All Star Batman & Robin, the Boy Wonder

    (DC, 2005-2008)
™ and © 2005 DC Comics, Inc.

This issue just has to get the four-star treatment, right? It’s written by the genius responsible for the brilliant Batman: The Dark Knight and “Batman: Year One” and is drawn by Jim “Hush” Lee, one of the best modern Batman artists in the biz. So it’s entirely above reproach, right? Well, not quite. It’s very good, no doubt about it, even great at times, but let’s not be handing out any Eisner Awards just yet.

All Star Batman & Robin #1 is a beautifully drawn, tautly written piece of work that no fan of The Caped Crusader or The Boy Wonder should do without. Lee has apparently dispensed with pencils and other mundane tools of the trade in favor of a magic wand (check out the Robin cover, which virtually flies off the page), while Frank Miller’s film noir-influenced scripting is the literary equivalent of a flurry of punches from a prize fighter.

Traditionalists may find fault, however, with the gratuitous shots of a scantly clad Vicki Vale and with the sinister reworking of Dick Grayson’s origin.

— Brett Weiss

			Notes	Writer	Artist
	#1 Date:  9/1/2005 Cover Price:  $2.99 NM Guide Price:  $2.00 9 copies available from $0.65	Batman cover		Frank Miller	Jim Lee
	#1 Variation A Date:  9/1/2005 Cover Price:  $2.99 NM Guide Price:  $1.75 10 copies available from $1.25	Robin cover		Frank Miller	Jim Lee
	#1 Variation B Date:  9/1/2005 Cover Price:  $2.99 NM Guide Price:  $4.50 No copies available	Retailer Incentive Variant/RRP Edition		Frank Miller	Jim Lee
	#2 Date:  11/1/2005 Cover Price:  $2.99 NM Guide Price:  $2.50 6 copies available from $1.75	Frank Miller cover	Robin flinching from Batman shadow	Frank Miller	Jim Lee
	#2 Variation A Date:  11/1/2005 Cover Price:  $2.99 NM Guide Price:  $2.99 8 copies available from $2.75	Red cover	Batman standing over robin in rain	Frank Miller	Jim Lee
	#3 Date:  12/1/2005 Cover Price:  $2.99 NM Guide Price:  $2.25 19 copies available from $0.75	Batman and Black Canary cover		Frank Miller	Jim Lee
	#3 Variation A Date:  12/1/2005 Cover Price:  $2.99 NM Guide Price:  $5.00 15 copies available from $5.00	Frank Miller cover variant	Black Canary solo	Frank Miller	Jim Lee
	#4 Date:  3/1/2006 Cover Price:  $2.99 NM Guide Price:  $2.50 12 copies available from $0.80		6-page fold-out of the Batcave	Frank Miller	Jim Lee
	#4 Variation A Date:  3/1/2006 Cover Price:  $2.99 NM Guide Price:  $6.50 6 copies available from $4.25	Frank Miller cover variant 1-10 6-page foldout		Frank Miller	Jim Lee
	#4 Variation B Date:  3/1/2006 Cover Price:  $0.00 NM Guide Price:  $15.00 No copies available	Dynamic Forces signed cover	6-page fold-out of the Batcave	Frank Miller	Jim Lee
	#5 Date:  7/1/2007 Cover Price:  $2.99 NM Guide Price:  $2.50 19 copies available from $0.70			Frank Miller	Jim Lee
	#5 Variation A Date:  7/1/2007 Cover Price:  $2.99 NM Guide Price:  $10.00 4 copies available from $10.00	Variant Cover by Frank Miller		Frank Miller	Jim Lee
	#6 Date:  9/1/2007 Cover Price:  $2.99 NM Guide Price:  $4.75 12 copies available from $2.20			Frank Miller	Jim Lee
	#6 Variation A Date:  9/1/2007 Cover Price:  $2.99 NM Guide Price:  $8.00 1 copy available for $10.00	Variant Cover by Frank Miller		Frank Miller	Jim Lee
	#6 Variation B Date:  9/1/2007 Cover Price:  $2.99 NM Guide Price:  $4.00 No copies available	B&W Diamond Retailers Summit sketch cover		Frank Miller	Jim Lee
	#7 Date:  11/1/2007 Cover Price:  $2.99 NM Guide Price:  $3.75 8 copies available from $3.00			Frank Miller	Jim Lee
	#7 Variation A Date:  11/1/2007 Cover Price:  $2.99 NM Guide Price:  $11.50 7 copies available from $10.00	Variant Cover by Frank Miller		Frank Miller	Jim Lee
	#8 Date:  1/1/2008 Cover Price:  $2.99 NM Guide Price:  $4.25 3 copies available from $4.25			Frank Miller	Jim Lee
	#8 Variation A Date:  1/1/2008 Cover Price:  $2.99 NM Guide Price:  $19.00 1 copy available for $21.00	Variant Cover by Neal Adams		Frank Miller	Jim Lee
	#8 Variation B Date:  3/1/2008 Cover Price:  $0.00 NM Guide Price:  $61.00 No copies available	Variant Cover by Neal Adams with Blue shading		Frank Miller	Jim Lee
	#9 Date:  2/1/2008 Cover Price:  $2.99 NM Guide Price:  $2.75 3 copies available from $2.75		Includes DC/Wildstorm Dreamwar preview	Frank Miller	Jim Lee
	#9 Variation A Date:  2/1/2008 Cover Price:  $2.99 NM Guide Price:  $19.00 1 copy available for $21.00	Variant Cover by Neal Adams	Includes DC/Wildstorm Dreamwar preview	Frank Miller	Jim Lee
	#10 Date:  8/1/2008 Cover Price:  $2.99 NM Guide Price:  $4.00 5 copies available from $3.50			Frank Miller	Jim Lee
	#10 Variation A Date:  8/1/2008 Cover Price:  $2.99 NM Guide Price:  $17.00 No copies available	Variant Cover by Frank Quitely		Frank Miller	Jim Lee
	#10 Variation B Date:  3/1/2008 Cover Price:  $2.99 NM Guide Price:  $50.00 5 copies available from $38.40		Interior censor bars fail to conceal profanity	Frank Miller	Jim Lee
	#10 Variation C Date:  3/1/2008 Cover Price:  $2.99 NM Guide Price:  $31.00 No copies available	1:10 Variant Cover	Interior censor bars fail to conceal profanity	Frank Miller	Jim Lee
	Book #1 Date:  Cover Price:  $19.99 NM Guide Price:  $19.99 No copies available		Collects #1–9; Introduction by Bob Schreck; ca. 2008	Frank Miller	Jim Lee
	Book #1 Deluxe Edition Date:  Cover Price:  $99.99 NM Guide Price:  $99.99 No copies available		Absolute Batman & Robin, the Boy Wonder; Collects All Star Batman & Robin, the Boy Wonder	Frank Miller	Jim Lee
	Book #1 Hardcover Date:  6/1/2008 Cover Price:  $24.99 NM Guide Price:  $18.00 3 copies available from $17.00		Collects #1–9; Introduction by Bob Schreck	Frank Miller	Jim Lee
	Special Edition #1 Date:  2/1/2006 Cover Price:  $3.99 NM Guide Price:  $6.00 2 copies available from $4.79		Includes Frank Millers script for issue #1; B&W penciled version of issue #1	Frank Miller	Jim Lee