Dark Knight: Boy Wonder

[Drz]

All-Star Batman & Robin is finally concluding... Starting Next Year!
Announcement made at Wonder Con!

"I have some news," Lee said. "I met with Frank (Miller). He realized that it's really not part of the All-Star universe, it's part of the Dark Knight Returns universe. The first half of the story, chapter one, is done, Chapter two will come out—it's going to be re-branded, renamed, 'Dark Knight: Boy Wonder.' We're looking at February 2011. Six issues, coming out on a monthly basis."

Dark Knight: Boy Wonder #1 Cover!:




Interior page

[Mace Dolex]

At this point I don't really care but I'll buy it for the art and wait for the TPB.

[IBRAH08]

Frank, frank, frank ....... And I thought allstar and DKR were part of the same Millerverse???

[Mogwai]

can a moderator combine this thread with the one in the DC comics forum?

[theMan-Bat]

Originally Posted by IBRAH08

Frank, frank, frank ....... And I thought allstar and DKR were part of the same Millerverse???

They are. Changing All-Star Batman & Robin the Boy Wonder's title to Dark Knight: Boy Wonder is a wise move to clear up the confusion since a lot of people obviously didn't get the fact that this is the DKU (Dark Knight Universe) Batman, although Miller did explain that when the series started:

“Anything I come up with about any of these characters is DKU,” Miller said. In his Dark Knight work, Miller has given readers a glimpse into the twilight years of Batman’s career. In Batman: Year One, he’s shared the beginning of the Batman saga. So where does All-Star Batman fall in his Batman time-table? “Year Three. Bats is feeling his oats—very young, maybe acting a little crazy, but he knows exactly what he's doing. He's just a bit sloppier about doing it than he's going to eventually get.”
http://forum.newsarama.com/showthrea...threadid=27218

[CrimsonMist]

aaaawesome.

Can't wait. I just hope they use that Bill Sienkewicz Joker cover that was supposed to be the variant for issue 11.

[CrimsonMist]

double post

[theMan-Bat]

Originally Posted by CrimsonMist

aaaawesome.

Can't wait. I just hope they use that Bill Sienkewicz Joker cover that was supposed to be the variant for issue 11.

Yeah! Actually, the awesome Bill Sienkewicz cover is the variant cover for issue 12, and I'm sure it will still be the variant cover, only the title of the series has been changed to Dark Knight: Boy Wonder.

[CrimsonMist]

Originally Posted by theMan-Bat

Yeah! Actually, the awesome Bill Sienkewicz cover is the variant cover for issue 12, and I'm sure it will still be the variant cover, only the title of the series has been changed to Dark Knight: Boy Wonder.

Ah, you're right. I dont think they ever announced who was doing a variant for #11, unless it was Miller himself? But still: that's a stunning cover.

So a 6-issue series? Anyone else feel that that's still not enough? We're 10 issues into it, and the plot really just started to move with a huge tonal shift. I just hope it doesn't feel rushed. Maybe they've upped the page count?

[Cain]

It's about freaking time!!!

[TruerToTheCore]

So... that statement above proves the fact that Miller was just phoning it in all the time.

[IDrawDeadPeople]

Semi-related question that I've been wondering about for nearly 2 years... I'm pretty sure ManBat could probably answer this easily...

Which script did Miller write first- AllStar 1-6 or the Spirit film? I know he worked on them semi-simultaneously, but there is so much repetition in ideas between the two scripts, and I'm curious as to which came first. I'm absolutely not trying to knock Miller... I obviously care enough that I'm familiar with both scripts.

What I'm talking about are scenarios like:

The Spirit is running across rooftops, talking to himself about how much he is in love with his city and stops to save a woman from being mugged in an alley. Tells her to call her shrink if she has one.

The G-D Batman is running across rooftops, talking to himself about how much he is in love with his city and stops to save a woman from being mugged in an alley. Tells her to call her shrink if she has one.

The Spirit ends up in a near love making scene after a major battle, and is told "Keep your mask on. Something tells me it will be better that way".

The G-D Batman has a love making scene after a major battle, and narrates the idea "We keep our masks on. It's better that way".

Those are two of multiple echoes between both scripts, and I know Miller likes to repeat themes. I'm simply curious as to which he worked on first.

