Last month’s issue was met with mixed reactions from many of us, but one thing I think we could all agree on was that Tim Drake was woefully underused. This latest arc is all about Batman going through the five stages of grief with each issue guest starring a different member of the bat-family. With Tim getting consistently shafted in the New 52, whether you enjoyed issue #19 or not, it was a missed opportunity for Drake to illustrate his worth. This same problem doesn’t happen with Red Hood in this moth’s installment, Rage. Jason is present for 12 of the 20 pages and plays a very important role. We also learn how he and Batman ended up in Ethiopia, which was a rather confusing plot point and frustrating editor’s note in last month’s Red Hood and the Outlaws #19. As for the other 8 pages, those, like last month’s issue of Batman & Robin, are dedicated to Carrie Kelly.

This character is really Carrie Kelly in name only. Without the world of Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns, she’s a completely different person than who we remember. LethargicJ said it rather well in last month’s comments section:

CK is a character completely specific to one story. She is a reflection of her time (both when she was written and the future she was set in) and her creator. You can’t just give some random girl a pixie cut, some weird glasses and go here, it’s CK! No, it’s not. This reminds of when they brought Wendy and Marvin into Teen Titans.

Her scenes felt out of place in this issue. Last time we saw her, Bruce paid her for the lessons she had given and would have given to Damian all while denying that the boy is, in fact, dead. It went along with the theme of Bruce’s denial. When she and Bruce confront each other this time the only one of them to show anger is Carrie. What’s with these young women talking so disrespectfully to Bruce/Batman lately? Are the writers just trying too hard to show that these female characters are strong? First it was Harper Row lecturing Batman about loss in Batman #18 and now Carrie Kelly is waltzing into Wayne Manor like she owns the place and trashing the father of the kid she used to teach. That takes some serious balls. I like the idea of the book having more of a female presence but not if all the characters are going to be this entitled and annoying. And I know she’s not a character that female fans gravitate to or cosplay as, but where the hell is my Leslie Thompkins? Huh? Where’s Leslie? if ANYONE outside the immediate bat-family should be helping Bruce heal, female or not, it’s Leslie muthaf***in’ Thompkins.

As for the Jason Todd segment, it’s essentially all action with Bruce and Jason attacking the snipers. However, it felt off to me because I can’t imagine Bruce being cool with Jason firing guns at the snipers, even if he Jason is only aiming at the hands, knees and elbows. Batman hates guns. Although Jason and Bruce are probably the closest after Death of the Family, I can’t see the Dark Knight approving of live ammo even when he’s this distraught over Damian’s death. On the other hand, we do see Batman do something very horrible and over the line though and this might make you more accepting of Batman’s current state of mind and acceptance of Todd’s own methods.

I can’t help but feel that maybe Jason wasn’t the right choice for rage. Perhaps we needed a character who could react in such a way that we see how messed up Batman’s actions are the way Tim was horrified in “Denial.” When Batman does the terrible thing in this issue, it’s quickly glossed over by Jason. He’s cool with it. His casual observance makes the scene feel almost ordinary and we move on quickly to the next scene without a second thought. Maybe it would have been better to use Jason for the acceptance stage, if anyone knows something about coping with death it would certainly be Jason. Nightwing on the other hand would be mortified by what Batman does here and I think we all enjoy a good Batman vs. Nightwing fight. Bruce has it coming after knocking out that tooth!

SHOW SPOILER ▼

The artwork for this issue was actually shared between the usual team of Gleason/Gray and fill-in artists Cliff Richards and Mark Irwin whose contributions are peppered throughout the last half of the book. While Gleason has been knocking it out of the park lately, I found many of the shots with Bruce to make the man look way too much like a neanderthal for my liking and the over-reliance on shadow in many of the scenes, while typically used to great effect in establishing atmosphere, appears to have been done this time to cut corners. If it wasn’t for the obvious plot being there as a clue in the final page reveal, I would’ve thought that a certain villainous character was actually Bruce again since Gleason had drawn him in such heavy shadows and with such a wrinkled grimace throughout this and the past few grieving issues. Richards and Irwin, on the other hand give us far more detailed faces on their pages, but are lacking in the action and atmosphere department. As you know if you’ve read the Born to Kill Saga, Gleason and Gray know how to draw Batman kicking ass better than almost anyone so it was a shame to see the bulk of the action scenes passed on to other artists even if they did do a passable job. John Kalisz, as always did a superb job with the colors and gave the fill-in pages a consistent look.

