Originally published on Comic Vine
The term fan fiction has a negative connotation.
It
brings to mind lonely nerds conjuring up Mary Sues and fawning over
some spandex-wearing vigilante. However it is important to realize that
the works of people like Frank Miller and Grant Morrison are not
fundamentally any different from fan fiction. They are, in most cases,
fans, and they are writing fiction using beloved and established
characters. The only difference is that they make money for it and
people actually read their stuff.
The
fact that the work of professional comic artists and writers is
essentially no different from fan fiction really became clear to me
after I read "All Star Batman." The story reads like it was written by
an antisocial fifteen year-old. This isn't the Frank Miller of The Dark Knight Returns,
a work that, while also an obvious love letter to Batman, at least
offered a more serious and complex take on the caped crusader. No, this
is Frank Miller in full-on fangirl mode.
"All Star" Batman enjoys
hospitalizing street thugs, and gets off on shaming other superheroes,
relishing his own superiority. We see Green Lantern as a bumbling fool
and Wonder Woman as a bloodthirsty misandrist. We see Black Canary
brutalizing random bar patrons (for the sin of noticing her provocative
outfit) and Batman lighting thugs on fire. Gone is the moral high
ground, the measured, brooding precision of the more traditional Dark
Knight. Frank Miller fearlessly reinvents Batman, though I can't say I
like the result.
What
there is of a plot is almost pointless. The only interesting point is
the relationship between Batman and Dick Grayson, the boy he kidnaps and
molds in his own image. They have some good exchanges, and seeing the
boy develop into Robin was the only part of the story that had some real
gravity.
The rest felt like satire. Whereas All Star Superman took the essence of Superman and had fun with the possibilities, All Star Batman
feels like it is parodying its subject - a sort of tongue-in-cheek
experiment. The problem is, this only works if you are already very
familiar with Batman, which defeats the point of the "All Star" series.
These comics are supposed to be for less familiar readers looking for a
work that gets at the heart of the character. All Star Batman only gets at the heart of Frank Miller.
I
give it two stars almost solely for Jim Lee's rich artwork which is
alone almost worth the price (For a decent Batman book with art by Jim
Lee, try Hush).
