But otherwise it's like deciding that Dr. Strangelove is a war drama then saying it failed as a war drama when it was never supposed to be that in the first place.

All Star isn't a a satire and isn't supposed to be. Maybe it's a farce? Whether it's funny or not of course subjective. Maybe I'm wrong and he has stated he wanted to make a satire, and if he did then I agree I don't think it's successful( a satire of what?)

I find it hilarious. I'm past the point of looking towards superhero comics for high drama. I want something fun and exciting and All-Star delivers for me.

My feeling in this case is, if it's meant to be serious, it's painfully bad. If it's meant to be satire, it's bad satire. if it's meant to be -- well, I'm not sure what you think it's supposed to be -- just whimsical and fun, it sure ain't that.

You're entitled to your opinion, but if your opinion is what you just said, that someone else isn't entitled to his opinion, well, you're entitled to your opinion about that too, but it's a stupid one.

It's cute, yes; and maybe it's more tolerable if you read the whole thing in bulk, but when you wait months and months just for a punchline that ends up being "DKR is absurd" every single time, it gets tiresome.

Oh well, others will disagree. To them, I guess I can only say "if you can't appreciate the 90's Extreme Justice series, you're taking comics too seriously."

I must have read a Dick Grayson written by a different Marv Wolfman…the one I read was competent, and confident, and had a great arc throughout the Wolfman/Perez run

You read the same one I did. It's just that some people think that good comics = good smackdown.

I think at this point, you either love ASBAR and things it's the greatest thing ever, or think it's pf shit. I've come across few people who aren't so polarized in their view of it.

If you can't "get" it, then that's your loss.

It's not a satire. It's obviously tongue in cheek, but it's not a satire. He's doing the same thing as he did with Sin City. He's taking the characters seriously, but has fun with he conventions of the genre. Like Tarantino did with Kill Bill. It's jarring to some people, but it works.

Brad, I'd like to know what sort of depth you're looking for in comics. There's plenty of depth in things like Born Again Give Me Liberty. Elektra: Assassin doesn't need depth. It needs Miller and Sienkiewicz going bat shit crazy, and they did and the book is a classic. Ditto for Hard Boiled.

I made the connection. Let's see if this works for anyone else...

Let's say this is Year Two or Year Three. That means over the last 1-2 years Batman became the king of Gotham. Punks try to rape someone? Batman just laughs at them and breaks their legs. Drug smugglers? Batman just blows them up. Sees a hot dame like Black Canary? Batman just has sex with her on the docks. Wants a kid sidekick? Batman just kidnaps himself one. Who's going to stop him, Superman or Green Lantern? Batman knows every single one of their secrets, taunts them about it, then paints an entire room yellow. And if the police try to stop him? Batman just RUNS THEM OVER WITH THE BATMOBILE. Which can also fly, by the way.

Basically, All-Star Batman can do anything he wants and nobody can tell him otherwise -- and it has gone to his head. That is why he is such a maniac. I get a kick out of the fact that Dick Grayson sees right through it, because when Robin finally tries to act on Batman's maniac level in the "yellow" issue Batman finally sees that he is out of control. A poor role model, if you will. Robin forces Batman to take responsibility for his actions -- the whole "humanizing" effect of the Batman/Robin partnership that writers have been commentating about for decades. Except when Miller does it, it is apparently "poor writing."

Of course, the next few issues can prove my outlook completely wrong. Hey, that's what happens when these issues come out once every five months.