History YMMV / AllStarBatmanAndRobinTheBoyWonder

--> "I'm the Goddamn Batman."

** ''Dick Grayson, age 12'' due to its constant repetition in the narration

** Hal Jordan, for calling out Batman on his terrible treatment of Dick Grayson and being pretty much the only hero that doesn't do or say anything horrible or offensive—which is ironic, given Frank's opinion of him.

* DesignatedHero: Batman, who is psychotic, brutal, and an-all round {{Jerkass}}. He kidnaps Dick Grayson (albeit from DirtyCops that were about to kill the boy), and then forces him to live alone in the Batcave, expecting him to hunt the rats and bats in there for food. Then he complains about having Dick around and repeatedly insults and assaults him for getting on his nerves. He goes out on patrol laughing about how awesome he is and how much he loves being Batman as he gleefully poisons criminals, sets them on fire, and attacks police officers; while it isn't outright stated, FridgeHorror implies many of the victims of these incidents don't survive the encounter. And he thinks that if he had a Power Ring like Green Lantern, he would use it to enforce his will on the world, destroy (unspecified) enemies of the United States, and exile Superman from Earth—which is basically the backstory for ''Sinestro''; using a Power Ring for selfish, tyrannical means was the reason he was cast out of the Green Lantern Corps. Why are readers supposed to like this depiction of Batman, exactly? It says something when the ''Villains Wiki'' has an [[https://villains.fandom.com/wiki/Batman_(Frank_Miller) entry for him.]]

* AuthorsSavingThrow: Miller apparently got wind of criticisms towards Batman making Robin eat rats, since there are lines of narration in Issue 10 where Batman explained he lived in Gotham's sewers and lived off of the rats in order to learn how to live without his inherited fortune...[[VoodooShark which begs the question of why he thought it'd make as much sense for Dick Grayson to follow suit, considering Dick wasn't exactly living a life of luxury growing up in a circus]].

* SoBadItsGood: The fact is that most people think this is an awful Batman story. That doesn't stop them from finding it ''[[CrossesTheLineTwice absolutely hilarious]]''.

* TheWoobie: Poor Dick puts up with quite a bit of Batman's crap.

* IdiotPlot: In numerous minor ways, the "plot" of the series, such as it is, only happens because everyone is stupid.
** The main plotline Batman concerns himself with is tracking down Jocko Boy, the man who killed Dick's parents, and bringing him before Dick. Except that Batman had apprehended Jocko Boy the night of the murders, poisoned him, and then let him go while he dealt with Dick. There was no given reason why Batman couldn't have hauled Jocko Boy to the Batmobile and taken both of them that night, and if the reason is because he was concerned for what the cops were going to do to Dick, it begs the question of why he went after Jocko Boy at all.
** The Justice League strongly disapproves of Batman's methods, and Wonder Woman openly wants to kill him, but all they do is send Green Lantern to deal with him. Said "dealing" takes the form of basically a stern talking to and a finger wag. This despite the fact that any ''one'' of the League's members (Superman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, and Plastic Man) should easily be able to apprehend Batman on their own, never mind four-on-one, but in the hands of Frank Miller they're too stupid and ineffective to do anything but complain.
*** For that matter, Green Lantern for some reason agrees to meet with Batman at a time and place of his choosing instead of capturing him right then and there. Then when Batman brings him to a room painted entirely yellow, Hal is seemingly unable to think of ways to use his power ring to manipulate objects that ''aren't'' painted yellow - like say, stepping outside and bringing in something to smash up the room and cover the yellow up.
** Batman has to try and cover up the fact that Dick Grayson is Robin...''entirely because'' he took Dick in front of plenty of eyewitnesses, including Vicki Vale, who got photographs of it and was able to publish a newspaper article about Batman kidnapping a little boy.

* FunnyAneurysmMoment: At one point, Jim Gordon complains about the possibilty of Jim Jr. becoming a hippie. [[ComicBook/BatmanTheBlackMirror Given some of the stuff Jim Jr. got up to in the main DCU]], this Jim Jr. being a hippie is the last thing this Jim should worry about.

** This version of Batman is called "The Goddamn Batman" to distinguish him from his mainstream counterpart.

* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: The fact that Batman keeps laughing like a maniac while Joker never even smiles makes you wonder if the two swapped costumes before the story started. That or it takes place in [[BizarroUniverse Bizarro World.]]

** Alfred's description of Bruce as his "black eyed angel" doesn't sound too good either, especially since he also strips Dick naked and dresses him in his sleep.

** This Batman's actions are ''very'' similar to those of The Red Death from the aforementioned ''ComicBook/DarkNightsMetal''.
*** He's even more akin to the gun-wielding Grim Knight of The Batman-Who-Laughs self-titled mini-series. In particular, the Grim Knight and Crazy Steve are both out and out fascists who rant and ramble about their superiority.

