Marvel Divas #1 Reviews

Marvel Divas #1

by James Hunt
July 1, 2009
4

Story by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa Art by Tonci Zonjic Colors by Jelena Kevic Djurdjevic, June Chung

They say that there’s no such thing as bad publicity. But if that’s the case, I’m not really sure how to describe the kind of publicity “Marvel Divas” received when it was announced. “Bad” would certainly be a good start.

A large part of the negative reaction was based on the cover, which, having read the issue, is exposed as an almost laughably inappropriate piece of cheesecake from J. Scott Campbell. Even now, it’s hard to see the logic in putting such an openly exploitative cover on a book that’s otherwise trying hard to actively avoid the industry’s more sexist inclinations.

The premise of the book is a solid one: A bunch of B- and C-list heroines hanging out together, focussing on their downtime between assignments and dealing with their social lives instead of supervillains. “Sex and the City” is an oft-cited (and valid) reference-point. Unusually for a superhero book, the characters spend most of their time out of costume, and there’s no primary antagonist -- though by the end of the book, each character has her own personal nemesis, some more tangible than others.

Thankfully, Aguirre-Sacasa is a talented enough writer to take a cast of female leads and approach them as characters first, and women second. Hellcat retains the bubbly, flighty personality of her recent limited series, the Black Cat is showcased at her impulsive, headstrong best, while Photon retains her post-“Nextwave” edge. If any character is done a disservice, it’s Firestar, whose growth into an independent and confident young woman in Busiek’s “Avengers” run is undone in favor of making her the token wallflower.

There are some moments that feel a little like they’re overcompensating in an attempt to make the book inclusive for female readers, but in general the balance is well-struck. There’s a light-hearted yet introspective air to the story, although the tonal shift for the twist ending is perhaps a bit more than the writing can handle.

Tonci Zonjic’s artwork is great, managing to handle the extremes of tone far better than the plotting does. Zonjic manages to make both the brief superhero action and the conversational, off-duty scenes look like part of the same world, and given that the characters spend most of their time out of costume, it’s Zonjic’s particular attention to style and poise that keeps the characters both visually interesting and identifiable throughout.

For a book that had a lot of negative buzz attached to it, "Marvel Divas" has turned out far better than it could have. It might have a horrible cover. It might have a horrible title. But it’s a credit to the book’s creative team that beneath the layers of mis-marketing, there actually is a decent comic in there somewhere. Whether it can find its audience, or indeed, whether its audience can find it, well, that remains to be seen. But let’s hope so.

MARVEL DIVAS #1

by: Katie “Dynamic Lass” Nichols Dynamicforces.com
July 2009

Writer: Robert Aquirre-Sacasa Artist: Tonci Zonjic

First Gotham City Sirens!!! And now… Marvel Divas!!! Needless to say, it’s a super-rad time to be happy little fan girl.

I knew I would absolutely love Marvel Divas (c’mon, it’s me. I spend. I shop. I dine. I don’t chase ‘em, I replace ‘em), but little did I know how much I would really love this book. Every page of this comic is pure girl power awesomeness. (I was even tempted to break out my Spice Girls CD’s as I read it… okay, maybe I downloaded a few songs from iTunes.) Marvel Divas is an obvious parody (but not a predictable parallel) of Sex and the City, or even the L Word, (and I so-o-o-o heart both those shows) and everything great about them is offered in the pages of this book but with the addition of super powers (and a skrull invasion cameo.) Really, can it get any better?

So, what is it about this book that makes it strong enough for a Mighty Avenger but made for a Marvel Diva? It’s all about the characters…

With the exception of muscle cars, frisbee dogs, surfer dudes and free tequila, few things make me tingle (and occasionally drool) more than Saturday morning cartoons. And few Saturday morning cartoon gals are cooler (or hotter, I guess) than Angelica Jones a.k.a Firstar. So Marvel Divas wins big points right away for including one of my favorite characters and childhood icons (and giving her a way cool tattoo (see the variant cover) that I am so-o-o-o-o getting for myself.) She’s not in the story as much as the others, but when she does appear, things get itchy (with a plotline that I believe started way back during her stint as an Avengers.) Regardless, she’s still total cutie and a trooper and I love her all the more.