Overall I was disappointed. For an issue titled “Rage” there really wasn’t very much of it. Sure, there are some punches thrown between friends, but it lacked the brutality to back up such a heavy theme. It was a battle that didn’t look any worse than the average sparring match you see in the cave and the dialogue didn’t have much punch to it either. Combine that with how annoyed I was with Carrie Kelly and we have something that let me down. It’s not a bad comic, by far, but the series has been flying high since the annual and with a cover as jaw-dropping as this one I was hoping for something at least half as amazing to be in the book’s interior. However, I will say that the final page of this comic has me, again, pretty hyped to see what comes next as we explore the bargaining stage with Batgirl.

SCORE: 6/10

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Firstly, you’ll notice we have a title change: Batman & Red Robin. This is a misnomer though because Tim is really only in the comic for a bout a 1/3 of the pages. Yes, Tim once again gets the short end of the stick and continues to be the most worthless and uninteresting member of the bat-family. No matter how much you may like this character, he’s really been shafted in the New 52. Perhaps if Teen Titans were a better read this wouldn’t be the case but…here we are. Instead of getting the spotlight in the first part of this Stages of Grief saga, “Denial”, Tim must share time with two other guest stars who you’ll find quite surprising.

Of all the “WTF” comics that have come from DC’s latest event, Batman & Red Robin #19 really stands above the rest and it’s because of these two other guest stars. SHOW SPOILER ▼

It’s an issue that revolves around Batman going “too far” and I don’t mean he’s getting more violent than before. We’ve seen that done a thousand times. It’s a Batman who refuses to accept that his son is dead and he will do whatever is in his power to see the boy brought back. After all, he was dead and revived and so was Superman and Jason Todd. What’s the big deal? It’s a comic that raises an interesting debate about whether Batman is really that much in the wrong. Why isn’t the whole Bat-family trying to bring Damian back when we all know that they live in a world where death doesn’t have to be permanent? How morally wrong is it for Batman to go to these lengths?

Gleason’s layouts are awesome and the action looks great as well. There are a number of really memorable images here that stuck with me long after I finished reading the book and of all the comics I read today, it’s the one that I feel I could re-read the most not only for its very unique story, but because of the variety in the visuals.

Batman & Red Robin #19 does a fine job of balancing 3 guest stars and giving Batman fans PLENTY to discuss. The artwork is fantastic, there are loads of surprises, and you’ll see Batman at his absolute most cold, calculating, and desperate interacting with characters you couldn’t have imagined would ever show up in this or any other Batman series. Will this interpretation of Batman put some readers off? Yes. And the ending does come rather abruptly as if Tomasi ran out of pages to explore these rich themes and heaven knows Tim Drake should’ve had more facetime but I still highly recommend you give this one a chance. It’s also a done-in-one story so anybody can pick it up.

SCORE: 8.5/10

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Talk about heartbreaking! The only other time I was this glassy eyed by the end of a Batman comic was Neil Gaiman’s Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader? 

I’ll tell you right now that this is an absolute, 100% must-buy issue. Not only is it an incredibly important comic to own because it deals with the aftermath of recent events head-on, but it’s a exceedingly well crafted comic book that evokes strong emotions from the reader. And before you open it up and go “They forgot to print words in my comic!” know that this is a silent issue. What’s that mean? It means that no character utters a single word nor are there any sound effects. Besides a list of movie recommendations from someone named “C.K.” (who I assume is Clark Kent) in the book’s opening pages the story relies entirely on the artwork by Patrick Gleason, Mick Gray, and John Kalisz who put their heart and soul into this thing.