* MemeticMolester: It's often been pointed out that the way Batman treats Robin can get ''really'' uncomfortable. Says he's been watching him ''before'' Robin was orphaned, takes him away without the kid's consent, ''smiles'' as he thinks about putting the kid through hell...

** This version of Batman is called "The Goddamn Batman" to distinguish him from his mainstream counterpart. Some also call him "Crazy Steve" thanks to WebVideo/AtopTheFourthWall's review of the comic.

** This version of Batman is called "The Goddamn Batman" to distinguish him from his mainstream counterpart.

* FountainOfMemes: It is, after all, Batman TurnedUpToEleven—now with extra crazy flakes.

* AuthorsSavingThrow: Miller apparently got wind of criticisms towards Batman making Robin eat rats, since there are lines of narration in Issue 10 where Batman explained he lived in Gotham's sewers and lived off of the rats in order to learn how to live without his inherited fortune...[[FridgeLogic which begs the question of why he thought it'd make as much sense for Dick Grayson to follow suit, considering Dick wasn't exactly living a life of luxury growing up in a circus]].

* NoYay: "I touched my mother's breast. It bled on me."

* TheScrappy: You're very unlikely to find any fans who legitimately like this incredibly unsympathetic portrayal of Batman, who's only real popularity comes from people laughing at what a douche he is.

* DesignatedHero: Batman, who is psychotic, brutal, and an-all round {{Jerkass}}. He kidnaps Dick Grayson (albeit from DirtyCops that were about to kill the boy), and then forces him to live alone in the Batcave, expecting him to hunt the rats and bats in there for food. Then he complains about having Dick around and repeatedly insults and assaults him for getting on his nerves. He goes out on patrol laughing about how awesome he is and how much he loves being Batman as he gleefully poisons criminals, sets them on fire, and attacks police officers; while it isn't outright stated, FridgeHorror implies many of the victims of these incidents don't survive the encounter. And he thinks that if he had a Power Ring like Green Lantern, he would use it to enforce his will on the world, destroy (unspecified) enemies of the United States, and exile Superman from Earth—which is basically the backstory for ''Sinestro''; using a Power Ring for selfish, tyrannical means was the reason he was cast out of the Green Lantern Corps. Why are readers supposed to like this depiction of Batman, exactly? It says something when the ''Villains Wiki'' has an entry for him.

** The main plotline Batman concerns himself with is tracking down Jocko Boy, the man who killed Dick's parents, and bringing him before Dick. Except that Batman had apprehended Jocko Boy the night of the murders, poisoned him, and then let him go while Batman dealt with Dick.
** The Justice League strongly disapproves of Batman's methods, and Wonder Woman openly wants to kill him, but all they do is send Green Lantern to deal with him. Said "dealing" takes the form of basically a stern talking to and a finger wag. This despite the fact that any ''one'' of the League's members should easily be able to apprehend Batman on their own, never mind four-on-one, but in the hands of Frank Miller they're too stupid and ineffective to do anything but complain.

** If Green Lantern had a brain cell in his head, he'd have dismissed Batman's offer to meet him at a time and place of ''his specification'', and just captured him then and there with the power ring on his own terms. Or, at their actual meeting in the yellow house, used his ring to manipulate normal objects that ''aren't'' painted yellow—like, say, controlling a normal pair of handcuffs to arrest them, or throwing heavy objects at them (such as bricks).

** Neo-Nazi woman with swastika pasties standing guard outside a motel door. It's ''supposed'' to be a ContinuityNod to an extra that appeared in ''ComicBook/BatmanTheDarkKnightReturns'' but...yeah, it's just too weird to work.

* WhatAnIdiot: If Green Lantern had a brain cell in his head, he'd have dismissed Batman's offer to meet him at a time and place of ''his specification'', and just captured him then and there with the power ring on his own terms. Or, at their actual meeting in the yellow house, used his ring to manipulate normal objects that ''aren't'' painted yellow—like, say, controlling a normal pair of handcuffs to arrest them, or throwing heavy objects at them (such as bricks).

* SugarWiki/AwesomeArt: Say what you want to about the writing, but the art is ''amazing'', both the interiors and the covers. The art is what sold the book; all the critics who absolutely hated the writing said DC could do the fans a better service by reprinting the books with blank speech bubbles.

*** And then Miller had exactly the wrong reaction to the Goddamn Batman meme, as he threw the word more and more into Batman's lines until it's practically a VerbalTic.
** ''Dick Grayson, age 12''.
** "Damn you and your lemonade!"

** The love scene between Batman and Black Canary also count. In the story, they make out while keeping their masks on. The scene might be {{Squick}}, sexy, or even outright funny to some people. Fast forward three years later, Batman and Catwoman have SEX with their masks on.

* SugarWiki/AwesomeArt: Say what you want to about the writing, but the art is ''amazing'', both the interiors and the covers. The art is what sold the book; all the critics who absolutely hated the writing said DC could do the fans a better service by reprinting the books with blank speech bubbles.