The Black Cat… Is there a fan girl alive that doesn’t heart the Black Cat? Maybe, but after reading Marvel Divas that number will surely decline. I have a great distaste for villains that change their ways; but I also have a great appreciation for writers who are able to design a plot that doesn’t jeopardize the core nature of our favorite baddies. Brian K. Vaughn did this flawlessly in one of my favorite series of all time, Mystique. Brian Michael Bendis is currently doing something similar with Dark Avengers. And Brian Reed keeps readers on their toes by writing the new Ms. Marvel as a charismatic psychopath. (I’m sensing a pattern here; Brian = bad girls.) Felecia Hardy has never been the killer the Mystique or Moonstone are, but her thieving ways and lust for the good life guide her as well now as they ever have and continue her in the running as one of the greatest of all anti-heroes of all time. The Black Cat really came to my favor in Heroes for Hire; and here in Marvel Divas we’re given an even better look at what Felicia Hardy is really like: independent, smart and in need of a vodka tonic (my kind of gal.)

Photon and Hell Cat (great name, by the way)! I’m afraid to say I don’t know much about either of these characters except that one was an Avenger and the other a Defender, but after this first issue I am so going to make the next session of Comics & Cocktails all about these divas (I’ve been warned that I may be disappointed.) Photon… wow, is this my life story? She’s a love ‘em and leave ‘em type (and loves the lovin’ more than the leavin’), and I can respect everything about that. She’s funny, sexy and can fly… I want her powers, and I want them now. And Patsy Walker… now this gal has secrets to tell and there’s not one bit of me that isn’t hoping to hear them all. “Sexiled to Alaska” after her affair with Tony Stark went sour?!?! Not only that, but apparently she shacks up with Daimon Hellstrom, the Son of Satan (that’s got to be hot… pun intended.) And on top of all that, these gals know how to play the “would ya” game!!!

This book is awesome! I want every girl I know to read it again and again. Don't wait for the trade on this one. Guys, stay away, this one is ours. Now, I’m going to mix me a vodka tonic ala the Black Cat and re-read Marvel Divas agin and again and again… and then I’m going to get a Firestar tattoo! Yay me!

MARVEL DIVAS #1

Reviewed by: Brian Hofacker Dynamicforces.com
July 2009

Writer: Robert Aquirre-Sacasa Artist: Tonci Zonjic Cover: J. Scott Campbell

Marvel Divas presents an incredibly entertaining look into the fast-lane lifestyles of four super-powered and single gal pals who have forged a strong, out-of-costume friendship and provide support for one another in their quirky quests to manage a semblance of balance and understanding of their romantic and professional lives, all while taking advantage of the more chic benefits of their super-powered exploits in order to gain an increase in hero social status, as well as have some drinks .

The lighthearted tone of this debut issue is a breath of fresh air in the wake of the overwhelming terror and espionage of the “Dark Reign” storylines and adds a much appreciated panache into the ideology of super heroes. With Marvel Divas, writer Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa is doing for Hell Cat, Firestar, Photon and the Black Cat what Robert Downey Jr. did for Iron Man; he is breaking down the barriers of transmedia resistance by adding recognizable fashion and modern sensibility to the lives of super heroes in order to develop characters and situations that are appealing to even the non-comic reading crowd.

The ultimate success of this book is found in its offering of an aesthetically charismatic and carefree plot which quickly lures the reader into an entertaining comfort zone with little request for commitment only to then quietly begin persuading them to invest a good piece of their heart to the characters and situations. Marvel Divas doesn’t promise the senses-shattering, pulse-pounding consequences that sell most comic books; however, the initial impression stirred by Marvel Divas is quite unique in the fact that by the time the reader is halfway through the story, he or she has come to know the quartet of characters quite intimately and emotional attachment is unavoidable. Unfortunately, the sense throughout Marvel Divas is so charming that before the story is through, the readers is quite aware that something must now go terribly wrong.

Marvel Divas #1

by Michael Hickerson Sliceofscifi.com
April 17, 2009

Black Cat, Hell Cat, Firestar, and Photon will all join forces for a limited run series from Marvel called “Marvel Divas.” Think Marvel super-heroines meets “Sex in the City.”

Writer Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa says, “The idea behind the series was to have some sudsy fun and lift the curtain a bit and take a peep at some of our most fabulous super heroines. In the series, they’re an unlikely foursome of friends—Black Cat, Hell Cat, Firestar, and Photon—with TWO things in common: They’re all leading double-lives and they’re all having romantic trouble.”

Aguirre-Sacasa is working on the series with Tonci Zonjic. The limited run series will hit comic stores in July.

