Well, I’m not gonna in-line it, but if you want to see her fine ass, you can click here. And having looked at the Livejournal, it appears that the original script appeared in CBR’s Lying in the Gutters column, however that particular column seems to be missing.
Edit: Hot damn!
Not quite as bad as I remembered, but coupled with the great writing and astounding finished product, one comes away with the impression that Frank is about 13.
bahimiron, the script segments were released as part of a “collector’s edition” of All-Star Batman and Robin’s first issue a few years back, when DC seemed to think they were releasing a super-badass comic that everyone would love.
The issue contained the complete script and, to my mind, pretty thoroughly disproves the argument often made by fans that ASBAR is the result of Miller wanting to take the piss with Batman. There’s no indication in the script that Miller intended anything in the issue to be ironic or satirical-- he thought he was just telling Jim Lee to draw a badass Batman comic.
Since then the editor for the All-Star line has ended up fired and it’s heavily rumored that DC does not intend to solicit or print more than 12 issues of ASBAR, even though the book was intended as an ongoing (and at one point promised a Miller/Adams run with the character).
“A woman’s skin melts at the thought of him”.
What?
So All Star Batman isn’t worth getting at all then?
It’s a bit of a controversial book. A lot of people regard it as tremendously bad. Other people - including some rather well-regarded comics BNFs - are convinced that Miller is actually writing a clever satire of Batman comics.
This has resulted in quite a few flamewars about the book in comics circles. Its defenders like to argue that, basically, you’re an idiot if you can’t see that ASBAR is clearly a brilliant satire or some sort of Batman traditionalist who can’t have fun with a new version of the character. The book’s detractors argue that, well, it’s self-evidently awful and Miller/Lee should be ashamed of themselves.
Well, I’m eventually buying a compilation of it, because it is hilarious.
Reading that script thing is weird. The mixture of the captions with directly addressing Jim makes it very strange to read.
Keep in mind that while Miller’s done some very good work in the past, he’s never been exactly…subtle, or satirical. And he’s been on a long downward quality spiral for years (thus the “WHOREWHORESWHORESWHORES” joke).
From what I know of his work, there’s really no reason to think that it’s a satire.
There’s a side theory to the last one, that the book is all told from Robin’s point of view, so all of the over-the-top action and dialog and insanely oversexualization of female characters is because it’s all being filtered through the mind of a 13 year old boy.
I agree with the latter, but I don’t think the 13 year old boy is Dick Grayson.
Thanks. I’ve been wanting it for a while because it seems so over the top and hilarious (I’m the goddamn Batman!).
I guess I’ll look for it in a bargain bin somewhere. :)
Yeah you can get all 10 issues pretty cheap on eBay. Maybe like $15 with shipping. Not worth it though.
If it’s a satire, it’s not a very good one. It’s just one of the worst comics ever.
And All-Star Superman is one of the best.
Go figure.
I’ve never been into Superman. He always struck me as too overpowered. :)
I did like the arc in DKR, though.
Being overpowered doesn’t mean you can’t make awesome stories with him. Try All-Star.
If you think Superman is “too overpowered” then you basically don’t understand the character.
(I don’t fault you for this-- as superheroes have become more interchangeably formulaic, people have for the most part forgotten how Superman stories are supposed to work. It is very easy for a modern comics fan to have never in his/her entire life experienced a good Superman story.)
I’ll add All Star Superman to my wishlist then. Any other good starting points?
Not really comics, but I think the animated Justice League series did a pretty good job of understanding “what Superman is about”.
I do love Batman: TAS. I don’t know, though. I always thought the different combinations of superheroes into “teams” seemed kind of cheesy. I even much prefer Batman without the additions of Robin, Batgirl, etc. But, then again, I didn’t really peg myself as a comic book reader a couple of years ago, so I guess I’m pretty open to all kinds of suggestions.
Rather than always working as an ensemble, the Justice League series tended to highlight just a couple characters at a time. Flash / Green Lantern was a popular pairing, for instance, because their personalities played off each other well. It definitely didn’t have a Superfriends “everybody works together and does something every episode” feel
I would suggest Alan Moore’s Superman stories (For The Man Who Has Everything and Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?).
Moore clearly understood what made Superman stories work at the peak of the character’s popularity, that the character is fundamentally about aspirational wish fulfillment rather than action hero power fantasy.
He plays off of that marvelously to craft some very intelligent Superman stories that really show off all of the concept’s many strengths. Miller’s DKR Superman is, by comparison, something nearly unrecognizable.
I just got a crapload of Superman comics. I’ll let you know if they’re good. I’ve always heard good things about Superman For All Seasons (even though it’s written by Jeph Loeb). Superman: Secret Identity and Superman Red Son are also highly regarded.
You should get DC Universe: The Stories of Alan Moore. It has two fantastic Superman stories in there (and a bunch of other classics) and it’s pretty damn cheap. One of them is about Superman getting his wishes and Krypton not being blown up and the other is Superman’s final story (sort of his equivalent to Dark Knight Returns). I really enjoyed them.
EDIT: Heh, Lynxara beat me at while I was thinking. But hey, that’s two recommendations!
You may also want to try Supreme by Alan Moore which is a Superman type character.
That’s true, but I liked how Miller makes the point that having a super-being as the stooge of superpower may not be the best idea for the rest of the world. (Something that Watchmen was tapping into around the same time.)
Also, Moore’s Whatever Happened To The Man Of Tomorrow? is one of my favourite comics ever. It’s sad and touching and filled with a sense, as moved from one era of comics to the next, that something important might get left behind. (And given the atrocious depths mainstream superhero comics sunk to in the 90s, he was right.) I honestly think it’s Moore’s best single comic.
