If it wasn’t obvious to readers with issue 4, the fifth issue of All Star Batman and Robin The Boy Wonder makes it abundantly clear that Miller is having a ball with the title, writing what may be the funniest thing to come out of DC in years. OK, so that may not be completely clear - there’s a very real chance that Miller began the project in dead serious mode and has since switched gears following fanboy outrage at how the characters were behaving, but at this point he’s in full-on “enjoy myself and screw you” mode. In fact, I think the following panel pretty much sums up his approach to the book.

Seriously, if DC doesn’t market “I love being the goddamn Batman” t-shirts this summer, they’re fools.

Sure to raise fanboy ire in the coming days is Miller’s completely over the top portrayal of Wonder Woman. In a lot of ways, the book is approaching the characters as they might behave if these events took place in our real world - a genuine Amazon warrior would in no way tolerate the ogling of her assets by anyone short of Superman.

Then we get the Justice League, which appears to be less of a team dedicated to protecting non-powered people and more of a group of heroes interested in self-policing other powered being so as to keep the general populace off their backs. Oh, and Plastic Man seems to be a fan of water sports.

I think that the reason why ASB&RtBW manages to succeed in this twisted take on iconic characters without coming across as mean, petty or spiteful is because despite his off-model take on the characters, it’s still obvious Miller is coming from a place of respect and love for them and the world they inhabit. Oftentimes this sort of series would have an underlying, unspoken disdane for superhero comics, but as the “I love being the goddamn Batman” panel shows, Miller’s reveling in the tropes of the genre, albeit in a somewhat off-kilter fashion. It’s as though he’s seen the remixed comics that have been springing up online for the last 2-3 years and decided to join in on the fun himself.

I can’t wait for goddamn collection.

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