All Star Batman & Robin, the Boy Wonder is an American comic book series written by Frank Miller and penciled by Jim Lee. It was published by DC Comics, with a sporadic schedule, between 2005 and 2008. The series was to be rebooted under the title Dark Knight: Boy Wonder in 2011, when both Miller and Lee were to finish the last six issues. The series retells the origin story of Dick Grayson, who became Batman's sidekick Robin.
This was the first series to be launched in 2005 under DC's All Star imprint. These series are helmed by renowned writers and artists in the American comic book industry and attempt to retell some of the history of prominent DC Universe characters, but outside of DC Universe continuity, and not be restricted by it, in order to appeal to new and returning readers. Each title under the All Star imprint is set in its own continuity and separate universe."Toronto 06: Geoff Johns Talks All Star Batgirl". Newsarama. September 3, 2006 According to Miller, the series takes place in the same continuity as Miller's other Batman-related works, such as The Dark Knight Returns.
Since its initial publication, Miller's writing of All Star Batman has consistently received an overwhelmingly negative critical response, though Lee's artwork has been praised.
Plot Bruce Wayne and Vicki Vale are at the circus watching the Flying Graysons, an acrobat family consisting of 12-year-old Dick Grayson and his parents. When Dick's parents are shot to death by a hit man, Dick is escorted from the scene by several cops of the Gotham City Police Department in a threatening manner. Batman swiftly subdues the killer, Jocko-Boy Vanzetti and then rescues Dick from the police, damaging both a police cruiser and the car which Vicki and Alfred Pennyworth are in, injuring Vicki in the process. The stern Batman tells Dick that he has been "drafted into a war", and that he will learn much about fighting crime. Batman brings Dick to the Batcave and leaves him there to his own devices, telling him upon leaving that when hungry, Dick may eat the rats and bats in the cave.
After being informed that Vicki has been hospitalized in critical condition, Batman instructs Alfred to contact Clark Kent at the Daily Planet, to request he immediately transport a Parisian doctor who Batman knows as a personal favor. After Alfred provides Dick with food and clothes, Batman and Alfred get into a heated argument, but Batman backs off when Alfred asserts himself.
The Justice League, consisting of Superman, Wonder Woman, Plastic Man and Green Lantern, disagree on how to deal with Batman's actions. Wonder Woman wishes to kill him, but agrees to wait until after Green Lantern has had a chance to speak with Batman.
A disturbed Batman spends the subsequent evenings violently dispatching attempted rapists and other criminals until he spots a police cruiser escorting Jocko-Boy Vanzetti away from jail, and returning to Vanzetti the gun he used to murder the Graysons. Batman dispatches the corrupt policeman and beats Vanzetti unconscious.
Batman subsequently comes to the aid of Black Canary, who is fighting a group of thugs. After defeating the criminals, the two have sex, before Batman takes the Canary home, with Vanzetti bound and gagged in the Batmobile's trunk. Batman and Dick manage to force from Jocko-Boy the name of the person who hired him: the Joker. Dick wants to fight crime with Batman, but Batman says he needs a secret identity.
After Batman leaves the cave to dump Jocko-Boy in the river, he then encounters Green Lantern, and addresses him by his surname, "Jordan", bewildering Lantern as to how he knew his true identity. Batman gives Jordan an address to meet him at in 12 hours. Meanwhile, the Joker goes to see Catwoman, and invites her to join him in "some mischief".
Dick creates a costume that includes a hood, basing it on Robin Hood, but Batman points out that an opponent can easily pull the hood down over his head. Batman tells him to lose the hood and names him Robin. Dick receives a new costume made by Alfred.
Batman and Robin adorn themselves in yellow body paint and costumes, and meet Green Lantern in a room painted entirely in yellow, since Green Lantern's power ring has no effect on anything yellow. Lantern tries to persuade Batman that his methods are not acceptable, either to the superhero community or the world at large, but Batman dismisses his concerns, and denies Lantern's claim that Robin is Dick Grayson. Robin then steals Green Lantern's power ring, leading to a fight in which Lantern is nearly killed. After beating Robin and saving Lantern's life Batman then takes Robin to his parents' graves, where they share a moment of mutual grief.
A police officer discovers a beaten and badly bleeding Catwoman. Before vanishing, she passes him a message, that Captain Jim Gordon later passes to Batman. He and Robin find her underground.Miller, Frank (w), Lee, Jim (p). All Star Batman and Robin the Boy Wonder #10. DC Comics.
Jim Gordon learns his wife has been in an accident, due to her alcoholism. At the same time his daughter, dressed as Batgirl, is fighting crime. The Black Canary robs a group of snuff film makers and proceeds to set them on fire. Batgirl is later arrested, and Jim is shown to be deeply depressed when he calls his former lover Sarah at the suggestion of his daughter.
Covers The first issue launched with four different covers. Three of them were illustrated by Jim Lee—one sporting Batman, the other Robin and one a sketch variant of Batman. Frank Miller illustrated the fourth. Since then, Frank Miller has drawn variant covers for the series. With the exception of issue #2, the Miller covers are sold in 1:10 ratios. For issue #8 and #9, the variant covers were drawn by Neal Adams. The cover for #10 was drawn by Frank Quitely.
Continuity The All Star titles are self-contained story arcs existing outside of official DC Comics continuity. Despite sharing a label with Grant Morrison's All-Star Superman, All Star Batman & Robin exists in its own continuity unrelated to other books in the All Star imprint.
