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I liked it.
Without long delays, and hearing what to expect from the message boards, and knowing the story starts to turn around the Green Lantern issue, I was able to just sit back and enjoy a hilariously over the top action story.
It wasn't perfect by any means, and it felt like the thing was one long comic book in joke, but it was fun.
Sorry, Goddamn fun.

"To Be Continued! When I Actually Read The Damn Thing!"

"Which will give me more reasons to name-drop Chris Sims!"

BTW, another issue is due out on July 30.

For my money, Miller's been sucking for about a decade now. Even if DKSA and ASSBAR are jokes, they're pretty lame jokes.

To be honest, I've seen far less "this is poor writing" comments on ASSBAR than "this is not Batman" comments. And the fact of the matter is the latter is a completely invalid argument. Miller's interpretation of Batman as valid as any other, just like Grant Morrison's "Salute to the 50s" take, O'Neill's "Salute to the 40s" take, the wacky Sci-Fi of the 50s, the Nolan/Bale films, and the Adam West show. Are some better than others? Undoubtedly, but that is left to personal taste. To dismiss ASSBAR as "not Batman" is rather short-sighted considering the series is DC's top-selling title every month it actually comes out. Granted, sales don't often equal quality, but if it was REALLY as bad as all the talking heads says it is sales would have bottomed out faster than the Wonder Woman and Flash relaunches.

Frankly I think that the reason the tune of the critics has changed over the course of the last three years shows Miller knows what he's been doing all along. People seem to forget that DKR was probably just as "out there" as ASSBAR is when it came out all those years ago.

"I am the goddammed critic!!!"

Sorry, just couldn't resist.

There was definitely a change in mood in the Green Lantern issue. Then again, it took so long to get there (and still feels so early in the process) that we're probably looking at another 2-4 years before we truly get the full picture/payoff.

I think the basis of all of the complaints (and certainly the basis for the complaints I had before I bought into it), is that the press spin for the series was that it would be a familiar, classic take on the character. Miller's own take in interviews was that it would be a follow up to Year One, so people were expecting that flavor of story and got something completely different.

Slightly off topic but for what it's worth, Latino Blue Beetle is actually a huge breath of fresh air compared to a lot of DC now a days. It's been well written (and drawn) a great take on the young superhero formula, a great take on the legacy superhero idea (a reverential toward all of the previous Blue Beetles). Plus it's a minority superhero (which lets face it is rare in general and especially for one to have his/her own book) and while he is a minority, it is not his defining characteristic.

I know off topic and all that but it seemed funny how (at least to me) this books converged on some of what you were saying.

Even if DKSA and ASSBAR are jokes, they’re pretty lame jokes.

I wouldn't say it was a joke, just a tongue in cheek take.

There was definitely a change in mood in the Green Lantern issue. Then again, it took so long to get there (and still feels so early in the process) that we’re probably looking at another 2-4 years before we truly get the full picture/payoff.

A change in mood, or the first sign of the big picture?

Also, I know it must suck for those buying it as it comes out, but it all worked and flowed well reading it as one.

My biggest problem with that was in several issues people make comments they'd made the issue before - Robin describes Batmans voice in several issues.
Helps for a catch up between issues, but is odd in the trade.

There's nothing wrong at all with liking ASSBAR, just like there's nothing really wrong with liking McDonald's cheeseburgers, Dane Cook's stand-up, or blowjobs from sharp-toothed, 55-year old transvestites. Doesn't mean that any of those are actually GOOD.

lol, stealthwise

I read the hardcover a couple weeks ago and also hadn't read any of the singles yet. FunkyGreen pretty much hits the nail on the head with his first comment imo. Miller isn't doing much new stuff but I enjoyed hoe he's just going batshit-crazy (bad pun, I know) with it and seeing how far he can push it. It's miles away from subtlety and not very demanding of it's audience (well, the part of the audience that doesn't take it to seriously) but I certainly laughed with the Green Lantern issue, or the "eat glass, lawman!" scene.

Ah, the heady days of the Batman board 'circa '02. That takes me back.

DKSA lovers unite! It's still one of my five-or-so favorite superhero comics from the bast decade.

ASBaRtBW is one of the best comics today. It tells the story of a crazy Batman. It is also not part of continuity, just like an Elseworld tale.

