Batman & Robin #8

Ok, Peter Tomasi, I was OK with the longer plot in this title, but now you are pushing it. This is an entire issue dealing with the “fallout” from the Nobody storyline. The problem is, I’m not sure the story quite deserves it.

Sure, Damian killed that guy, and he and Bats are pretty beat up, but there is a lot of sitting around Wayne Manor philosophizing. I understand the need to decompress after such a violent issue as last month’s but that means the Nobody storyline has now gone 8 issues. That’s a lot.

I’m pleased to see Batman making such an attempt to bond with his sociopath son. Damian has all the required elements to become a monster, but maybe, just maybe Batman and Alfred can turn him to a better path. Bats is awfully lovey-dovey in this, so it’s a bit weird seeing him as the same Batman appearing in Scott Snyder’s core title. BUT, that means this feels more like the “continuing” adventures of the Batman I’ve read about for years.

I love Patrick Gleason’s artwork, but I was befuddled by the escape from Nobody’s yacht. The batplane blasts out backwards, then what exactly happens? Does some sort of plane-shell blast away, or something else? The action in that panel is pretty hard to read. Gleason makes up for it with another great bat-signal moment though. Nice closing page.

Fair