All-Star Batman & Robin, The Boy Wonder, Vol. 1 (Hardcover)

by Frank Miller (Author), Jim Lee (Illustrator)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Miller, the man who kicked off the grim and gritty era of superhero comics with the 1986 Batman tale The Dark Knight Returns, returns to write the iconic character once again in a series that takes the tropes of superhero excess and explodes them into satire. Miller casts Batman as an obsessive lunatic who enlists traumatized children into his war on crime, calls himself the goddamn Batman and is prone to cackling maniacally. Sex and violence are constant preoccupations, but even during sex scenes, Miller can hardly keep a straight face. After a shared rampage against corrupt cops that includes the interjection, Eat glass, lawman! Batman and heroine Black Canary celebrate with an intimate encounter on a burning pier during a lightning storm. Although the bombastic, repetitive narration and decompressed storytelling (two and a half issues pass before Batman and Robin leave the Batmobile) often borders on hilarious, Miller aims for more obvious jokes later in the series. It's an over the top in-joke for the superhero crowd, though its irreverence may not have the most zealous and serious superhero fans laughing. (June)
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From Booklist
Miller returns to the character he so audaciously reinterpreted in the groundbreaking The Dark Knight Returns (1987). His Batman is again a genuinely nasty, borderline-psychotic piece of work; here, however, Miller mitigates the character’s vicious sadism through the use of thought-captions revealing unspoken reservations about the course his war against crime has taken. Set in the early years of Batman’s career, the tale sees him groom 12-year-old aerialist Dick Grayson as a sidekick after the senior Flying Graysons are murdered. Once Robin’s on board, the story line meanders, growing ever more extreme and skirting silliness as Miller introduces his irreverent versions of Superman, Wonder Woman, and other Justice Leaguers. This time out, drawing duties are assumed by Jim Lee, whose admittedly gorgeous but ultimately shallow approach substitutes overrendered flash for the thoughtful economy and innovative storytelling techniques Miller used in Dark Knight. Controversial among fans and not nearly as artistically successful as its companion, Grant Morrison’s All Star Superman, Miller’s new Batman still has been DC’s top seller of late, guaranteeing this compilation an eager audience. --Gordon Flagg

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: DC Comics; First Edition, First Printing edition (July 8, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1401216811
• ISBN-13: 978-1401216818
• Product Dimensions: 10.5 x 6.8 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (53 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #43,461 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Closer to Average than All-Star, July 17, 2008

By	P DubTwenty2 - See all my reviews

It was the combination of two proven names that enticed me to take a chance on All Star Batman & Robin; writer Frank Miller (Batman: Year One, Batman: The Dark Knight Returns) and artist Jim Lee (Absolute Batman: Hush) have brought to life some of the greatest Batman stories. Unfortunately though, this one seems to fall short of greatness.

There is potential - don't get me wrong. Lee's artwork is bright and colorful and invites the reader to view the pages for just a little bit longer. On the other hand, Miller's quick and short writing doesn't allow for much taking in of the artwork. There's seems to be a conflict to say the least.

But probably the biggest problem with All Star Batman & Robin is with Batman or should I say "the g**damned Batman." At certain points, he's clearly possessed, more so than I've ever seen him. His sanity seems more at question here than it does in the psychological rollercoaster of Batman: Arkham Asylum. He's just not himself.

Bottom line: This story is okay, just OKAY. You could read it and be entertained at some points, or you could leave it and not miss out on a whole lot.

16 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Your Milage Will Likely Vary..., July 29, 2008

By	"Boisterous" Brad Curran "Graphic Novel Gourm... (Harlingen, TX) - See all my reviews

but I found this to be great fun. I can see why there was so much controversy over it in comics blogosphere circles. Don't go in expecting it to be like Miller's legendary Batman work, the Dark Knight Returns and Year One. It's really closer to Miller's Sin City; it's completely over the top, filled with titilation, violence, and dark humor. It's very much applying his noir turned to 11 sensibilities to Batman. Except instead of his hyper stylized, near caricature-cartooning, Jim Lee's providing the art.

I'd thought I'd outgrown the Image founder and comics megastar's art the last time he did an overhyped Batman comic. I have to say that the pairing with Miller has made me rethink that. I'm still not a huge fan of his style, but Miller more or less wrote the comic specifically for him, and I have to admit, it's hard not to get swept up in the dymanic energy when Lee really gets to show off. He's great when it comes to draw curvy women, massive city scapes, cars, and kicking, and Miller gives him chances to do that with vigor.

I'd reccomend this less for hyper-serious Batman fans. If you can't have a sense of humor about the character (and that used to be, mind you), you'd be better off with Miller's less over the top Batman offerings or maybe some Denny O'Neil/Neal Adams collections. If you want a riotous, kinetic Batman comic that takes itself and nothing seriously, by and large, or are more of a Frank Miller fan than a Batman fan, then by all means buy this immediately. It's a lot of fun if you don't have any axes to grind against it. I mean, they worked in a Jim Steranko-esque fold out in there; how can you not love that?

30 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Extremely disappointing!, July 18, 2008

By	J. Ferguson - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This book single-handedly ended my comic book collecting days. Growing up, I was a huge fan of Jim Lee, McFarlane, Quesada, (I'll still buy anything Mark Shultz does :) etc. Jim Lee's Hush series is still, in my book, one of the greatest chapters of Batman ever produced (check out the Absolute oversized version especially to see the amazing detail in the line work and the brilliance of color). And then Frank Miller... Remember the "Dark Knight"... when you first held it in your hands? You opened it up and were thrust into this pulse pounding, heart wrenching story of light and dark, good and evil. Well... that was my experience anyway, so there was no doubt that two of Batman's best creator's would come up with something great. Wrong.

Into the 3rd issue of this series, I was still thinking that this was all some joke...that suddenly both creators would come out and say, "Just kidding, now it's time to really write and draw 'Batman." But it wasn't a joke. They were serious with this trash. And that's exactly what it is. Jim Lee of course, draws beautifully as always but a nice paint job on a tombstone doesn't change its substance. I've heard some reviewers say that you might enjoy this if you're open minded. Wrong. This story from any and every direction still stinks. If you want to really read some good Batman, pick up Tim Sale's stuff, Year One, or Hush (Jim Lee Art plus an entertaining story), but please leave this on the shelf. Years ago, a story like this would have threatened to end the careers of its talents. Just shows you how far we've come. One other warning... is the profanity is at an all time high, so you definitely don't want to buy this one for the kids.