“The pitch started as “Sex and the City” in the Marvel Universe, and there’s definitely that “naughty” element to it, but I also think the series is doing to a deeper place, asking question about what it means…truly means…to be a woman in an industry dominated by testosterone and guns. (And I mean both the super hero industry and the comic book industry.) But mostly it’s just a lot of hot fun,” said Marvel editor Joe Quesada.

The series could be seen as a test for women-centric storylines in future comics. The comic book industry has been notorious for ignoring the criticisms of its female readership. This new series could be used as a springboard for more female-centered storylines in the future or as evidence that they won’t sell should the series not meet expectations.

Marvel Divas #1

By Kyle Posluszny Weeklycomicbookreview.com
July 3, 2009
B+

By Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa (Writer), Tonci Zonjic (Art), and Jelena Kevic Djurdjevic & June Chung (Colors)

Some Thoughts Before The Review: It will be interesting to see how Marvel’s Divas stack up against Gotham’s Sirens…

The Story: Patsy Walker (Hellcat), Monica Rambeau (Captain Marvel/leader of Nextwave), Felicia Hardy (Black Cat), and Angelica Jones (Firestar) are superhero “gal-pals” trying to navigate the social scene of the Marvel Universe. In Marvel Divas #1, we learn how they became friends, see three of them attend a party for Patsy Walker’s latest book, and talk about, well, girl stuff (guys, the social scene, sex, relationships, etc.).

About That Cover: Ignore the rather obnoxious J. Scott Campbell cover… Actually, scratch that…Take a good look at the J. Scott Campbell cover because it’s really the only thing about Marvel Divas #1 that deserves to fall into the “Not So Good” category. That’s not to say that the cover looks bad (cheesecake certainly has its place), but it couldn’t possibly be a worse fit for a book that succeeds almost entirely because it avoids all the baggage that comes with a cover that says “Marvel Divas” and features four ladies in skintight outfits posing in a way that accentuates their… uh… assets. Now, with that out of the way…

What’s Good And What’s Not So Good: As far as story and tone is concerned, Marvel Divas truly is Sex and the City meets the Marvel Universe. Is it really my type of thing? Absolutely not. But that doesn’t mean that the mini-series should be dismissed in any way. And that’s because, on a creative level, Marvel Divas is as strong as some of the best books on the stands.

Writer Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa does an excellent job of giving Marvel Divas a distinct flavor for a Marvel comic. In other words, there’s very little superhero stuff and a whole lot of girl talk, girl power, and clever banter. The four main characters are written in a way that makes it easy for readers to quickly understand the important personalities (though one or two come across as a bit stereotypical) and where they fit in the Marvel universe. Aguirre-Sacasa also does a nice job of humorously breaking the fourth wall at appropriate times (”Company wide crossover”) to keep the interest of those that are picking the book up out of curiosity.

My only real complaint about the writing in Marvel Divas is actually not really a complaint and more of an observation: Aguirre-Sacasa clearly isn’t aiming for that “all inclusive” feel (though the writer certainly doesn’t have to) . What I mean is that it will quickly become clear whether Marvel Divas is for you or not. I am clearly not a part of the intended audience, yet I can certainly appreciate the mini-series for what it is.

The artwork by Tonci Zonjic for Marvel Divas is perfectly suited to the tone that Aguirre-Sacasa amazingly establishes. Stylish, expressive, and subtle, Zonjic’s work effortlessly brings out the personality and high points of the script. The only negative thing about Zonjic’s style is that character faces all tend to look similar. Skin tones and hairstyles keep faces distinct, but some more facial detail would definitely be welcome.

Conclusion: Even though Marvel Divas isn’t a series for your average fanboys, it’s definitely one unique and creative piece.

Marvel Divas #1 (of 4)

by Matthew Peterson Majorspoilers.com
July 5, 2009
4.5

“I Always Had A Huge Crush On Miranda…”

In recent years, Marvel Comics has become known (to me, at least) for grabbing handfuls of characters and slapping them together to see what sticks, sort of like a superhero Chinese Buffet. The obvious raison d’être for this miniseries is to reproduce the dynamics of ‘Sex And The City’ using superhuman women, the kind of built-in story hook (”It’s a superhero support group, and GET THIS! The Power Pack chick is half nekkid in it!” “Oh, wait, how about a superhero who works for a newspaper and has all sorts of reporter adventures and stuff!”) that Joe Quesada and Marvel editorial love. Of course, long-time Spoilerites who remember the days of “The Loners” may recall that this sort of hook-driven product always leads to a polarizing experience for me.

