If you were ever thinking of buying an issue of this series...don't. They kill the character. I mean, they slaughter him. Here's Batman, a guy whose supposed to take a traumatized kid in after he saw his parents killed in front of him (by sabatouge, as the original went) and make him a good crimefighter, we now have some bullcrap story about Batman kidnapping Robin, drafting him into a "war" on crime, and treating him...well, let's just let this piece of dialogue show how Batman treats "Robin"-

"Grayson: Who the hell are you, anyway, giving out orders like this?
Batman: What, are you dense? Are you retarded or something? Who the hell do you think I am? I’m the goddamn Batman."

What?! I say someone should get lucky and shoot this Batman through the head. It might put an end to this terrible story.

are you serious....? wow

I think it's a valid point that this is Miller's version of the Batman. However, I don't think that automatically means that this version works.

In Miller's Dark Knight stories, his extreme version of Batman works, because he demonstrates that his hero is living in not just an extreme Gotham but an extreme world. He really sells that point in the DK books, and if his Batman is extremely flawed, it is in response to his surroundings.

Compare this to Batman: Year 1, also Miller's creation. While we can see the seeds of the remorseless Batman that Miller popularized, his responses to the world are measured and sane. There is no love lost with the cops, true, but he doesn't show a disregard for the lives of policemen. He's in this business to save lives; he's still the Batman.

All-Star Batman and Robin seems to live in a poorly thought-out space between the two books. It's essentially the very scary Batman from Dark Knight Returns, only this time he's living in a world that isn't as scary. Cops are corrupt, and there are murders, but there isn't a powderkeg feel to the entire city. In fact, the cops are evidently trying to cover up a murder with thousands of witnesses by beating up one traumatized little kid. Batman literally runs over police cars with the Batmobile, Dukes of Hazard style, and doesn't care if he killed the police or not. It's an incoherent plot with inconsistent characters. That combined with Batman's bizarre plans for the kid he "saved"-- let him catch and eat rats in the Batcave to "toughen him up"-- and extremely poor pacing makes the whole thing seem more like a psychotic delusion than an adventure story.

And I'd be okay with that, if it didn't just feel like bad writing. It doesn't feel like Miller was trying to create a psychotic portrait, but that he was lazy and gave us a character and world that don't fit together. This is reinforced by some very bad storytelling-- Dick Grayson's face is literally on milk cartons before he and Batman ever arrive at the Batcave.

Frank Miller's a great storyteller. He still doesn't get a pass when he phones in a writing gig.

And I haven't even mentioned the first issue's abnormal fixation on Vickie Vale's butt. I mean, I like womens' butts, but this was just shameless and fetishistic.

On the other hand, I'm loving Grant Morrison's All-Star Superman. Particularly the issue where Jimmy Olsen becomes Doomsday.

At least THAT Batman was done is a style that suited the subject matter. Here, it just seems like a terrible combination.

I have to agree. All-Star Batman is the worst version of Batman I’ve ever read. How can you combine Frank Miller and Jim Lee and get crap? The “I’m the goddamn Batman” line will live in infamy as being one of the worst lines ever written for the character.

As for Miller, I’m not really a fan. Year one was good, Dark Knight Returns had its moments, but his version of Batman is not the definitive, and I wish he would stop trying to make it that way. All future Batman writers should use All-Star Batman as the 0 point, since you could only go up from there.

Nah, it's an actual line.

The funny thing is, I ended up with issues 1 and 4 of this series without even trying to. People gave them to me because they recognized Frank Miller's name and thought the art was pretty. And I'm afraid that this will trick other readers as well. No one should read this series, as a way of teaching Miller what happens when a creator makes a half-assed comic. Sadly, it's selling.

Anyway, if Batman is this evil, I only wonder what kind of messed up person Bruce Wayne is?

AHAHAHAHAHA!

That'd be the 'Director's Cut' edition. Not worth it at all.

I thought it was great stuff. Frank Miller's writings are always a little wild, their usually cool and fun stories, but theres always things that make you think "what in the fucking world was he thinking? That makes absolutely no god damn sense."

And thats why The God Damn Batman is a funny joke.

Read and draw your own conclusion, obviously.

So many people whose opinions I respect love Preacher. What's up with that?

victor_von
Read and draw your own conclusion, obviously.

So many people whose opinions I respect love Preacher. What's up with that?

Even if it was drawn by one face dillin, its still a great series.