See... I thought that was the whole point of ASBaRtBW... It ISN't in mainstream DC continuity... It IS a prequel of sorts to DKR and DKSB...
People who hate ASBaRtBW quite probably hate DKR for the same reason...
"That's not Batman! He'd never fight Superman! HE'D CERTAINLY NEVER BEAT SUPERMAN"
for ASB (sorry got bored typing) replace Superman with Green Lantern...

Although, In Countdown Arena, we saw the DKR Superman... so I suppose technically it is in continuity, just not Universe 1 continuity...

Would be interested to find out if the ASB-haters out there actually like any other Elseworlds takes on Batman, e.g. Red Rain??

Funny thing is, I always positively loathed Jim Lee's art up until his Batman stuff of recent years. I'm not even going to get into arguing about the quality of Hush or ASSBAR (though ASSBAR is at least good for the occasional laugh) as stories, but Hush had the distinction of featuring the first Jim Lee art I had seen that didn't hurt my eyes.
To be fair I hadn't actually seen anything since his X-Men and (in ads) his early Image stuff, so if he improved in the time between, then I guess it's my loss. But god, that 90s X-Men stuff... it may not have had the gross technical errors of Liefeld's work , but I easily hated it as much.

i usually like your work, but i didnt like how this article took three paragraphs just talking about how nervous you were to review the work until the actual review started....i get it, the books been out a while, just review it please.

also that analagy with the polar bear and the monkey doesnt really make any sense.

I really liked DKSA, too. Though I think I fall between monkey-on-speed and emo bear.

I still can't decide if ASBAR is the modern equivalent of the Adam West show (that is to say, far smarter than anyone will ever give it credit for except Bill Reed), or if it's just "so bad it's hilarious." I suppose we'll find out when it eventually concludes. If I live that long.

"But there seems to have been a change in the tenor of the dialogue, you know?"

Well, it's shed quite a few readers since day one, so that could be because the people who hated it stopped buying it and talking about it, rather than because it won them over.

I think Paul has it. I read the first few issues, found the proceedings dreadfully stupid and boring, and haven't cared to go back and read any more sense. There are enough really great comics out there I haven't read yet-- and really great movies, books, etc.-- that ASSBAR just feels like a total waste of time.

The fact that people wildly praised the brilliance of the issue where Batman defeats Hal Jordan with yellow paint, which is roughly identical to a joke I made back when I was fifteen, confirmed that there was nothing that could possibly happen in this book that would justify the five minutes or so required to read it.

It also confirmed that comics fans seem to be easily amused, and willing to accept and defend anything provided it has sufficiently big names and licenses attached. They're also willing to look down their noses at people while doing so, which just makes me laugh harder.

ASSBAR? Really? Can we also rail against Micro$haft and McDisgusting? DC Comics? More like Dad Comics, right? House of Ideas? House of NO Ideas!

It also confirmed that comics fans seem to be easily amused, and willing to accept and defend anything provided it has sufficiently big names and licenses attached. They’re also willing to look down their noses at people while doing so, which just makes me laugh harder.

This statement is baffling, since you're leaping to a lot of conclusions here. Not everyone likes it because there are big names and licenses attached. Some people like it because they think it's fun. Others get something out of it that you don't.

I think that most people praised the Hal Jordan paint issue not because of the paint shenanigans, which were funny and over the top, but because of the emotional turn where Batman realizes that he's been pushing this kid too hard and hasn't allowed him time to grieve at all. Real life catches up to Batman and he realizes that he screwed up hard.

I enjoyed the series on a purely surface level before then, but the twist made me like it a lot more. I didn't like it just because Batman painted himself yellow. That made me chuckle, yeah, but that isn't something you can hang an entire issue on. The twist added punch.

You're doing the same thing that you think ASBAR fans are doing here, which is looking down your nose and laughing at someone who enjoys something you don't.

I'm sorry I offended you by using an acronym, David. From now on I shall respectfully use the full title All-Star Batman and Robin the Boy Wonder, at all times. I am, after all, certainly not someone who ever called All-Star Superman or All-Star Squadron 'ASS' in casual text-based conversation due to laziness, and no one should ever be offended by chains of capitalized letters on the internet.