[theMan-Bat]

Originally Posted by TruerToTheCore

So... that statement above proves the fact that Miller was just phoning it in all the time.

No...not at all. Frank Miller hasn't been lazy and careless on this series. Jim Lee's explained that the delays are all his fault.
Lee stressed that the long delays (the last "All Star" issue to ship was #10 in August of 2008) experienced by the series "had nothing to do with Frank. He's been a prince through this entire process, and I've never had to wait on him. I was swamped with several projects at the same time that went longer than anticipated, and the original intent of 'ASBR' was that it was only to be six issues. But as we got rolling, the story got bigger and grander, so I'm happy we took the time to develop the relationship between Batman in his prime and his new sidekick. Work then hit a logjam, and I was continually playing catch up. Frank told me in our last meeting that I need to stop, take a deep breath, collect myself and set a realistic date where we could come back out on a regular basis, and that's what we decided to do."
http://www.comicbookresources.com/?p...ticle&id=25536

Frank Miller said "Thanks to all for your curiosity regarding ASB&R--which I prefer to call ROBIN, because that's who it's about.

ROBIN seems to be back on track, via Wildstorm. Jim's keeping me informed. I'm very glad to report this, since the story involves a seminal journey for Dick Grayson, and for Batman himself.

By the way, Jim's delays on the project have nothing to do a lack of diligence. He's an industrious man. Let's give him time: it'll be worth it.

FM"
http://www.moebiusgraphics.com/phpBB...php?f=2&t=1726

[theMan-Bat]

Originally Posted by IDrawDeadPeople

Semi-related question that I've been wondering about for nearly 2 years... I'm pretty sure ManBat could probably answer this easily...

Which script did Miller write first- AllStar 1-6 or the Spirit film? I know he worked on them semi-simultaneously, but there is so much repetition in ideas between the two scripts, and I'm curious as to which came first. I'm absolutely not trying to knock Miller... I obviously care enough that I'm familiar with both scripts.

What I'm talking about are scenarios like:

The Spirit is running across rooftops, talking to himself about how much he is in love with his city and stops to save a woman from being mugged in an alley. Tells her to call her shrink if she has one.

The G-D Batman is running across rooftops, talking to himself about how much he is in love with his city and stops to save a woman from being mugged in an alley. Tells her to call her shrink if she has one.

The Spirit ends up in a near love making scene after a major battle, and is told "Keep your mask on. Something tells me it will be better that way".

The G-D Batman has a love making scene after a major battle, and narrates the idea "We keep our masks on. It's better that way".

Those are two of multiple echoes between both scripts, and I know Miller likes to repeat themes. I'm simply curious as to which he worked on first.

There are similarities with those two Spirit and Batman scenes but there are also big differences in those two scenes, reflecting the differences between the nice, gentlemanly, clumsy, tongue-in-cheek Spirit and the creepy, brutal, vicious, terror striking Batman. Frank Miller wants Batman to creep you out.

MILLER: Oh, that was deliberate. Yeah. Because I long ago determined that a character like Batman can only be defined as a terrorist if his motto is striking terror. I didn’t want to dodge it and also, I wanted Batman to creep you out. That I wanted from the start. I don’t want you to like this guy.

TCJ: He’s also the hero. How do you reconcile those two– the terrorist being the hero?

MILLER: He is a hero, but heroes don’t have to be likable. I mean, if you really look at Sean Connery’s James Bond, he’s charming, he’s brilliant, but he’s really a dick.

TCJ: Yeah. You wouldn’t like him if you met him.

MILLER: Yeah. My feeling about Batman is that he’s similar in that you’d want him to be there when you’re being mugged, but you wouldn’t want to have dinner with him.
http://www.4thletter.net/2009/04/son...-miller-x-tcj/

BARBARA BOGAEV: You know, as a kid, when you read about this guy who dresses like a bat, you just really swallow it whole. You think, oh sure, he gets to be a superhero and dress up, cool. But, when you think about it, what kind of guy would dress up like a bat? You've gotta be a weirdo.