So, the big question is: Thrash it or Smash it?

Previously, on Marvel Divas: There was a time when the Marvel Universe once lacked for strong female characters, instead giving us various takes on the “housewife heroine” that worked so well with the early Susan Storm-Richards characterization. Luckily, things have changed… A young mutant who wasn’t depowered, Angelica Jones had run-ins with the Massachusetts Academy before eventually joining the New Warriors. Alongside her fiance, Vance Astro, she eventually joined the Avengers as Firestar! A former harbor policeman, Monica Rambeau was transfigured by a strange machine into a creature of pure energy. As first Captain Marvel, then Photon, then Pulsar, then just plain old Monica, she has led the Avengers, NextWave, and has generally been better at everything than you. A former teen model, Patsy Walker grew up in what she thought was a picture perfect home, before finding out that her father was the devil… or maybe not. Nobody is really sure. Now a former Avenger, Defender, and the entirety of the Alaska branch of the Initiative as Hellcat, Patsy Walker is a published author who doesn’t find the phrase “she’s been to hell and back” nearly as funny as some might. A former sneak thief gone (mostly) straight, Felicia Hardy has long been a fixture of the New York superhuman scene, as you’d expect a blonde in skin-tight black leather to be. No longer a Hero for Hire, The Black Cat is setting out to find her own place in the sun (where she will promptly fall asleep and shed all over the good pillow shams.)

Let’s get this out of the way, first. Roberto Aguirre-Sacas has absolutely nailed the ‘Sex And The City’ vibe here. From Patsy’s book opening (a tell-all about Tony Stark sending her to Alaska, implying that he did it because she wouldn’t sleep with him, apparently) to the interactions between the main characters, to the arch and sexual tone, it’s note-perfect. When She-Hulk, the Invisible Woman, Storm and the White Queen arrive at the pre-launch party for her book, Patsy, Felicia and Monica disappear (”How tacky is it to ditch one’s own party?”) and go for drinks together. The three of them (and Firestar) apparently met at a speed-dating event, where they found no boyfriends, but a strong feminine bond. Together, they go to French movies, hang out in art galleries, go to the salon, and other Carrie Bradshaw dream dates while occasionally burning Skrulls or microwaving monsters. The heroic threesome (get your mind out of the gutter, Schleicher) get some nice drinks, and discuss their latest romantic problems…

In a nice bit of continuity, Monica tells the tale of her trip to New Orleans (as seen in Black Panther a couple of years ago) and her failed relationship with new sorcerer supreme Brother Voodoo. When Voodoo suggests that she spend the night, though, Monica is out of there at the speed of light. Felicia, for her part, has apparently been dated Thomas “Puma” Fireheart, who seems to think that he needs to take care of everything for her, something Felicia won’t stand for. When he offers to pay the rent on her new business venture (a detective firm) she blows her top and refuses, even though she doesn’t have the cash herself. (She’s the Black Cat. She’ll “FIND” the money somewhere.) Patsy also has a romantic entanglement to mention, the return of her own “Mr. Big,” in the form of the Son of Satan. Before she can share the gory details, though, Angelica arrives in tears, and breaks a little bad news of her own. “I have cancer.”

Huh… Didn’t Angelica have a run-in with cancer back in the Avengers? I can’t remember for sure, but I thought maybe we’d been here before. Doesn’t matter though, because the last panel of the issue is a stunning shot, with Monica and Felicia stunned, and Angelica’s expression so heartbreaking you want to give her a hug. The characterization is razor-sharp here, as the ladies discuss their team histories (pointing out that each of them, save Firestar, has recently been in a “mashup” super-team in recent years: Patsy in the Initiative, Felicia the Heroes for Hire, Monica in NextWave) and remaining as witty as the influential source material. (”It’s like we’re in high school and I’m the only one with a driver’s license,” remarks the former Captain Marvel as she flies her gal pals away from the launch party.) The J Scott Campbell cover is very pretty, but the interiors… Oh my GAWD, the interiors. Tonci Zonjic is a name I’ve never heard before, but I’m going to be watching for it in the future, because these are some wonderful pictures. Zonjic’s art is wonderful, with cinematic framing and blocking and some of the most expressive faces ever. It’s a deceptively simple style but one that works phenomenally well, especially with it’s very European stylization. Bottom line here: While I hate, hate, HATE the title of this book and it’s “Aren’t girls cute when the play dress up?” implications, I really liked this. Marvel Divas #1 scores a completely out of left field 4.5 out of 5 stars overall, with only a slight deduction for the awful name. If you’re willing to read it for what it is, and don’t expect Frank Miller grittiness or badassery in a Chaykin vein, this is a book that delivers on all levels…

…except for the damn name.