I should have been a little more specific. I have an extreme problem with evangelical fans of All-Star Batman and Robin the Boy Wonder, who specifically like to assume that if you don't like it, you don't 'get it'. You're not cool, you don't understand the satire, you clearly are just a fanboy who can't grasp a Batman who doesn't act a certain way, your opinion can't possibly matter.

That makes me laugh, and please don't pretend like you've never read an issue defended in this manner. Around issue four of All-Star Batman and Robin the Boy Wonder's tenure, this sort of writing became terribly en vogue for displaying yourself as an unusually intelligent and discerning superhero blogger/forum poster/whatever. It's ludicrous, and I laugh at that sort of behavior. I thought the juxtaposition of phrases in my post made that distinction clear, but apparently it did not, so I hope I have spelled it out in sufficiently clear fashion here.

I generally won't laugh at people who just enjoy something I don't, provided they aren't getting in my face about being better people than me 'cause they liked it. (I will laugh at the source material, sorry, I'm not made of stone.) Likewise, I try to keep out of people's faces if, I don't know, they don't like Captain Carrot or Ambush Bug or something, and I won't use it as a basis for seriously questioning their intelligence, taste, or moral fiber.

I may find their reaction fairly baffling, but that's life, isn't it?

Calling All-Star Squadron and All-Star Superman ASS makes sense. There are two words that begin with S's in them. All-Star Batman and Robin the Boy Wonder has two b's in it but only one S. When you say ASS-BAR, you demean yourself and the conversation. Get your weight up so we can talk about this in a way that's remotely intelligent.

... "get your weight up"? Wha?

Actually, I know great fans of the book who casually refer to it as ASSBAR, so I don't know why people are assuming it's a Micro$oft-ism. The second 'S' shouldn't be there, true, but a lot of people seem to type it out of habit. It possibly keeps showing up because it makes the Bat-book's acronym more closely resemble sister book All-Star Superman's ASS abbreviation. It's one of those things that isn't right but frequently seems to look right to a lot of people.

However, I shall go let these fans of All-Star Batman and Robin the Boy Wonder know that by misspelling the abbreviation of their favorite book's title, they're actually demeaning themselves and the conversation. I am sure they will be as horrified and contrite as when I let them know that referring to Batman as "Bats" in casual conversation is highly disrespectful!

Satiric misspellings by the fanbase or it's detractors are the kind of bumper sticker arguments that just don't really help us discuss things. When you do it, you say to the world, I'm going to take my beliefs and trivialized them into a joke. Even if that isn't your intention, when you do it, you make yourself appears as the kind of person who argues like the Donkey Kong discussion in Billy Madison.

I personally don't care for ASBAR or Frank Miller taking the piss, it's really not my cup of tea, and I don't care for Jim Lee's art. But when I discuss the book with people whose opinions I don't agree with, I will try to give it a bit of respect. It makes it so that if we don't agree, they will realize I didn't come in to completely disregard the opinion.

In the end, the people you are decrying are defending ASBAR like jerks sound like they are using similar tactics as you.

ASSBAR is funny.

I plain don't understand this entire deal. All apologizes. I simply don't.
It is my understanding that the purpose of comics is often times for entertainment. In some circumstances, if wildly lucky, an expansion of one's horizons and understanding for the flaws of humanity may result as well. Any arguments derived at the hands of liking or disliking or loathing or admiration for such things, I simply shake my head at, frown upon.
I've been reading comics for a year now. A year. Far be it from me to dub myself an expert. But, I have come to understand that the chief problem with comic book fans is the vigor with which they struggle to uphold the nobility of their side.
To simplify, some out there take the whole goddamn thing way to seriously. I enjoy comics, and, at some points, when a story has truly enlightened and entertained me to the point of bliss, I'd honestly say I love them. But I would not stake my life upon their importance. Stirring up a whole stinking debate on account of the widely argued nature of ASBR is insanity. We all have our own perspectives. I happened to enjoy it. I did not grow from it or gain a new perspective from it, but I marveled at its grit and outright gaudiness. ASBR is unapologetic with its brashness, admitidly barring on stupidity at some points, but still refreshing and somewhat...funny in its fearlessness. I was given a similar impression with DKSA. It was not a ground breaker like Year One or DKR, but still entertaining in the sense that I could come away from it feeling as if I had NOT just carelessly tossed a fat, fruitful sliver of my young life toward the gleaming jaws of oblivion.
Life changing. No, not quite.
Entertaining. You bet.