All-Star Batman and Robin: The Boy Wonder

Writer: Frank Miller

Artist: Jim Lee

Miller’s tarnishing of everything Batman stands for is so bad that it’s good!!!

Ranking: 2 stars

Frank Miller is without a doubt, one of the dark knight's greatest contributors (he, along with Jeph Loeb is still one of my top two favorite Batman writers). After all, he is the man who revolutionized Batman's world with BATMAN: THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS, and BATMAN: YEAR ONE. Both works not only transformed Batman from the campy Adam West caped crusader, into the tragic, dark protector he was meant to be, but also allowed comics themselves to be taken seriously as a literature. But even titans can fall from the power they once possessed. Just as Kronos was usurped from his throne in Olympus, Frank Miller has tragically been broken as a great writer. ALL-STAR BATMAN AND ROBIN: THE BOY WONDER symbolizes the collapse of his once legendary status. The All-Star DC series were intended to tell stories of their most popular superheroes, with out any previous backstory or continuity, in order to avoid confusing potential new readers, similar to Marvel's Ultimate Comics line. While Grant Morrison's ALL-STAR SUPERMAN was extremely popular among fans and critics alike, Miller's ALL-STAR BATMAN AND ROBIN is quite possibly one of the most criticized Batman comics to ever be published. The story, or what there is of a story, starts off with the murder of Dick Grayson's parents during their circus performance. Instead of their trapeze ropes being sprayed with acid like in the original 30's story & Jeph Loeb's DARK VICTORY, Dick's parents are shot by a hit-man known as Jocko Boy Vanzetti. As corrupt cops abduct and try to torture young Dick, Batman arrives on the scene to save him. But any sort of plot abruptly stops there. Instead of going after Jocko Boy, or kindly adopting Dick into Wayne Manor, Miller decides to have Batman kidnap Grayson, and rapidly transforms the dark knight into a child abusing psychopath. During the course of the book, Batman is constantly violent, cruel, and sadistic. Miller's Batman (not the one from THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS) enjoys brutally injuring criminals, and leaving them in a critical state. Examples include: giving a rapist a compound fracture, throwing a Molotov Cocktail at a gang of arms dealers, and get this, an evil laugh (how original, not). Where as the mainstream Batman would've become a surrogate father to Grayson, bonding with him as they both lost their parents to crime, Miller seems to prefer a drill sergeant figure for the dark knight. The dark knight introduces himself as "the Godd*** Batman" (which is casually repeated throughout the book by either Batman or an individual with connections to him), he makes Grayson sleep in the Batcave, and would've forced him to eat rats if Alfred had not intervened. In effect, he malformed Batman into the complete opposite of what he's meant to be. The content I just mentioned is just definitely discomforting, and is likely to drive readers away, but Miller's process of bringing Batman to ruin is so poorly written and badly executed that it's enjoyable. I know the idea of enjoying something that's so awful seems ridiculous, but it's likable as it's writing is so cheesy and unintelligent that it's fun to laugh at how awfully created it was. It's like watching a movie that is severely bad to the point where its flaws are amusing. (JAWS: THE REVENGE, PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE, and BATTLEFIELD EARTH ring a bell?) Frank Miller gives the book no sense of plot whatsoever, and appears to enjoy writing violent Batman just for the sake of creating a violent story ("wow, what creativity!"). As for the other heroes in the book (SUPERMAN, GREEN LANTERN, WONDER WOMAN, and PLASTIC MAN), Miller shows complete disrespect towards them, as he portrays them as idiotic buffoons who have zero percent intelligence compared to Batman. This is "perfectly" interpreted when Batman fights Green Lantern, as he believes that Lantern only creates oversized household appliances with his ring, and easily defeats him by painting the entire fighting grounds (himself and Robin included) yellow (just hilariously bad)! No need to spoil anymore if you're looking for a poorly written story to mock, as this one is a gold mine! The only material in this vomitorium of comic book that is actually good (and I mean for real) is the artwork by Jim Lee! As usual, his pencils breathe life into the characters he illustrates, which gives us an astonishing gallery of innovating talent and skill. The epic style from BATMAN: HUSH is ever present, along with submissions into the world of Gotham City, including a sexy Black Canary, a wide gatefold of the Batcave and its arsenal, Miller's "gosh-darn" Batman beating the snot out of criminals, a young Barbra Gordon as Batgirl, and the Joker with a large dragon tattoo on his back! While it does aid Miller's ruination of Batman's world, there's no denying that his art is beautiful material. The artwork alone is reason enough for buying this (my reason for buying it actually), but if you want a Jim Lee book, along with a great story, I suggest BATMAN: HUSH or JUSTICE LEAGUE: ORIGIN. Overall, Frank Miller has gone obviously downhill with ALL-STAR BATMAN AND ROBIN: THE BOY WONDER. It's nowhere near the levels of his true masterpieces (THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS, BATMAN: YEAR ONE, SIN CITY, and 300), but it's worth buying this for the artwork, and to witness just how far Miller has descended from the title of great comic book writers. It's so horribly written, that it's just hilarious!

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