Marvel Divas #1

Posted: Tuesday, June 30, 2009
By: Matthew J. Brady
3.5

Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa Tonci Zonjic Marvel Comics

"Bad News on a Good Day"

This comic has been somewhat controversial ever since it was announced, eliciting annoyed reactions from online commentators, mostly due to the disconnect between Joe Quesada calling the series "Sex in the City in the Marvel Universe" and the only art being the ugly cover image of the title characters wearing skin-tight costumes and posing sexily. If Marvel was going to entice the female reader with a character- and relationship-based comic, they didn't get off to a good start. But does the actual comic lay those fears of sexism to rest?

Writer Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa certainly took the Sex in the City comparison to heart, putting together a series in which his superheroine characters spend all their time chatting about men and relationships while doing stereotypical "girl stuff" like getting facials and sipping cocktails. Our four leads are Patsy "Hellcat" Walker, Felicia "Black Cat" Hardy, Monica "Captain Marvel" Rambeau, and Angelica "Firestar" Jones, and this issue mostly lets us get (re)acquainted with them and lets us know how they met, while setting up some relationship and professional plots that should play out over the course of the miniseries. Monica is having trouble committing after hooking up with Brother Voodoo, and Felicia wants to succeed with her private detective agency without her boyfriend having to support her. Patsy has a new book out, and Angelica has received some bad news. It should all play out like an episode of a TV show, with everybody learning lessons while trading quippy dialogue and supporting each other in their times of need.

On the art front, Croatian artist Tonci Zonjic brings the story to life in a laid-back style that emphasizes down-to-earth characters existing in real locations; other than a one-panel flashback to "Secret Invasion" and a couple brief uses of superpowers, the Marvel milieu is deemphasized, and Zonjic does a great job of making the women all seem unique and realistic. It's a really pretty comic, and Jelena Kevic Djurdjevic and June Chung bathe it in mostly flat colors rather than painting all over it with computery hues like most Marvel books. For a comic about women talking about relationships, it's about as good-looking as one could hope for.

Of course, this all begs the question of what the purpose of the book really is. Is Marvel trying to capture the elusive female audience here and get them hooked on their rich universe? Perhaps, but it seems odd to almost completely ignore the costumes and powers; if you like this, Marvel doesn't really have anywhere for you to go next. Still, it's a mostly enjoyable read, even if it does wear its inspiration on its sleeve. Aguirre-Sacasa seems to be relating a nice little slice-of-superheroine-life drama; it should be pleasant enough while it lasts.

Batman and Robin #2 Reviews

Batman and Robin #2

By Rokk Krinn Comicbookrevolution.com
July 6, 2009

Creative Team Writer: Grant Morrison Artist: Frank Quitely

Art Rating: 9 Night Girls out of 10
Story Rating: 7 Night Girls out of 10
Overall Rating: 8 Night Girls out of 10

I enjoyed Batman and Robin #1. Despite the fact that I found the Battle for the Cowl to be terribly hackneyed and despite the fact that DC's handling of Batman is nothing more than a watered down version of what Marvel has done with Captain America. Morrison managed to turn in a brilliantly creative debut issue on this title that immediately captured my interest. I am confident that Morrison will turn in another quality read with Batman and Robin #2. Let's do this review.

Synopsis: We begin with Dick back at the Bat-bunker with his head in his hands. Alfred is standing next to Dick and asks Dick what happened. We flashback to Dick and Damien landing on the roof of the Gotham Police Headquarters where Gordon is waiting by the Bat-signal. Gordon tells Dick that Mr. Toad will not talk. Suddenly, Gordon is radioed that there is trouble in the police headquarters. Dick and Damien race down the stairs into the building.

One of the cops next to Gordon asks if both Batman and Robin used to be taller. The cop adds that Batman also sounded different. Gordon says that Batman sounded different but familiar. Gordon adds that he has also seen Robin before. Gordon and the two cops then follow Dick and Damien into the building.