FRANK MILLER: What you just said, Barbara, is a lot of where I come from. When I handle these superheroes, I like to step back and take a look at them and go, what kind of a person would really do this? What kind of a person would dress up like a bat and throw people through windows? And, I looked at what they'd done with the character and he's spent so much time being deputized and being this nice guy and, god forbid, a role-model for kids, and I realized, no, this would be a very, very strange man. And I don't think he'd be a particularly nice person to be around. So he'd be the guy you'd want to have around when your threatened by a criminal, but you probably wouldn't want to have dinner with him.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/s...storyId=841850

The Spirit saves a damsel in distress from being mugged by two muggers and humorously throws one of them into a garbage can. The Spirit was stabbed with one of the muggers knifes and humorously didn't notice. Batman saves a woman from being raped by two rapists and breaks one of the men's arms with a compound fracture that Batman viciously taunts "will never heal" and brutally beats the other rapist into a bloody pulp.


That was in All-Star Batman & Robin #5 and wasn't released until May 16, 2007 because of Jim Lee's long art delays.

The Spirit has a romantic scene with his girlfriend, the love of his life, Ellen Dolan in her office, while Batman has creepy sleazy sex with Black Canary outside in the rain.


That was in All-Star Batman & Robin #7 and wasn't released until September 24, 2007 because of Jim Lee's long delays with the art. Frank Miller began writing the Batman scripts for the series in 2004 and the series was announced by DC in January 2005. All-Star Batman & Robin #1 was released on July 13, 2005.

The Spirit The Movie Visual Companion book by Mark Cotta Vaz explains that Frank Miller worked on the Spirit script over a six-month period in 2006 and by January of 2007 had the final script completed.

[Drz]

How do you guys feel about this just being 6 more issues? Theres so much going on i'm worried i'll be left with more questions than answers. =p We got the main plot with Dick Grayson's first year and the Joker. Gordon + Barbara subplot, Catwoman subplot, JLA subplot MIGHT continue and then we got Black Canary. So much going on. =p

[IDrawDeadPeople]

Thanks, ManBat. I have the visual companion, so I knew the Spirit dates, but I wasn't too sure on exactly what Lee's delays meant regarding Allstar. And, I definitely know the differences in the scenes. I wasn't trying to say he was lazy; I honestly know he was showing 2 drastically different characters in similiar situations to demonstrate how vicious Batman attempts to portray himself. I honestly just wondered which came first. The little echoes all throughout both are kinda obvious if someone cares enough to spend time with both scripts. His use of the word "dispeptic" while a gun is being handed to someone else... stuff like that.

On a non-related note: I want that stinkin storyboard book to see the light of day.

[theMan-Bat]

Originally Posted by IDrawDeadPeople

On a non-related note: I want that stinkin storyboard book to see the light of day.

The Spirit Storyboards book was originally scheduled to be released by Dark Horse on May 6th, '09, then Dark Horse changed the release date to November 28th, '09 but still didn't release it. It's pretty obvious that Dark Horse has decided to cancel publishing that Spirit book because they are worried that it wont sell since Dark Horse's expensive Spirit merchandise they released -- a two hundred dollar Spirit statue, a hundred dollar Spirit snow-globe, a sixty dollar Spirit mini-bust -- hasn't sold. Maybe Frank Miller will take his Spirit storyboards to DC. I think DC would gladly publish The Spirit Storyboards. Paul Levitz, president and publisher of DC and Contributing Editor and Overall Consultant for DC Entertainment, even makes a cameo appearance in The Spirit film.

[theMan-Bat]

Originally Posted by Drz

How do you guys feel about this just being 6 more issues? Theres so much going on i'm worried i'll be left with more questions than answers. =p We got the main plot with Dick Grayson's first year and the Joker. Gordon + Barbara subplot, Catwoman subplot, JLA subplot MIGHT continue and then we got Black Canary. So much going on. =p

Frank Miller can pack a lot into six issues. Year One was only four issues, Dark Knight Returns was only four issues and Dark Knight Strikes Again was only three issues.

I hope to see Green Arrow introduced into the Black Canary subplot and see them start to get together. Those two are made for each other. And I hope to see the Question make an appearance. They were all in the preview art for the series.

[CrimsonMist]

Originally Posted by theMan-Bat

Frank Miller can pack a lot into six issues. Year One was only four issues, Dark Knight Returns was only four issues and Dark Knight Strikes Again was only three issues.

