All-Star Batman and Robin

[SuperJerk 0]

Did anybody else buy it?

 

I'm wondering if anyone else had the same reaction to the first issue that I had.

[tbondrage99 0]

I just bought it yesterday along with Green Lantern #2 actually. Havent had a chance to read it yet though but just for the record what was your reaction?

[Boner Kawanger 0]

I loved every page.

 

I hope that's your opinion. The ending was perfect. I can't wait for the next issue.

[SuperJerk 0]

It sucks.

 

A few words about the script: I didn't like Vickie Vale saying the same thing over and over for 3 pages. I didn't like seeing Robin's origin retold for the 1,000th time. I'm not interested in seeing any story through the eyes of Vickie Vale (Apparently Frank Miller thinks its still 1989. "I have date with Bruce Wayne! How cool is that?" **puke**). I didn't like seeing Gotham City cops talking like "Sin City" characters. I spend $3 on a Batman comic, I expect to see him before the final page. I already suspect Batman's going to go over the top with his war metaphor in the coming issues.

 

And a few words about Jim Lee's art: All style, no substance. It is technically sound, but the characters are stiff and look like they're always posing. Everyone has the exact same facial expression all the time. All men look like body builders, and all the women look like Playmates. Virtually every shot is from the same perspective. Its as if the man thinks every panel should look like a splash page. He's more talented than a lot of the other fan-favorite hacks out there, but I got bored with his work a long time ago.

[Guest JMA]

I'm looking forward to getting this myself. The fact that it's eliciting such strong emotions (both positive and negative) makes me hopeful. Of course, I'm looking even more forward to Morrison's All-Star Superman.

[SuperJerk 0]

I'm also looking forward to All-Star Superman. Mostly because I like the character, but don't want to have to read the 5 ongoing series that take place in regular continuity.

[Guest JMA]

I'm also looking forward to All-Star Superman.  Mostly because I like the character, but don't want to have to read the 5 ongoing series that take place in regular continuity.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yeah, that does get a little tiresome. I've only been collecting the Verheiden/Benes run on Superman (which I find to be quite good). I do plan on collecting Rucka's run when it's printed in TPB, though.

[Boner Kawanger 0]

Yeah, it's a love it or hate it book. I don't mind psychotic Batman (provided he's not in a main book over the top), and Miller writes psychotic Batman so over the to that it makes me laugh.

[Guest JMA]

I finally read the book, and I really liked it. The emphasis on Dick Grayson was a nice touch, and Vicky Vale was just smokin' hot. My only complaint would be Batman only appearing in the last panel of the book. But this was the first issue and things have to be set-up, I suppose.

 

I can't wait until the next issue comes out.

[bobobrazil1984 0]

I was dissappointed. Very.

 

I'm mre looking forward to All Star superman, because even if it doesn't kick ass, Morrison will at least go a little over the top and crazy and different.

[tbondrage99 0]

I thought it was alright but I seriously doubt I will be picking up any more issues. The comic reminded me why I think Marvels Ultimate line is a load of shit...Excluding The Ultimates....

[SuperJerk 0]

^100% agree.^

[Guest JMA]

I'm looking forward to the next issue even more after reading the Miller/Lee interview over at Newsarama. I'm also glad that this is an on-going series, rather than a mini or maxi series.

[ZGangsta 0]

I finally got around to picking it up. It was definately disapointing compared to by expectations when I first heard about the series, but I didn't hate it. I probably could have done without the Viki Vale stuff at the beginning, but it didn't bother me or anything. Same goes for the "new" death of Robin's parents; I didn't really like it, but it got the job done and it's not like these titles are continuity so I can live with different characterizations and plot points.

I'll definately pick up the next issue because it's Frank Miller writing Batman, so I have faith.

[Guest darealdeal21]

My friend did, illl have to ask him

[Vampiro69 0]

I thought that the issue was ok, but nothing special. I will probably give the series 2 more issues before I decide to keep up with it or drop it.

[Guest JMA]

For anyone who's curious, the second issue will come out on September 14.

[Dr. Zaius 0]

Will the second issue include a 6 page POV narrative of Vickie Vale doing her hair? If so, I cannot wait.

[Vampiro69 0]

OH SNAP!

[Bruce Blank 0]

I read it and I was totally not into it - just bleh!

 

the cheesecake, the "new take" on Robin's Origin

 

the fact that this is divorced from regular continuity just so that Miller doesn't have to worry about such details (damn it I like Continuity!)

 

Nah I'll stop here and not get the next ASB&RTBW (has to be the longest most annoying title)

[Dr. Zaius 0]

Anybody read #2?

[Vampiro69 0]

Issue #2 suck big time, and I am not the only one who thinks that since many reviews are panning the issue.

[pochorenella 0]

Here's a review.

 

http://www.insidepulse.com/articles/42788

[Dr. Zaius 0]

ALL-STAR BATMAN & ROBIN, THE BOY WONDER #2

Writer: Frank Miller

Artist: Jim Lee

Publisher: DC Comics

Reviewed by Dave Farabee

 

 

One of these things is not like the other…

 

    1989: “Who are you?!” “I’m Batman.”

