Frank Miller’s “All Star Batman & Robin” is a single volume that collects the entire series. It retells Robin’s origin story and includes many other DC heroes. I quickly discovered that things were not as I’d have expected. Batman is a sadistic anti-hero, and Robin follows in his footsteps. Wonder Woman is homicidal. Superman is a wimp. The Green Lantern is an idiot. The fourth member of the Justice League is Plastic Man; I’d never heard of him, but apparently he was included in a canon reboot of the JL in the 90’s.
After reading the book, I went to Google to see if there was a follow up volume. Apparently, one was announced (Dark Knight: Boy Wonder) but has yet to see the light of day. However, that was when I discovered that All Star Batman & Robin is an alternate universe (non-canonical) book, which explains why its characters differ so much from their counterparts in the main DC universe.
I enjoyed the book, and would be interested to see where Miller was going with the Joker, Cat Woman, Bat Girl, and other characters who were introduced but never got real story arcs. Since the sequel was announced more than 5 years ago and has yet to materialize, that may never happen. The book got a poor reception from critics. The Gizmodo review Frank Miller’s All Star Batman & Robin Is So Bad, It’s Actually Awesome is a good example of the drivel the comic book press has written about it.
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