We cut to inside the first floor of the police headquarters where the flaming guy, Rex, rushes inside and proceeds to burn several more cops. Big Top then steps out of the car that the villains drove up in. Big Top is an extremely fat woman (?) and she has a large gun that she fires at the police. The gun fires several gas canisters. We see Dick and Damien on the first floor with their gas masks on. We see four circus thugs enter the headquarters to serve as support for Rex and Big Top.

Damien immediately leaps into battle and attacks the four thugs. The four thugs prove more than Damien can handle by himself. Dick tells Damien to step aside. Dick then springs to action and takes on the four thugs. Dick kicks ass on the four thugs. Dick then tells Damien to stay by his side. Damien ignores Dick and goes after Big Top who is making her way to Mr. Toad's cell. Damien attacks Big Top.

We see Dick battling with Rex. Dick yells out that he needs Damien over here. Damien does not answer. Dick then uses a fire extinguisher to take down Rex. Dick then yells out "Robin! Where the hell are you?" We cut to Damien still brawling with Big Top.

We slide back to Dick tying up the four circus thugs. Gordon appears on the scene. The circus thugs are all talking in circus slang. Only Dick understands what they are saying. Dick says that Mr. Toad's crew has been trading in some next level mind control drugs with Russian people traffickers.

We zip back to the present with Dick and Alfred in the Bat-bunker. Dick says that their first mission together at the police headquarters was a disaster. That four cops go killed in the fight. Dick says that he knew one of them from when he was on the police force in Bludhaven.

We cut back to the brawl at the police headquarters. We see that Damien is beating on Big Top. Gordon and a couple of cops pull their guns and order Damien to stop attacking Big Top. Damien continues to beat on Big Top and is demanding to know what kind of attack Big Top's boss is planning on unleashing.

Dick then appears on the scene and pulls Damien off of Big Top. Damien snaps at Dick that he almost had beaten the information out of Big Top. A couple of cops look inside of Mr. Toad's cell and see that Mr. Toad was killed during the brawl. There is a domino in one of Mr. Toad's hands. Dick notices the domino. Gordon demands to know how a suspect was killed in his cell right under their noses and no one saw it.

We shift to Dick and Damien arriving back at the Bat-bunker. Dick yells at Damien that intimidation is one thing, but that there have to be limits. Dick says that if they step over the line then Gordon will not hesitate to hunt them down. Damien scoffs at Dick's suggestion. Damien growls that he already promised his father that he would not kill. Now, Dick is telling him that he has to be nice to police? Damien wants no part of that.

Dick rants that being Batman and Robin is not about working alone and thinking with your fists. That it is about detective skills. It is about learning to follow a direct order. Damien smirks that Dick's pathetic impression of Bruce is making a mockery of Bruce's memory. Damien tells Dick to keep his clues, detective skills and limits. Damien says that he is going to do this his way. Dick replies that Damien is ten years old. Dick says that Damien has a lot to learn. Damien spits that he will go find a teacher that he respects.

Damien marches off toward his motorcycle. Dick yells for Damien to get back here. Dick yells that it is an order. Damien brushes off Dick and leaves. We cut back to the present with Dick and Alfred still talking. Dick says that he sounded like an idiot trying to order Damien around. Dick said he sounded fake; like a kid trying to do Batman's voice. Dick wonders where Damien went.

Alfred says that he has no idea where Damien went. Alfred says that he came down into the Bat-bunker to tell them that the Quad-bat is ready for a test drive. Dick asks Alfred if he was such a brat when he was Damien's age. Alfred replies that Dick had loving parents. That Dick had role models of the highest caliber. Damien, on the other hand, was raised by assassins and thieves. Dick grumbles that he is irritated by Damien's know-it-all super-villain attitude and sneer.

Dick says that it is not just Damien. That Gordon and the police do not think he is Batman. That nobody believes Dick is Batman. Dick says that he spent years building up respect as Nightwing and now he is being viewed as a psychotic Batman impersonator. Dick says that the whole idea of replacing Bruce was insane. Dick says that he hates the cape. That the cape was the first thing he got rid off when he became Nightwing.

Dick says that he is way off balance. Dick then reigns in his complaining and apologizes and says that Alfred does not need to hear this. Alfred tells Dick that Dick does not have time to lament his situation. Alfred tells Dick that he must go test drive the Quad-bat. Alfred mentions that Dick's job is not all that bad.

