COMICS: All-Star Batman and Robin, the Boy Wonder

The second issue of Frank Miller and Jim Lee's All-Star Batman and Robin, the Boy Wonder also came out yesterday. Both Dorian and Mike are prepared for people being angered by this comic. In fact, they appear to relish the idea. "Someone, somewhere, at this very moment, is having a heart attack over how Batman is portrayed," says Mike, who also notes how funny he found "Frank Miller's hearty 'screw you' to the fans who want their Batman deadly serious." Dorian says, "I was starting to think comics bloggers had run out of things to argue about," and adds that Mike "kept pointing out pages and dialogue he was certain were going to anger people unreasonably." (Whether it's unreasonable to be angered by an intentional "screw you" from the writer is a whole 'nother can of worms.)

Well, I'm proud to say that I have confounded them both! Oh yes. After I bought and thoroughly disliked the first issue, I made what has to be an almost unprecedented action in comics fandom:

I DIDN'T BUY THE NEXT ISSUE!

You heard me! I'm not bluffing! I didn't buy it, and I'm not gonna! Put that in your pipe and mail it home to grandma! (I have no idea what that means.)

Dorian and Mike surely are both right that many people won't care for this second issue -- but how many of those people still bought it, despite also not liking the first one? Tons, I'd wager. Tonnes, even. Scads. Hordes. Legions. A plethora. More than one, anyway.

And here am I, an island of unreasonable reason. I didn't like a comic, so I stopped buying it. What a concept! How many other people were compelled to buy it, knowing they wouldn't like it? (All the same ones who bought Grant Morrison's X-Men and hated every issue, perhaps?) How many comics have I bought, despite not liking them? Too many, answer to both questions.

But no more! Don't like it, don't buy it, that's my new motto. Hell, it helped me whittle down my Bendis comics habit to only Powers -- that's about 80 bucks saved every month right there!