Book Review #32: All Star Batman & Robin the Boy Wonder

All Star Batman & Robin the Boy Wonder (2005)

Written by Frank Miller

Pencils by Jim Lee

Inks by Scott Williams

Colors by Alex Sinclair

There is a lot of derision when it comes to All Star Batman & Robin the Boy Wonder for a couple of reasons. Most people either hate this or love it. I tend to fall somewhere in the middle. The reason why most hate it is that Frank Miller, for whatever reason chose to make Batman nothing short of a Blood thirsty, psychopath, hellbent on inflicting as much pain as possible against his enemies. But the thing that rubbed most people the wrong way is that he seemed to be getting off on all the carnage he was dishing out.

This goes against everything that Batman/Bruce Wayne stands for. It's so completely out of character. Now, usually something like this where a character starts acting against the norm can be attributed to brainwashing, alien infection or any other influences brought on by one of many Batman Villains. But here, it's him and him alone acting of his own volition.

The other thing that tends to bring comic book fans to a boil is that the book just....ends. There is no resolution to the story. After 9 issues, it just stops. Even though it has been announced that the book itself will be morphing into another title called Dark Knight: Boy Wonder for 6 Issues to wrap up the story, it's still a shitty way to treat fans that were following the exploits of Batman.

As for the story itself, it's an origin tale about Dick Greyson, the original "Boy-Wonder" who becomes Robin. Although a lot is said about how Batman is completely off his rocker here and in the way he treats Greyson almost to the point of abuse, I can still find some things about it interesting enough to not completely throw this one away. I just look at it as one of those weird anomalies and chalk it up to a different take on the characters that you would never get elsewhere.

Having said all that, the only saving grace really for the book is of course Jim Lee's stunning artwork. The work he put out for this one is of the highest standard that meets and at times eclipses that of his work on Batman: Hush. Just astonishing to look at.

I can only recommend the book for Jim's art and not much else.

Rating: 3 Stars out of 5

Review by Chiprocks1

Book Review #31: Batman: Hush

 Batman: Hush (2002)

Story and Words by Jeph Loeb

Pencils by Jim Lee

Inks by Scott Williams

Colors by Alex Sinclair

Letters by Richard Starkings

Hush had a lot of things going for it from Jeph Loeb doing the words to mega-superstar Jim Lee on pencils and his trusty sidekick inker extraordinaire Scott Williams and the amazing colors of Alex Sinclair. With all these elements in place, did Hush live up to the hype?

A resounding yes. The first thing you will obviously take notice of when opening the book is of course Jim's amazing art. The guy just continues to top himself with each and every book he does. And he does not disappoint one bit in this book at all. If you are coming into this book for the first time having never seen anything he has done before, you will definitely come away as a fan.

What about the story? Any good? Very good. It was actually much better than I thought it would be. You're in for a treat if your a fan of DC Comics as pretty much the entire gallery of characters make an appearance at some point here, from Catwoman to Superman to the Joker just to name a few. Hell, you get not one, not two, but three Robins here. You will just have to read the book to find out how it all ties in together. 

I absolutely recommend this book for anyone that is a fan of amazing art or in need of a pretty solid story with lots of well-known characters. Also, be on the look out for a new Hardcover Edition of Hush with just Jim's pencils inside. That's right. No Inks and no colors. I can't wait to pick this one up next month (July, 2011).

Rating: 5 Stars out of 5

Review by Chiprocks1

Book Review #14: Maybe I'll Pitch Forever

Maybe I'll Pitch Forever (1962 First Print/1992 Reprint)

For awhile I had been looking to find a book on Satchel Paige that I could read. But there were a lot of books out there to choose from, but I could never pick one . It wasn't until I read Buck O'Neil's book that I settled on Maybe I'll Pitch Forever. If this book was good enough for Buck, then it was good enough for me.

As for Maybe I'll Pitch Forever, this pretty much tells it like it is from the man himself: Leroy "Satchel" Paige. It's your typical biography detailing his life from his days as a rambunctious kid to his time in the Negro Leagues to his eventual call up to the Major Leagues. Throughout the book as you listen in on Satch telling his stories about his barnstorming days, players like Josh Gibson and Jackie Robinson, you come away with a better understanding of the man and what he did for the game of Baseball.

There are a handful of players that I wish that I could have gotten the chance see to play: Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio, Ted Williams, Walter Johnson, Jackie Robinson, Josh Gibson and of course Satchel Paige. 

This book was pretty fascinating to read and was hard to put down once I started the book. It's quite engaging and funny at times. But you have to know something about the man himself. He was a showman of epic proportions and had a tendency to exaggerate his accomplishments during his playing days for the benefit of the writers that were following him at the time. Don't get me wrong, he was every bit as good as the legend tells it. But you will find yourself wondering from time to time about some of the stories he tells. But this doesn't take away from the thrill of reading about him though.

One last thing I have to point out before I wrap this up, it's still mind boggling to think that Satch at the age of 59, pitched 3 innings in the Big Show. Sheesh! And THAT story is true! :)

Rating: 4 Stars out 5

Review by Chiprocks1

Book Review #12: I Was Right On Time

I Was Right On Time (1996)

Anyone that knows me, knows that I'm a Baseball fanatic. And every year, I always watch Ken Burns' Baseball documentary, usually at the start of Spring Training or at the beginning of the regular Baseball season. That's the case yet again this year. The only thing that's different this time is that instead of watching it once, I decided to watch the entire 9 innings again along with the the sequel The Tenth Inning as well.

The reason why I love this series comes down to not just the sport itself, but the heart and soul of the documentary in the form of Buck O'Neil. This guy was pretty much an unknown to the general public outside of hardcore Baseball fans when the series premiered on PBS. Since then he has become the face of the documentary as well as an ambassador for the sport. He became a celebrity and rightly so. I can never get enough just listening to him talk about his time in the Negro Baseball Leagues. His stories about Satchel Paige, Josh Gibson and countless others are simply amazing to hear and relive.

But rather than watching this again for a 3rd straight time, I thought now would be a good time to read his book, in his own words. The results would be I Was Right On Time. If you know Buck, or have watched the documentary Baseball, you will know that he has been telling his baseball stories to anyone that will listen for the past 60 plus years. I've heard all of them and I never get tired of hearing them and I want more.

The book basically picks up where the documentary left off. By this, I mean that when you shoot filmed testimonies, a lot of the stuff is going to end up on the cutting room floor due to editing purposes. This book fills in and rounds out a lot of the stories that are told in the documentary. There's more to the man then what you see, This is a pretty good read and very insightful of how he was brought up and what he had to endure. The best stories of course still center around his relationship with Satchel Paige and Josh Gibson.

I highly recommend this book to everyone, whether your a fan of the sport or not. You will come away enlighten and a better person after you read this one. Pick it up and pass it along to a friend.

Rating: 5 Stars out of 5

Review by Chiprocks1