7 Comic Book Story Arcs That Were Never Finished (And Why)

3. All-Star Batman & Robin

Of course, not every cancelled comic is necessarily a major loss. Some titles just don't quite cut the mustard, and one that most certainly did not involved a creative team that should, on paper, have been just as dynamic as the duo they were depicting.

I am, of course, referring to All-Star Batman & Robin, the Boy Wonder. It's a comic so infamous, so batsh*t weird and weirdly mean-spirited that it has become a meme in itself. Batman neglects his adopted ward, leaving him to fend for himself in the Batcave to eat the rats and bats that live in there, and if the blatant child abuse wasn't bad enough, him and Black Canary decide to get it on in the rain after burning a dozen or so mobsters alive in an explosion by the Gotham docks.

Yeah. It's that kind of Miller comic.

Anyway, All-Star Batman & Robin wasn't meant to be the only title in that line of comics. Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely also helmed a brilliant story under that banner in All-Star Superman, while other projects headed up by the likes of Adam Hughes (All-Star Wonder Woman), Geoff Johns (All-Star Batgirl) and others were also optioned. Naturally, a sequel to the Boy Wonder was also planned, with the first issues having set up the Joker to appear as a central antagonist, and for Batgirl to presumably join the team after her brief cameo at some point too.

A sequel titled Dark Knight: Boy Wonder was announced in 2010, but nothing ended up materialising. Miller has since written two follow-ups to his Dark Knight series in Master Race, co-written by Brian Azzarello, and the Golden Child, with art from Rafael Grampá.