Thursday, October 13, 2011

Batman & Robin #2


Look at Damian on that cover. Do you see how excited he is to be roaring around in the Batmobile? That's what I want from my comics, heroes who actually dig what they are doing. This came out the same week as a cover I found absolutely laughable.

The Absolute Identity Crisis front cover has Zatanna, Hawkman, Green Arrow, and more just standing around looking mopey. Ugh. Who wants that? While the other half works, I had to laugh at it in the shop.

Anyway, B&R was one of the strongest debuts last month, and Peter Tomasi keeps it up this month. He's exploring the relationship between Damian and Bruce Wayne more than any other writer so far, even Grant Morrison. Morrison never had the time to show Bruce barging in on his son, then apologizing for not respecting his privacy. Tomasi spends a lot of time this issue showing how both father and son are struggling with these new roles; I loved Alfred showing Bruce how he didn't actually tell Damian that he was proud. Bruce is just so darn disconnected from normal humanity, he doesn't get it.

And Damian is trying so hard to please him. It's fascinating watching the nature vs. nurture argument play out in the current Robin. There is a fantastic moment in this issue that just breaks your heart and scares you at the same time. Alfred' reaction shot is priceless. Patrick Gleason has become one of my favorite pencillers not only for his handling of action scenes, but of the wonderful dramatic moments like this.

Factor in a new villain who has ties to Bruce Wayne and Batman, and seems to know a lot more than any villain should, and this book promises to be good for awhile.

With a lot of the second issues leaving me cold, I'm happy that this issue of Batman & Robin is actually BETTER than the first one.

Excellent

2 comments:

Jeff said...

What is that picture at the bottom from?

Timbotron said...

It's from the Absolute Identity Crisis HC. The front cover is all the heroes on the left crying.