Ugh…


Lately I’ve been avoiding advanced solicits as more often than not they end up spoiling the story for you (Deadly Genesis, anyone?). But I was browsing Newsarama the other day and happened upon the June DC solicits, and this caught my eye:

AllStarBatman_RobinCv6ALL STAR BATMAN AND ROBIN, THE BOY WONDER #6
Written by Frank Miller
Art and cover by Jim Lee & Scott Williams
Variant cover by Miller
To show the world that super-heroes police their own, Superman has assembled a “Justice League of America.” Can the Earth’s most powerful heroes rescue the kidnapped Dick Grayson and save Gotham from the clutches of a Dark Knight who has obviously gone mad? Retailers please note: This issue will ship with two covers by Jim Lee & Scott Williams and Frank Miller. Please see the retailer order form for details.
On sale June 21 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US

Now I dropped ASSBAR after the second issue, so I have no idea what’s going on in the title, but based on that solicit it seems like I made the right decision.

First of all, Batman is the villain in his own book? And Superman and the JLA is guest-starring? Wasn’t the All-Star line supposed to be more streamlined, telling stories without a lot of complex continuity? Wasn’t it supposed to draw in casual fans by giving them easy to follow stories featuring the characters they know from TV and movies? How does a villainous Batman and a crapload of ancillary characters accomplish that? And is this the same Superman that Grant Morrison is writing? I’m not quite certain if there’s an All-Star universe of if each title exists separately from each other, but that’s damn confusing to a casual fan. Hell, I’m confused, and I’m by no means a casual comic fan.

Now it’s only issue #6 and they’ve already added Batgirl to the title. That’s not a good sign. There’s three things you do when you’ve run out of ideas. First you make a female version. Then you make a robot version. Then you put them into outer space. Ten bucks says Ultimate All-Star Batman’s fighting Robo-Bat on the moon by issue #20.