Written by Peter J. Tomasi
Illustrated by Patrick GleasonBattling evil with his son, Damian, at his side, Batman now realizes that the hardest part of the job may be trying to work together! As Batman and Robin try to adjust to their new partnership, a figure emerges from Bruce Wayne’s past: His name is NoBody, and he’s not happy that Batman Incorporated is shining a light on his own shadowy war against evil…
And so, following a brief three issue stint earlier this year, Tomasi and Gleason finally begin their much hyped run on Batman and Robin in earnest. How well does this fresh start for this familiar but very different version of the dynamic duo play out?
Click on down to find out!
It’s tricky reviewing this book as part of an interconnected universe (which, indeed, is how it is almost assuredly intended to be read) because, somehow, this book kinda seemed to forget that a reboot was supposed to occur. Sure, when last we saw this duo, it was Dick Grayson under the cowl and not Bruce Wayne, but everything that occurred in the Bat-books prior to the DCnU reboot lead us to believe that Bruce Wayne was returning to Gotham as the “primary” Batman role. Post-reboot that changeover has occurred, but other than that not much seems, well, rebooted. It kind of seems like everything is continuing on from where the Batbooks were last month, which is funny because other than the Green Lantern books, no other part of this new universe has continued business as usual, which makes the Batverse a bit of an anomaly.
That said, inserting a legitimate father/son relationship into this traditional character combination is a stroke of genius so obvious that I’m not sure why it didn’t seem like one beforehand. Playing Bruce Wayne off of his son, who by and large seems to care about his father FAR less than his father cares about him, holds a massive amount of storytelling potential that Tomasi really succeeds in playing up. Fighting crime alongside your father, with all of the massive expectations he holds for you, has got to be one of the most awkward experiences a 10 year-old ninja can possibly go through, and this awkwardness is conveyed perfectly throughout the dialogue of this issue as well as the character interaction and decisions made as a result. As far as the actual plot goes, this was 100% a set-up issue for the relationship between Bruce and Damian, with the ongoing threat of NoBody pushed almost thoroughly to the side for later. Still though, the story accomplished everything it needed to do and seemed to set out to do.
As far as the art is concerned, Gleason puts in every ounce of talent he has become known for, and the innate chemistry between himself and Tomasi following the pair’s collaboration on Green Lantern Corps is just as apparent here as it has ever been. Despite a diametric locale shift, Gleason brings the character design and fluidity of motion that made Green Lantern Corp such a joy to see to this story, and really utilizes the heavy shadows needed to tell the story that make the characters pop off the page.
I feel like I can’t end this review without noting that I did not like the last debut issue these two had on this title at ALL, and felt the quality of that story was uncharacteristically poor given the high quality I knew the team was capable of. This is partially the reason I wanted to give the book a second chance with this new beginning, and I am glad that I did. The best DC can hope for with its New 52 this month is that they establish a strong enough footing to continue on, and while I’m not entirely sure this book was in any real danger, it’s nice to see a status quo as firmly and entertainingly established as this one was.
Final Verdict: 9.0 – Buy
