Posts: 1099 Location: Cheektowaga, NY Joined: 29.07.05
REVIEW I FOUND:
Quite a title, isn't it? All Star Batman and Robin the Boy Wonder #1 is a comic book, written by Frank Miller and drawn by Jim Lee, released in July of 2005 by DC Comics. It is the first issue of DC's new All Star line, which, DC's management seems to want to stress whenever the line is discussed, is in no way similar to Marvel Comics' Ultimate line. While both lines are described as attempts to court new readers into the comics scene by presenting well-known characters divorced from the continuity of the shared fictional universe they generally inhabit and stripped of their decades of potentially confusing backstory in hopes of revealing the iconic core of said characters, they should nonetheless be seen as completely different enterprises. The difference, according to DC, is that while the Ultimate line is an attempt to update and modernize Marvel's properties, the All Star line is an attempt to present DC's characters as they are best remembered by pop culture.
Frank Miller certainly appears to be the ideal scribe to write such a comic. In the eighties, his Batman: The Dark Knight Returns and Batman: Year One (the former of which is often pointed to as the beginning of the Modern Age of comics) laid the foundations of Batman's current characterization and cemented him as perhaps the most popular of all superheroes. Since then, he's also written Batman: The Dark Knight Strikes Again, making All Star Batman et cetera et cetera the fourth major installment in his Batman saga. It should be noted that, while this book is separate from the DC Universe mainline continuity, Miller has said he considers it to be continuous with his other Batman works, which also include a crossover with Spawn, making up what he calls the "Dark Knight Universe."
Equally obvious was the choice of Jim Lee to perform art chores. A couple years back, he joined writer Jeph Loeb for twelve issues of the monthly Batman comic. During those twelve months, Batman was the highest selling comic book in the country. This is attributed by most to have more to do with Lee's artwork than Loeb's script.
So what subject matter have these two stars tackled? As one might guess from the title, this is the story of Batman's recruitment of the original Robin. Now, a primary cause of the Batman character's enduring popularity- perhaps the primary cause- is the highly colorful supporting cast he is surrounded with, and their equally colorful relationships with Batman and each other. And at the heart of all these relationships is the one between Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson, a father/son dynamic full of both bitter angst and intense love that defines both of the characters. It is this relationship that Miller and Lee have set out to reimagine for us, stripping away any detritus to present it in its most "classic" form, while displaying the highest standards of comic book storytelling in order to lure in those all-important new readers. Having read the first issue, the only thing I can say about their attempts is
What?
The first two pages of the comic show us young Dick Grayson in green tights performing acrobatics in his circus home. We are quickly introduced to the book's odd tic of repeating the same phrases in the narration over and over again. Here, young Dick is repeating to himself that his parents always catch him. We also notice that Dick is being drawn rather sexily, given that he's, you know, twelve.
But worry not, it isn't only twelve-year-old boys that are being sexualized here. We are then treated to five, count 'em five, pages consisting entirely of a woman in her underwear. This is Vicki Vale. We are given a good sampler of the kind of wit and originality we're going to enjoy from this comic when Miller lets us know that "She's trouble. The kind of trouble you want." Vicki dictates into her earpiece for a bit about how sexy Bruce Wayne is and how sexy the mysterious Batman isn't. Oh, the irony. In Mr. Lee's favor, it cannot be said that he shows any embarrassment or self-consciousness about what he's doing as he depicts Vicki prancing around her apartment in matching lingerie and high heels while striking seductive poses. In fact, one panel consists entirely of a close-up on her butt.
Then Alfred shows up to let her know Bruce wants to go on a date with her, right now. Vicki freaks out and tries on an assortment of outfits while repeating to herself "I have a date with Bruce Wayne, I have a date with Bruce Wayne" about a half dozen times. Now, it should be said Lee does indeed draw some attractive women, but not really attractive enough to justify five pages of this. Still, this sequence may be the most forgivable part of the issue, not that that's saying much.
So Bruce and Vicki go the circus, and there's some more sexy drawings of pre-teen Dick, and then this exchange:
Vicki: This kid's amazing.
Bruce: Yeah, I've had my eye on him for a while. He's something, all right.
Vicki: So why've you had your eye on him?
Bruce: *smirking* I've got an eye for talent.
Uh-huh. Then Dick's parents are shot before his eyes, and we get this brilliant bit of internal monologue:
"He doesn't understand. He can't possibly understand. I couldn't, when it happened to me. And I don't know why this was done to him. I can't know why. Not yet. But I know exactly THIS MUCH: The boy has entered MY world. And he'll never leave it. There's no way out of it. There's no way out. There's no way out. No. Way. Out. Not for any of us."
No way out for any of us, huh? How long do you suppose it took Frank to come up with that one? Vicki notes that not a single spectator will report to anyone that two people were just gunned down in public, which seems pretty bleak given that there are probably hundreds of people present. While Bruce chases down the perp, traumatized young Dick is hauled away by police officers. Vicki accuses them of planning to molest the kid, and one of the cops punches her in the mouth. Vicki and Alfred follow the cops, who are dragging Dick into the woods so they can beat him to death with their clubs. Fortunately, Batman comes to the rescue, sending an army of bats to attack the cops and then running them over in his Batmobile, presumably killing them all.
The genesis of the Batman and Robin relationship has been portrayed in many a comic book, as well as in the movies and on television ("Does the hurting ever stop?" "I wish I could say yes.". Bruce's decision to take in his fellow orphan and work to help heal and harness the emotional pain he understands all too well is a large part of the emotional core of the entire Batman mythos. So how do Miller and Lee put their spin on it? By having Batman roughly grab the shocked, terrified child by the front of his shirt, hoist him in the air and say "On your feet, soldier. You've just been drafted. Into a war."
Jim Lee's art isn't bad at all. In fact, some of it is quite pretty. And as far the hypersexualization, some would argue that that's part of the nature of the superhero comics beast, even when the subject is twelve. The writer, on the other hand, delivers such a lackluster performance that one must question whether Mr. Miller was even trying. Oh, by the way, we know from Batman: The Dark Knight Strikes Again how this story ends in Miller's mind: Dick, driven insane by Bruce's poor parenting skills, grows up to be a deranged serial killer.
In summary, All Star Batman and Robin the Boy Wonder will probably achieve hit sales.
You don't get it, boy... this isn't a mudhole... it's an operating table.
(crack!)
And I'm the surgeon.
- Batman - The Dark Knight Returns
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. Bruce's decision to take in his fellow orphan and work to help heal and harness the emotional pain he understands all too well is a large part of the emotional core of the entire Batman mythos. So how do Miller and Lee put their spin on it? By having Batman roughly grab the shocked, terrified child by the front of his shirt, hoist him in the air and say "On your feet, soldier. You've just been drafted. Into a war."
