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

I will admit that I have some mixed feelings about this volume. On the one hand I like Frank Miller's work, and the nitty gritty environments he creates. His take on Batman in volumes like Year One is very good. On the other, well, Batman is really psycho this time. Not sure "psycho" is the best word to use but it is the word that comes to mind. Robin's origin is a lot more survival of the fittest once he is with Batman. And yet, even though many readers did not like that aspect, it seems somewhat right for the hopeless and extremely corrupt Gotham City that Miller depicts. In the end, I was willing to take a chance on this, and I am glad I did. Then again, I do like a lot of my comics reading on the very dark side. So maybe that is why it worked for me, albeit not perfectly.

We also get to see some of the other heroes, the start of what will become the Justice League. I found that a bit reminiscent of Moore's Watchmen in the sense that the heroes can be assholes and have their foibles. Wonder Woman here is not a very nice amazon, for instance. And then there is the Joker, who we see briefly. Seeing how an author does a take on the Joker is always interesting to me, so seeing how Miller did it was interesting. It does seem very viable.

So, I did not love it, but I certainly liked this. I think only hardcore Batman fans, or people who feel a need to be complete in their reading of Batman tales, will want to grab this one. I think more casual readers may not like the much darker elements. As for me, I may look for the next volume. Curious to see what happens next.