You forget that DKR and DKSA were both prestige format books with a significantly extended page count.

Year One was 4 issues with regular page count, but was not a complicated storyline. All-Star has to tie-up Jim Gordon, The Justice League(which seems pretty damn huge in terms of story) and lastly, The Joker and his involvement in the murder of Dick Grayson's parents. Mind you, this all started moving forward in issues 6 and 7.

Is it possible? Sure. Could it be longer? Absolutely. And would I want this fun to go on longer than 6 issues? You know it.

[theMan-Bat]

Originally Posted by CrimsonMist

You forget that DKR and DKSA were both prestige format books with a significantly extended page count.

I am aware of that. Year One is 22 pages each issue. DKR is 48 pages each issue. DKSA is 76 pages each issue.

Year One was 4 issues with regular page count, but was not a complicated storyline.

Yeah, Year One was not as big with various subplots, which is why Year One only amounted to 4 issues. The remaining 6 issues of this series alone makes this longer than Year One was.

All-Star has to tie-up Jim Gordon, The Justice League(which seems pretty damn huge in terms of story) and lastly, The Joker and his involvement in the murder of Dick Grayson's parents. Mind you, this all started moving forward in issues 6 and 7.

Is it possible? Sure. Could it be longer? Absolutely. And would I want this fun to go on longer than 6 issues? You know it.

I'm sure Frank will resolve all of these plots in the 6 issues. All of these 6 issues might have an expanded page count. Maybe the last issue will be double-sized. You never know with this wild series. I do know that there will be another five page pull out.
When Jim Lee was interviewed at the '09 San Diego Comic-Con he said about the series lateness: "It is completely my fault. Frank Miller has written the issues and it's just me finding the time to sit down and draw the pages and I feel horrible that it's fallen so far behind. But at the same time enough time has passed where people are thinking 'is it continuing?' So when we come back, and we have some issues in the drawer, that we're really releasing the second half of the story. Luckily it kind of ended on a emotional sort of, not high point, but in the first half of the story it gave you a sense of completion at the end because Batman has accepted Robin as his sidekick essentially and the second half of the story will obviously deal with the mystery of why Robin's parents were killed and how the Joker fit into all of this. I am working on drawing it. There's some killer Gotham City spreads. You know we did that whole Batcave pull out where you could see the whole Batcave and all the cool stuff in it. I'm doing a five page Gotham City pull out where your gonna see the whole city from the Batcopters point of view. It's dynamite. There's some killer stuff in it."
http://thebatmanuniverse.net/sdcc/sd...code=playvideo

[theMan-Bat]

Here is a preview of a Dark Knight: Boy Wonder page featuring Batman, Catwoman and Robin headed to the Batcopter.

[Drz]

I like how the possible hooker has star tattoos, making me think of Wonder Woman. It's like Frank Miller wants to insult the WW/Superman fans on purpose. Great trolling if so.

[Blitzkrieg Bop]

Originally Posted by theMan-Bat

[IDrawDeadPeople]

^^ I agree, Blitzkreig.

Although, I really like the art, and the general plot of Allstar, that part of the first story arc is unbelievably craptastic. It goes above and beyond the comedy that Miller is going for in the rest of the story.

It's not bad enough that "sweet chunks" is some of the most insipid, ridiculous dialogue ever written, that whole subplot just defies all mental decency. Nobody on earth uses the outrageously inept term "sweet chunks", and yet poor Black Canary somehow found herself at Ground Zero for random people who just seem to endlessly bandy that nickname around. Every corner she turns, there's someone who apparently just learned the term "sweet chunks" and has been looking for an opportunity to use it in a sentence.

Ending that madness with that filthy sex scene is sheer brilliance. 25 pages of brawling with people for objectifying her, using the lamest nickname in existence... and she celebrates her victory by objectifying someone else and letting herself be objectified by a nameless, faceless stranger. She instantly became the most mindless superhero in existence.

[Drz]

Nothing in the comic says they had sex, since the very next page they're getting back. They we're just in the zone and Black Canary wanted to make out, which Batman accepts as much as he (as he himself says) accepts so towards Seline.