In regards to the movie recommendations list, I went ahead and took the time to transcribe it for you. Otherwise you’ll either give yourself eyestrain or you’ll have to rummage around for a magnifying glass. Not that letterer Taylor Esposito did a poor job, quite the contrary. The list of movies is inconsequential to what’s going on in the story and I was actually really surprised that anything substantial was written at all! Usually when I examine a newspaper blowing in the wind or a magazine on a rack that’s been drawn into the panel of a comic book closely its text is never anything more than a paragraph of “asdfjklasdfjklasdfjkl” repeated but this is a legitimate list of quality films written teeny-tiny. I had to work to see what they were! It’s a nice little Easter Egg.

• On the Waterfront (1954)
• Rebel Without a Cause (1955)
• My Left Foot (1989)
• Cool Hand Luke (1967)
• To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)
• Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
• The Sand Pebbles (1966)
• Grapes of Wrath (1940)
• The Miracle [The Miracle Worker (1962)] (The next few are covered by the C.K. post-it note so this is me guessing here)
• Central [Central Station (1998)]
• Gorillas in [Gorillas in the Mist (1988)]
• Lion in the [The Lion in Winter (1968)] (I know it’s not “The Lion in…” as the comic says but it’s the only thing that makes sense to me. The Lion in Winter is a brilliant movie that everyone should see. I have no clue what “Lion in the” could be otherwise)
• China Syndrome (1979)

I’ve seen all of those except for The Sand Pebbles, Central Station, Gorillas in the Mist, and China Syndrome. How many Superman (if that’s indeed who it was) recommended films have you seen? SHOW SPOILER ▼

But anyway, back to the comic. By now I’ve already written more words in this review than there are in Batman and Robin #18‘s pages. So as you can imagine, it can be a pretty fast read but that in no way means it isn’t worth purchasing. You could easily fly through this issue while standing at the shelf of your comic shop. You could also just say “Oh, it’s the one where Batman mopes and nothing else happens.” and dismiss it. But if you ask me that would be pretty close-minded and foolish. I urge you to buy it and really take your time and admire the level of detail. With all the weight of the storytelling on the artists it’s evident that they had to give it their all. As an example I included some of the preview pages with this review. A cursory glance of page #2 gets the point across that Bruce and Titus are mourning inside of Damian’s empty room– but don’t move on. Not yet. Look at the desk next to Damian’s mattress, it’s the iPod he listened to as he slept in several issues before. Now look to the wall where his swords hang. Look again to the fireplace mantle where the Red Hood helmet Robin took as a trophy in Batman and Robin #11 now stands on display. If you flip through these pages too quickly you’ll miss out on the minutiae of a life.

Peter Tomasi took quite a bit of care to include elements from pre-New 52 continuity as well. You’ll see from the preview images that the bat-family portrait which was introduced in Batman and Robin: White Knight has resurfaced in an integral scene. SHOW SPOILER ▼

Batman and Robin is a terrific series to read right now. Between this, the last issue, and the Annual, I would even go so far as calling it my current favorite of all the Bat-titles. Issue #18 is such a superbly illustrated, emotional comic that I’ll likely flip through it a few more times before the week is out. Nearly all of the bat-titles feature the “Requiem” tagline this month but no other comic will make you feel the pain of loss as hard as Batman and Robin #18.

SCORE: 10/10

Check out a few preview pages in the gallery below, courtesy of DC Comics.

The post New 52 – Batman and Robin #18 review appeared first on Batman News.

We’re on a roll here people! Tomasi’s hot! Hot!

Batman and Robin #17 is yet another terrific issue that’s brimming with delightful character moments. Who needs another super villain plot when you can get something you never see in the other bat-titles (especially right now): The characters acting happy!

READ THIS COMIC AFTER BATMAN #17

Not just happy either, but doing the mundane things that fanboys like myself end up questioning like Does Batman pack snacks and bottled water in the utility belt? What does Damian dream about? What’s it like at the end of the night when Bruce and Alfred close-up shop?

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Heartwarming in every sense of the word, Batman & Robin Annual #1 is worth every penny!

No, you do not need to have read any other Batman & Robin comics prior to picking this one up.

Yes, it is a complete story in one oversized issue.

