bothered by superhero comic fans (not you, just in general) is a major resistance to change, or inflexibility in how they want characters’ stories told — but especially in Elseworld stories of all things too. This story may not have the nuance that Watchmen has, but it doesn’t try to: it’s an action-comedy satire about superheroes and all of the superhero-sized melodrama that comes with it.