Alfred then tells Dick that Dick's parents were show business people. Alfred tells Dick to not think of his Batman as being a memorial. Alfred says that they both know Bruce would hate that. Alfred tells Dick to think of his Batman has a performance. Alfred says Dick should view the role of Batman as a great role like Hamlet or even James Bond. Alfred says that Dick should play the role to his strengths.

Alfred says that there is no doubt that Damien is racing toward trouble. That the curtain is up and the spotlight is on Dick. Alfred continues that everyone is waiting for the hero to take the stage. Dick puts on the cowl. Dick tells Alfred to never let him forget the golden rule: The show must go on. Alfred tells Dick to "Break a leg."

We cut to Damien arriving at the abandoned circus where Pyg's Circus of the Strange is hiding out. Damien sees a person being held captive in a cage. The person calls out for Damien's help. Suddenly, Damien is overwhelmed by a bunch of Pyg's thugs. Pyg enters the scene. Pyg says "The hour of the pig has come! And the night belongs to me!" One of Pyg's thugs activates some explosives that blow up Damien.

We then cut to Dick racing through Gotham on the Quad-bat. End of issue.

Comments

The Good: Batman and Robin #2 was a solid read. While this issue was not as good as Batman and Robin #1, there was still much to enjoy with this issue. Morrison delivered an excellent character study with Batman and Robin #2. Morrison eases off the gas pedal and slows down the story so that he may closer examine the relationship between Dick and Damien as well as Dick's adjustment to wearing Bruce's cape and cowl.

Despite the slower pacing, Batman and Robin #2 was a properly balanced issue. Morrison treats the reader to a good blend of action scenes and character driven scenes. The excellent fight scene at the police station keeps this issue a lively read despite the lack of any plot progression.

The real strengths of Batman and Robin #2 were the well crafted dialogue and the impressive character work. The main purpose of this issue was to take an up close look at the relationship between Dick and Damien. This is not exactly the same legendary teamwork that the reader has seen with previous versions of the Dynamic Duo in the Bruce and Dick combination and the Bruce and Tim combination.

Morrison takes the time and effort to show the reader the challenges that lie ahead for this current version of the Dynamic Duo. Morrison emphasizes how things are much different in the wake of Bruce's "death." The reader sees how Dick and Damien fight as separate units instead of as a cohesive team. And the result is that several cops end up getting killed and Mr. Toad is also killed before our heroes can extract any valuable information from him.

Morrison also shows how Damien has a complete lack of control in the way that he deals with criminals. Damien has no problems at all with beating a confession out of a criminal. And this puts Damien not only at odds with Dick, but also with Gordon. The friction with Gordon was an interesting little wrinkle since it has been a long time since Gordon has not worked hand-in-glove with Batman and Robin. Morrison hints at the fact that Gordon may not have the same trust in the new Batman and Robin that he did in Bruce and Tim. A possible rift with Gordon would be yet another headache for Dick as he endeavors to bear Bruce's heavy mantle.

Morrison does a fine job stressing the philosophic differences between Dick and Damien. I like that Damien has a complete lack of respect for Dick. This is exactly how Damien should be handled. It would have been forced and inconsistent with Damien's character if Morrison had Damien blindly follow Dick right from the start. This type of friction is to be expected and will place yet another challenge in front of Dick in his new role as Batman. Dick is a disciple of Bruce's belief in the power of the mind over fists. Dick respects the amazing cerebral detective side of Bruce's personality. On the other hand, Damien respects the physical power and aggressiveness of Bruce's personality.

Morrison wisely has Alfred point out the differences in Dick and Damien's upbringing. This was important to remind the reader why Damien acts the way he does. Morrison is the only writer who understands Damien's character and who knows how to properly write Damien. Damien is not simply a spoiled brat.

Damien is a product of his environment. Since birth Damien has been raised by murders, assassins and thieves. It would make no sense for Damien to act any different than the way that Morrison had him behave in this issue. It is completely understandable that Damien would chafe under the restrictions placed upon him by Dick. By reminding the reader of Damien's background, Morrison is attempting to get the reader to view Damien as something more than just a one dimensional brat.

The necessary friction and strife between Dick and Damien at this early point in their relationship should allow for some strong growth and evolution in their relationship. Hopefully, Morrison will be able to have both characters mature into their roles as Batman and Robin.