 

    1992: “I am vengeance. I am the night. I am BATMAN.”

 

    2005: “Are you RETARDED or something? Who the hell do you THINK I am? I’m the goddamn BATMAN.”

 

If nothing else, that last unintentionally hilarious line from ALL-STAR BATMAN & ROBIN #2 serves notice that writer Frank Miller is staking out new territory once again. Over the decades, audiences have seen Batman the smiling crimebuster, Batman the Dark Knight detective, and Batman the hardass control freak…but I’m pretty sure ALL-STAR serves up the first Batman as manic eighth grader.

 

Historians, take note.

 

So alright, Miller’s exercising some of the same muscles he did in the controversial DARK KNIGHT STRIKES AGAIN. He’s become taken in recent years with returning a sense of outrageousness to superhero material, to playing the iconoclast and serving up sacred cows as White Castle burgers. That’s not inherently wrong, is it? Didn’t we all love him for doing this in the original DARK KNIGHT? And isn’t there something to be said for countering prevailing trends of realism with more anarchic beats?

 

I want to say, “Looks good on paper, buuuuuut…”

 

ALL-STAR BATMAN & ROBIN 2 picks up right on the heels of the first issue, Batman having rescued a young Dick Grayson from a pack of corrupt cops by…uhh…driving through their cop car. And now our two heroes are speeding away from Gotham in the Batmobile, narrative captions dotting the panels with Batman’s terse situational assessments and exposition. It’s all straight from the SIN CITY school of beating the reader over the head with a hardboiled cadence:

 

    Welcome to MY world, Dick Grayson. BATS and RATS and WARTS and all.

 

    You poor boy.

 

    You poor little bastard.

 

    Welcome to hell.

 

    Hell. Or the next best thing.

 

I can’t help but feel but Miller’s been around this same block so many times he’s worn a groove into the road, but he seems more self-aware this time. Perhaps damagingly so, as, for instance, he writes one scene where Grayson’s own narrative captions recognize Batman’s tough guy persona as a facade:

 

    That’s not his real voice. It’s like he’s doing some lameass Clint Eastwood impersonation.

 

I had to laugh. What a way to undercut your lead character’s mystique! But the intent of the scene was clearly to establish the soon-to-be-Robin as a canny kid, capable of seeing through Batman’s R. Lee Ermey drill instructing and recognizing there’s a human underneath. Does the attempt at bringing some three-dimensionality to the characters work?

 

I say no, and not just because it’s almost breaking the fourth wall to comment on Batman sounding like Clint Eastwood (as he does in so many movies and cartoons). No, I just don’t think Miller can do subtle anymore, not even “comic book” subtle. Attempting it in mid-Mickey Spillane riff is as awkward a fit as Jim Lee’s art on the book, with its detailed, pretty linework meshing miserably with Miller’s consciously coarse approach to writing. With DK2, love it or hate it, at least Miller’s anarchic drawing style (what they call “bigfoot cartooning”) was a match for his words. And Jim Lee just can’t pull that off. He’s too slick, too traditional. He likes detail and cross-hatching and paying lip service to realism. It’s like consummate craftsman Frank Sinatra trying to belt out a punk tune.

 

And maybe not such a good punk tune at that.

 

The meat of the issue is a chase scene – legions of cop cars in pursuit of the Batmobile. Among the more outrageous moments: the Batmobile sprouting wings and flying like one of those cheesy old M.A.S.K. toys from the ‘80s; the Batmobile’s computer “speaking” with Alfred’s British accent; the iconically stately Alfred recast as a studly Rhett Butler type, tearing off his shirt to bind Vicky Vale’s injures and holding her sensually in the rain like the cover to a bodice-ripper romance; and let’s not forget Batman’s newfound penchant for maniacal laughter! Just before the Batmobile sprouts wings and flies, Batman begins yucking it up like he’s channeling Blue Beetle’s “Bwa-ha-has” from beyond:

 

    HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! You’re gonna love this kid! Just watch, kiddo. This is gonna be great! HAH!

 

Did I mention that Batman incinerates a bunch of cops when the Batmobile’s engines make like a rocket? Yeah. At that point in the story, though, I really didn’t care. I’d already grown numb to the book’s “WE’RE NEW AND DIFFERENT, GODDAMN IT!” approach to rejuvenating Batman, so what did I care if Miller’d decided Gotham cops were now so vile that Batman would kill ‘em with a laugh and a smile? With execution so desperate, you stop worrying about what “fits” the character and whether it’s bold or not to take a page from the Golden Age when Batman used to kill. You just laugh or sneer or pine for BATMAN: YEAR ONE. Or maybe you try to figure out what DC was thinking in promoting the All-Star line early on as home to recognizable, iconic takes on DC’s greatest heroes; as following in the tradition of Alan Moore’s smart, neo-Silver Age Superman story, “Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?”

 

What were they, retarded or something?

 

credit: Ain't It Cool News