Yes, it is a great example of visual storytelling and YES, Peter Tomasi has found the perfect tone for this series with this issue.

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You know it’s not the real Batman that Damian is fighting and I know it’s not the real Batman that Damian is fighting, so what are we doing here?

I had hoped that this fake Father vs. son battle wouldn’t last very long and something more surprising would happen in this issue, bu it doesn’t. The fight drags on throughout the entire comic until we get to what is basically the same teaser for Batman #17 that ended Batgirl #16 today as well. It’s a page that’s going to conclude every Bat-family tie-in this month and it almost makes it feel like it isn’t worth picking up any of these tie-ins this month since we can all guess how they’ll all end from just reading one of them.

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The post New 52 – Batman and Robin #16 review appeared first on Batman News.

Brace yourselves. Batman & Robin is back and it’s delivered some of the best visuals of the Death of the Family event so far.

This series has struggled lately to tell a decent story. We had a radioactive worm monster, a giant purple guy, and two straight months of zombies and cannibal cultists. The quality of the Born to Kill saga had all but evaporated until last month’s issue where the final pages brought back the emotion and the fascinating father and son relationship that we read this book for in the first place. I had hoped it was a sign that the book was returning to its former glory and man-o-Manischewitz did it bring it this month.

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The post New 52 – Batman and Robin #15 review appeared first on Batman News.

Batman & Robin ain’t what it used to be. I thoroughly enjoyed the “Born to Kill” saga featuring the villain Nobody, but it’s as if this title just keeps getting worse with every issue since Nobody was defeated. I mean, this was a mess. A half-baked plot that rushes through zombies and a cannibalistic cult and then somehow tries its hardest to tie in with the “Death of the Family” story when that really wasn’t necessary and it doesn’t even make sense. At all. It also, like the last issue, features a fill-in artist for the middle portion of the book and Giorello’s art just doesn’t blend well with Gleason’s. They’re styles are too different. I can’t help but wonder why Gleason didn’t just take this 2-part story as a chance to rest-up before the “Death of the Family” really got rolling.

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I had a hard time reviewing this one. Batman & Robin is not the same comic it was one year ago. The Born to Kill Saga was compelling stuff with pathos. It was a father and son story that even took the time to delve into Bruce’s past, but the tone of this series has changed dramatically over the past few months. Batman & Robin now focus more on Robin and the threats that are faced grow more and more absurd with each installment. The previous arc had an Ivan Ooze lookalike who transformed into what appeared to be The Juggernaut from X-Men. In that same arc they also faced a giant radioactive 3-headed worm-thing and various baddies with batarangs sticking out of their bodies. And even though it ended with Batman dawning an Iron Man suit and chasing down a rocket this latest arc might prove to be even more over the top!

With word that issue #13 would be about Batman and Robin vs. Zombies I thought that this would be a one-and-done issue. A filler episode before the Death of the Family. Well, as it turns out this issue is only the first part of a bigger zombie storyline.

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This fell flat with me the same way Batwing #0 did. Damian and Batwing are both characters whose origins have already been told pretty thoroughly in the past couple years and unless you’re totally new to recent events in Bat-History you’re going to be bored by this issue.

Batman & Robin #0 is page after page of a little boy killing ninjas. That’s pretty much it.

It’s also an issue that’s really going to confuse the continuity crowd. I try not to pay that much attention to the  time stamps because if I do it gives me a headache. “Batman has been a public figure for 5 years according to Justice League but he’s been Batman for much longer than that…except for in Detective Comics #0 last week when we found out he was still training to be Batman 10 years ago…but then in the Batman Annual it said Bruce had just returned from globe trotting 6 years ago…” It gives me a headache and I’d rather not trouble myself over the times and dates of a make-believe history. It’s especially not worth the effort when these Batman times and dates are destined to be retconned in a few years anyway. But the thing in this issue that throws the timeline off is the incubator. I always assumed from frequent flashbacks of Damian floating in an incubator that a 10 year old Damian in this continuity could be explained by saying he was grown super fast in a tank. But here in issue #0 we see that he was flushed out once he came to term.

What’s the point?

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