Frank Miller stated that All Star Batman & Robin exists in the same continuity as the other storylines in his Dark Knight Universe. This consists of Miller's Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, its sequels Batman: The Dark Knight Strikes Again and The Dark Knight III: The Master Race, Batman: Year One and the Frank Miller/Todd McFarlane collaboration Spawn/Batman. Of these, only Year One is considered canonical to the mainstream DC Universe. This has been proven difficult as The Dark Knight Returns is set during the Cold War with an older Batman, while All Star Batman & Robin features a younger Batman in a more modern setting, specifically 2008.Sanderson, Peter "Comics in Context #119: All-Star Bats", IGN, February 6, 2006 An additional story, titled Holy Terror, Batman!, was also to be included within the same continuity, but in 2010, Miller stated that he was no longer working on the project. He later clarified his statement by explaining that it would feature a new character called The Fixer rather than Batman, and not be published by DC.Johnston, Rich (July 29, 2008). "LYING IN THE GUTTERS VOLUME 2 COLUMN 168". Comic Book Resources.Kelly, Karl (July 26, 2011). "CCI: Frank Miller Reigns "Holy Terror" on San Diego". Comic Book Resources. In 2007, Frank Miller's "Dark Knight Universe" was designated as Earth-31 within the DC Comics multiverse, composed of 52 alternate universes.De Blieck Jr., Augie (December 28, 2007). "THE COMMENTARY TRACK: 'Countdown: Arena' #4 w/ Keith Champagne" . Comic Book Resources.
Reception Sales The series' first issue sold over 300,000 copies.Frisch, Marc-Oliver (July 4, 2006). "DC Sales, May 2006". From ICV2 & archived at Google Groups. Retrieved May 29, 2012. The once-monthly series was increasingly delayed over time, to the point where only one issue was published in 2006. When issue #5 was released, the series was placed on a regular bi-monthly schedule, with the exception of issue #10, which was postponed from an April 9, 2008 release to an August 27 release, and then to a September 10 release, which it successfully met, only for the book to be recalled due to a printing error that left numerous profanities insufficiently censored.Johnston, Rich (September 9, 2008). "Wash Your Mouth Out with Batsoap". Comic Book Resources. That printing error aside, Jim Lee took full responsibilities for the series' delays, explaining that he was involved with the DC Universe Online video game, and that Miller's scripts had been written some time earlier.Barringer, John (August 1, 2009). "All Star Batman and Robin Update: Jim Lee Interview". A Comic Book Blog.Montgomery, Paul (April 2, 2010). "All-Star Batman and Robin to Conclude Next Year…Sort of". iFanboy.Frankenhoff, Brent. (June 6, 2006). "All-Star Batman and Robin #5 delays end" . Comics Buyer's Guide.
Despite drops in sales since the first issue, All Star Batman & Robin issues regularly topped DC Comics' highest-selling chart on the months when they came out.. The Beat. April 2, 2008
Critical reception Initially released with great fanfare and much anticipation, All Star Batman has consistently received negative reviews from critics. Nearly all complaints about the series are directed at Frank Miller's writing, specifically his non-traditional interpretation of the main character. In the series to date, Batman is consistently displayed as cruel, amoral, and sadistic, eager to torture and kill criminals and indifferent to harming civilians who get in his way. Infamous examples of this include his verbal and physical abuse of Dick Grayson in an attempt to prevent him from grieving over his parents' deaths, and his throwing a Molotov cocktail into a crowd during a fight.
In issue #2 Miller's gritty style of dialogue led the title character to introduce himself to Grayson as "". The phrase was repeated at least once in nearly every subsequent issue of the comic. According to reviewer Brett Weiss, the line "drew derision from fans and critics alike".Weiss, Brett. Comics Buyer's Guide #1636 (December 2007). Page 59.
Reviewer Peter Sanderson of IGN Comics, while acknowledging that the series is "widely reviled", and opining that DC Comics' publicity for the series was "misleading", suggested that Batman's treatment of Grayson was comparable to a drill sergeant's treatment of a new recruit, but questioned whether this would merely traumatize Grayson further. He nonetheless claimed to be "fascinated" with how this behavior reveals Batman's personality, likening his rough treatment of Grayson to the psychologically frightening experience to which V subjected Evey Hammond in V for Vendetta. Sanderson also pointed out that Miller's view of All Star Batman & Robin as prequels to his graphic novels Batman: The Dark Knight Returns and Batman: The Dark Knight Strikes Again suggests that the darker, grittier take on Batman and his more dysfunctional relationship with Robin make sense when taken in context, and that Batman's rough treatment of Dick Grayson reveals a lot about the inner workings of Batman's personality. Reviewer Brett Weiss, in the Comics Buyer's Guide #1636 (December 2007), gave the first issue of the series high marks for being interesting and edgy, but opined that by issue #6, the series became "a bad joke", citing the series' "absurdly bad, faux-noir dialogue", and presenting Batman "as a psychopath, as opposed to merely dark and disturbed". Weiss praised Jim Lee's art as "gorgeous", but opined that it was wasted on the title, which he saw as "something that seems to be bad on purpose". The series is also known for the recalled issue #10, in which a printing error allowed the word "fuck" to be published uncensored. Unreturned copies were later sold on eBay at inflated prices.