Damian Wayne is back in Gotham City, but everything is not quite back to normal as Batman tries to adjust to his son’s new super-powered status quo.
Written by Peter J. Tomasi
Illustrated by Patrick Gleason“Has Damian Wayne become something more than human? And how do you control a reckless child who now has super powers?”
Now that we’re past the initial burst of excitement that accompanied Damian Wayne’s return from the comic book after-world, Pete Tomasi faces the difficult writing challenge of launching a new story, while simultaneously info dumping on readers, the entire resurrection story-arc. The result is an issue that features many great emotional beats and moments, but also has a couple of dialogue and exposition drenched scenes. The best thing that can be said is that Tomasi has an excellent sense of pacing, so he gets the exposition out of the way as quickly as he can, right after a big action scene, and prevents it from bogging down the entire issue. This installment does a lot of setting up, both in terms of the overall story-arc and the new characterization of Damian.
For the majority of his existence Damian was, for lack of a better word, a real brat. He was angry, aggressive and petulant, and he seemed to care about nobody else. Of course his character evolved into a slightly more likeable one as his fan base grew and grew, but the core of Damian remained one of barely contained rage. At first glance it would appear that Tomasi is writing the revived super-powered Damian as the same angry kid he was before, but as he explores his new powers it becomes clear that something is amiss.
Damian punches bad guys, ignores his father and smashes his head against a tank without even flinching. While old Damian would do these same things and use his rage to push past discomfort and suppress anything else, he now does them simply because he’s trying to feel something as he does them. Tomasi paints a picture of a character who seems to be going through the motions of a previous life. Damian is doing the same things he used to do because he hopes it will spark the same internal reaction as it had before, but instead he just continues to feel nothing. It’s a real be-careful-what-you-wish-for situation for fans who wanted the dynamic duo to be back together again.
Although Batman and Robin take a trip to the Justice League Watchtower satellite, only two other heroes appear in the issue. While it might seem like a bit of a tease, Tomasi smartly uses Superman, Batman and Shazam as a contrast to the new Robin. Damian has a mix of traits from all of these characters, namely the vast powers of Superman, the emotional damage of Batman, and the relative youth of Shazam. By the time the group leaves on a mission, however, Tomasi has used these similarities to illustrate how different Damian is. He doesn’t have the ideals and beliefs of Superman, he lacks the self-control of Batman, and he barely even tolerates Shazam’s childlike, and age-appropriate, enthusiasm for his powers. Even though Damian is surrounded by people who are all like him in some way, he’s still alone in the end.
Boy is it good to see Patrick Gleason draw Damian Wayne again. Gleason has been on this book since the pre-New 52 days, and his familiarity with this piece of Gotham is readily apparent. Damian under Gleason’s pencils flows effortlessly through the city, without anything looking forced or rushed. Gleason knows how to play with the iconography of the character, and moments when Damian’s Robin costume steps out of complete darkness really highlight the relative triumphant nature of his return. The first scene almost feels like fan service, as Damian opens a can of super-powered whoop-ass on some of Gotham most recognizable bad guys. It’s a really exciting way to start off the issue.
In addition to his strong command of action of fight scenes, Gleason has really nailed down the look of a flippant and unimpressed adolescent. Damian is still overflowing with smirks and eye rolls, and it’s a real testament the Gleason makes the character look somewhat likeable instead of just an annoying twerp. This issue features a rare moment of typical father-son bonding as Bruce and Damian hit the lake for some fishing, and you can practically see the disdain rise from the character’s body. And if you thought Bruce Wayne would look silly in old baseball cap, you’d be surprised what he can pull off with a chin that strong.
Continued belowThe series’ year-long run as “Batman And…” gave Gleason the chance to show his skills penciling other DCU characters that aren’t normally found in Gotham. If the welcomed appearance of Superman and Shazam in this issue is any indication, it looks like this trend is set to continue. Gleason proves that he is very versatile, even as he’s drawing three really built guys with dark hair and capes. Everyone has clear expressions and easily readable emotions, and it’s not just a collection of winks and grins. Even if Shazam’s profile seems to vary a little from panel to panel, as least it doesn’t look like they just copied and pasted Superman face onto a different body.
This is really a set-up issue after the previous action-heavy installment, but Peter Tomasi manages to keep the change of pace from feeling especially jarring. He dispenses with the necessary exposition by a third of the way into the issue, and uses the rest to juxtapose the new version of Damian reacting to both new and familiar situations. Patrick Gleason knows Damian and Gotham like the back of his Bat-gloved hand, and floats from scene to scene with ease, creating many visually exciting and memorable moments even as the level of action quiets down. Despite the fact that he now has superpowers, Damian is still the same kid that liked to smash cars and beat up villains, but it’s clear that what’s going on inside is a lot different.
Final Verdict: 7. 9 – Definitely a quieter issue, it succeeds by exploring Damian’s new emotional state and setting up the rest of the story arc. And there’s a pretty funny Spider-Man reference.
