Level with me Holla Forums. Is this comic really as bad as people say it is? Looking back at it...

Level with me Holla Forums. Is this comic really as bad as people say it is? Looking back at it, a separate run that does not really fall into official canon except if you take Miller's word as god's so all the crazy and goofy shit in it really has no bearing on the rest of the Batman universe. It is honestly not even more over the top as All-star Superman, just not the definitive Batman story some like Supes' book.

I get the feeling that the hate boner for this thing is just a meme that was spread by overstated outrage. What do you think Holla Forums? At the very least it's better than say, the current Marvel even clusterfuck

Nah dude, it's bad.

Frank Miller is probably my favorite writer of all time, besides maybe Grant Morrison. But that would be young Miller. If you look at his more recent work he went off the fucking deep end.

It just continued the trend of bad books shitting on The Dark Knight Returns legacy, along with DKR2.

And DKR3 at this point.

It's really sad because The Dark Knight Returns is REALLY fucking good. Not a lot of people get the point of it on their first way through though, which is why they don't like it. That and the meme that it "made batman dark and edgy".

But Frank Miller was a genius back in the day for sure, and a pretty good artist too, at least in my opinion.

I agree with you, OP. I mean, Frank is completely nuts by now and definitely not the genius he used to be, but I still like his stuff.

It's short fun. Edgy and, not but, fun.

I like ASBR as I like Batman: Odyssey, except AS is much more consistent and down to earth.

No. It's a fun book that's well illustrated. Yes it's over the top, but who gives a fuck? It's still yards better than the majority of the crap DC puts out otherwise. There's a reason this shit outsold regular Batman comics those rare times that it actually came out.

Because it was written by Frank Miller.

The book isn't bad though. Like I said, it's well illustrated. Jim Lee's art is beautiful. The writing is so over the top it's like a noir parody. The thought captions have an odd sort of poetry to them.

If it's 'bad' it's so bad it's good. Unlike most of DC's stuff which is just straight up terrible

It's basically like DKR2 with good art.

And DKR2 is bad.

The whole book is like going along with Frank Miller on a freefall into madness. You don't know if he's being serious and crazy, or if he's just fucking around because he doesn't care, you don't know if you should laugh or be depressed. I gave it 4 or 5 issues, however many it took for him to GET OUT OF THE FUCKING BATMOBILE. I also saw Batman in a room full of yellow paint, drinking lemonade. I think it's Frank having a bit of a breakdown, but it's not as engaging as the complete, obviously insane ride of Odyssey.

It may have just been billed wrong, as people thought the All Star meant (as they said) it would be the ULTIMATE version of the character, a story that gets to the core of what people like about the character. Instead it was really weird and seemed aimless at times. With the issues I read, I never felt like I could guess or care about what was going to happen later in the book.

Oh, and Wonder Women refers to all men as sperm banks or something.

Batman spent three issues driving to the Batcave and when he got there, he wanted Robin to eat rats.

Oh shit, I forgot that part!

Someone should story time All Star and Odyssey, going back and forth issue to issue. And then we can all talk about how insane it made us all by the end.

Like I said, so bad it's good

Well she is an Amazon

Honestly, it's hard to hate if you take for what it is, a prequel to TDKR written by Frank Miller. All-Star Superman probably spoiled everybody into expecting something similar, but is probably guilty of the same things ASBAR is derided for doing. it certainly doesn't help that it's incomplete and will always be until Lee gets off his ass.

In retrospect, the All Star line pretty botched. Those Batgirl and Wonder Woman books never came.

I hear conflicting stories about that. Apparently the art for the last six issues is finished and DC just don't know when to publish it. Lee's done other projects since, so I refuse to believe he's been so busy he couldn't finish it.


Yeah, they fucked it up. Although, I think they're trying to get it going again, I think DC have announced an All-Star Batman being written by Scott Snyder.

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Jim Lee is a straight shooter, I'll tell ya

It's the "The Room" of comics.

Fucker's a one trick pony.

I know Denny O'Neil is revered, but is he really that good?

My only issue with O'Neil is the fact that he keep mispronouncing Ra's Al Ghul name.

But yeah, O'Neil the one's who created Leslie Thompson, Made Joker into a Killer and oh yeah created Ra's Al Ghul. Add in Neal Adamn's on art and shit is fantastic.

He also gave the JLI team Batman because it was out of pity.

He's alright. A lot of fanboys try to sell you that he's the proto-Frank Miller, but that's not really true. His 70's run is more like a sober version of the Bill Finger stories. It's still ridiculous, but in different ways. Think 1966's Batman but done in a 70's style like the Hulk or Wonder Woman TV shows. More globe trotting. More detective work.

It's good work, but it's not even remotely like the garbage we're getting now. If you can, track down Legends of The Dark Knight #50. It is an excellent retelling of the Joker's first appearance.


Leslie Tompkins was just a little old lady who lived in Crime Alley when O'Neil created her. It wasn't until the 80's that she was remade into the reoccurring character we all know. You can thank Mike W. Barr for that.

It's ridiculous garbage.


Yes.

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I really liked his run with Marshall Rogers, and the one with Norm Breyfogle, although it's the Neil Adams run that's remembered for bringing Serious Business Batman back from the camp 60's.
Also, actual detective work. Batman solving mysteries.