F-Bombs and C-Words in All-Star Batman and Robin
DC Comics has had to recall printings of All-Star Batman and Robin the Boy Wonder #10 due to a printing error that caused some of the censored dialogue to become quite uncensored.
You see, in the series, whenever a character used bad language, the letterer would write the words and then strike it out with a thin black bar. The effect was supposed to let mature readers know exactly what the words were, but younger (naive) kids, who live a sheltered life, would not know what’s being said. This time, the black ink for the boxes was too light and the cursing showed through, ruining little Jimmy’s mind.
First of all, It’s not like a lot of children are reading All-Star Batman and Robin or any comic book for that matter. When I was a regular reader of comic books, I hardly ever saw a child younger than 16 in the comic book store. It’s now become a genre for thirty-five year olds. So what if some cussing shows up?
But that’s not to say I would let my child read this title. Not because of the use of bad words, but because the story itself has questionable elements. Hell, even I was a little offended at the abusive way Batman treats Robin when I read issue #1:
The Super Friends This Ain't
I don’t think the “world’s greatest detective” would talk this way. And I don’t know why Frank Miller needs to use the f-bomb and the c-word. You can craft a really good story using milder language. I can see where in some instances it’s called for, but it looks like issue number 10 was rife with it. To me this is the sign of a lazy writer.
You can read more about the printing gaffe here.
Tags: Batman, censorship, Comics, DC Comics, f-bomb, Frank Miller, printing error, Robin
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September 20, 2008 at 10:34 am
Here is why Miller would use this language, among other things. a review of all Miller’s work leads one to think that his problem is related to an unresolved sexuality. His hyper-agressiveness combined with stories of men in tights is enought to realize the obnoxious jerk should have realized he was homosexual years agao . . . . . he would most likely be a little more pleasant if he had lived his life in accord with his true self.
What a sad and sorry waste.