** The dialogue has provided plenty of opportunity for memes and mockery, which characters constantly repeating themselves several times in a row, talking in sentence fragments, and just saying dumb things. At several points it's evident that the repetition and sentence fragments are supposed to be a MadnessMantra or because a character is excited, like when Vicki Vale keeps describing the murder of Dick's parents as "brutal", and Alfred keeps repeating himself because she's in shock from what she saw and the car crash she was just in and he's trying to calm her down; except, again, this is how most characters in the comic talk, so it just comes off as silly.

* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation:
** It's entirely possible that the Batman we're seeing on page is not in fact the real Batman. [[WebVideo/AtopTheFourthWall Some have theorized that he's actually a crazy hobo named Steve who found a Batman costume and won the lottery, becoming inspired to be Batman.]]
** The fact that Batman keeps laughing like a maniac while Joker never even smiles makes you wonder if the two swapped costumes before the story started. That or it takes place in [[BizarroUniverse Bizarro World.]]
** Similarly, Wonder Woman's insanely out-of-character behavior has caused some to declare that she's actually [[WebVideo/AtopTheFourthWall a deranged mental patient named Bonkers Betty who's stolen a Wonder Woman costume from a convention and is impersonating her]].
** Interestingly, Black Canary doesn't get a new name from Linkara despite ''explicitly'' not being the version we know (her origin clearly isn't that of either mainstream one).

** As [[WebVideo/AtopTheFourthWall Linkara]] pointed out, Creator/FrankMiller once said he considered Batman the most pure and good of all DC superheroes. Fast forward to this comic and suddenly we have the Goddamn Batman [[SlasherSmile smirking gleefully]] as he slams the Batmobile into cops, abducting Dick Grayson, [[RunningGag Age Twelve]], and being ''terrifyingly'' cruel to him, and generally running around acting so brutally out of character that Linkara dubs him "Crazy Steve" because even "Batman In Name Only" is still ''too much'' like Batman. Also, ''ComicBook/HolyTerror'' was conceived by Miller as a Batman story before being changed to a new character called The Fixer.[[note]]as detailed on that book's trivia page, Miller claims that he consciously chose to make the hero a new character because he didn't seem like Batman, but a far more popular theory—based on the fact that many elements of the book seem like the Bat-mythos with SerialNumbersFiledOff—is that DC refused to let Batman be used in a story as an Islamophobic sociopath who kills terrorists, and so Miller took the story elsewhere.[[/note]]

** On the same token above, Batman laughs like a psycho, with [[Webvideo/AtopTheFourthWall Linkara]] comparing him with ComicBook/TheCreeper. Considering how sociopathic this version of Batman is, no doubt someone would compare him with [[ComicBook/DarkNightsMetal The Batman Who Laughs]].

** When 12-year-old Dick Grayson initially creates his costume with a hood, Batman cynically tells him to drop it, since according to him, this would be impractical in a fight. Flash-forward to Creator/GrantMorrison's mainstream Batman run, when Damian Wayne becomes the new Robin. His costume includes a hood. (Linkara has theorized Morrison might have done this on purpose as a TakeThat to this comic.)

** Thanks to [[WebVideo/AtopTheFourthWall a certain critic]], referring to this series as [[InherentlyFunnyWords "ASBAR"]].

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot:
** This series was part of DC's [[ComicBook/AllStarDCComics All-Star line of comics]], which was meant to encapsulate everything good about specific DC characters and their mythology. This comic failed spectacularly at it, ''especially'' when compared to ''ComicBook/AllStarSuperman''.
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wy4ecAylR14 One theory provided by Owen Likes Comics]] posits that the intent was to explore a more up-to-date and [[{{Deconstruction}} deconstructive]] take on the original formation of the Dynamic Duo, specifically the original ''Detective Comics #38'' that introduced Robin, a comic featuring [[OlderThanTheyThink a similarly]] [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness uncharacteristically cavalier Batman]] [[CharacterizationMarchesOn whose initial treatment of Dick is questionable]] [[ValuesDissonance to the modern eye]], [[CharacterDevelopment but became slowly humanized by his presence]]. Perhaps the more outlandish characterization choices in ''All-Star'' were potentially meant to parallel and decontextualize this arc, but unfortunately, it's completely lost in the ''other'' characterization and story decisions that turned it into a mess.

** For that matter, there's Batman's plan to begin with. As Linkara pointed out in his review of ASBAR, ComicBook/BoosterGold encountered ComicBook/{{Sinestro}} while Sinestro was a Green Lantern in an issue of [=BG=]'s series, but despite the fact that [=BG=]'s outfit naturally featured large amounts of yellow[[note]]technically gold is metallic yellow[[/note]] (which led [=BG=] to assume he would be fine against Sinestro), [=BG=] lost ''because'' Sinestro used methods that didn't involve touching him—meaning that if Hal was at least written semi-competently, all he would have to do was either cover the yellow paint with dirt, or grab something outside the room that Batman didn't paint yellow. (It would be one thing if Batman had sealed all the exits after Hal had entered, but that's not what happened.)