What The ‘All-Star’ In All-Star Batman Means

All-Star Batman is meant to be a showcase book with top established and up and coming talent working on it according to Scott Snyder

Scott Snyder had a phenomenal five-year run on Batman with artist Greg Capullo. And while he’s stepped back from that book, he’s nowhere near done with the Dark Knight as he is the writer on post-Rebirth bat book All-Star Batman. Snyder talked with Batman News about many things, including the meaning behind the title, “All-Star Batman”:

For me, I wanted something that just said; The people who  are going to be working on this book, not necessarily me, but the people I was working with were either up and coming stars or were already big legends in their own right.  It was my chance to get to work with the people who had really inspired me, or were inspiring me at the moment.  And trying to do something that was a recombinant book.  Where the purpose wasn’t to outsell Batman or to be competitive with the line.  But instead to do something that was a place I could go to do Batman stories that were in continuity but also detached from the pressure and grind of the main book.

"The way I could sell it or commercialize it for DC to make it palatable beyond it just being a Batman book was to say it would be a showcase book.  It would be a place where I would try to bring big high concept stories.  The same kind of priorities that I loved to bring to Batman itself, but that this would be a place where I’d get to work with artists like Paul Pope.  And surprise people in the way we were able to do in the interim issues on Batman itself.  So, they really went for that. And so my idea was to call it something that spoke to the legacy of that title.  The way All-Star had been a title from history, but at the same time, when I was growing up All-Star was a label that said the best creators in the business are doing something.  Whether it was Grant (Morrison) and Frank Quitely or Frank (Miller) and Jim (Lee).  So, it was an honor when they said I could use it.  And they actually suggested it.  Dan Didio and Bob Harras.Actually, the biggest proponent was Tom King.  At first they said, why don’t you call it The Batman or Shadow of the Batman.  And I was fine with any of that stuff.  But Tom was like, it’s bigger than that.  You can’t call it that.  He was like, keep fishing.  And I did.  And All-Star came up.  So, it was Tom King.  And it feels really right and I’m really honored to be able to use that title."

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In the full interview, which you should check out, Snyder also teases some upcoming arcs including Mr. Freeze, the Joker, and teases a villain Batman himself trained. All-Star Batman is available anywhere comics are sold.