I am enjoying the little details that Morrison is putting into the story concerning this new Dynamic Duo. These small details are seamlessly placed into the story and help to act as small cues to the reader that this is a new Dynamic Duo. A good example of this is when the cop next to Gordon off-handedly mentioned how both Batman and Robin are shorter than they used to be. It is important that Morrison continue to write Dick and Damien differently than Bruce and Tim.

Batman and Robin #2 contains a wonderful character study of Dick Grayson. Morrison displays quite a nice feel for Dick's character in this issue. Morrison is able to have Dick experience a moment of self-doubt and inadequacy concerning his attempt at playing Batman without making Dick look too mopey and whiny. Morrison does not shy away from the fact that Dick is most certainly not Bruce. Instead, Morrison embraces this fact and has fun using this to give Dick his own distinct take on the Batman.

I like how Dick fells like a kid faking the Batman voice. I also enjoy how no one recognizes Dick as Batman. Not Damien, not Gordon and not any of the villains. This feeling out process on how to play the Batman role is critical for Dick to bring his own style to being the Batman rather than just trying to be a Bruce Wayne clone.

Morrison stresses the differences between Bruce and Dick by playing up the fact that at his core Dick is a circus performer. And Dick's past which is rooted in show business gives Dick a much different style than Bruce. Morrison takes the circus theme and extends it from Dick's past into Dick's future as Batman.

The use of show business terms by Alfred were well played. Alfred's suggestion that Dick play the Batman as a great role like a true show business performer was a brilliant take on Dick assuming the role of Batman. The show must go on and Dick viewing himself playing the role of Batman like any other great role gels nicely with Dick's background and personality.

Hopefully, this will enable Morrison to make Dick a more flamboyant Batman than what Bruce brought to the table. It would be nice to see this reflected in Batman's fighting style. Bruce is a larger and more powerful man than Dick. And Bruce used a more brutal and no-nonsense style of fighting. Dick, on the other hand, is a smaller and more athletic man. It would be neat to see Dick as Batman employ a more acrobatic and high-flying style of fighting.

Morrison ends Batman and Robin #2 with a solid hook ending with Damien in peril and Dick racing to the rescue on his cool new toy, the Quad-bat. Morrison continues to show a vivid imagination when it comes to Batman's gadgets and vehicles. The Batmobile that we got in the previous issue was delightfully outrageous. And the Quad-bat is more of the same. This is a neat little nod to the Silver Age Batman with the fantastic vehicles and gadgets that he used to employ.

Batman and Robin #2 is a wonderful looking issue thanks to Frank Quitely's distinctive and imaginative artwork. Quitely is bringing such a neat and unusual look to the Batman's world that combines both the modern era of Batman with the Silver Age of Batman. Quitely is easily able to keep pace with the strange characters and outlandish gadgets that Morrison is able to create. The design and layout of the panels in this issue make Batman and Robin #2 a fun and unique looking issue.

The Bad: The biggest defect of Batman and Robin #2 is the lack of any plot progression. This issue is quite stagnant as plot wise nothing really happens at all in this issue. The reader is basically at the same spot that they were at the end of Batman and Robin #1. The reader does not learn anything new about Pyg or his Circus of the Strange. Morrison basically put the story on hold in order to perform some character work and flesh out the dynamic that exists between Dick and Damien. This robs Batman and Robin #2 of some of the excitement and strong pacing that the first issue possessed.

Overall: Batman and Robin #2 was another good read. Morrison is doing a fine job with this title as he continues to make Batman and Robin very new reader friendly. Morrison gives just enough background information about Dick and Damien without getting in the way of the current story and boring long-time readers. Morrison also continues to deliver a nice linear read on this title. Readers who may have avoided Batman and Robin out of fear that they were going to get something like RIP or Final Crisis should have no fear. Batman and Robin is much different in style and structure than either RIP or Final Crisis.

BATMAN AND ROBIN #2

Author: Kristopher Tapley Batman-on-film.com
July 4, 2009

OFFICIAL SYNOPSIS: "In a blazing Gotham City police department, the new Batman and Robin face the bizarre, fighting freakshow that is the Circus of Strange and find that they don't make as good a team as Batman had hoped! Meanwhile, the mysterious Sasha escapes from Professor Pyg and vows vengeance on the people who killed her father."

I really miss Bruce Wayne.

That’s all I kept thinking reading through this month’s issue of BATMAN AND ROBIN, the second in a 13-issue run from writer Grant Morrison and artist Frank Quietly. These aren’t the themes I like to wallow in when reading a Dark Knight yarn. This isn’t the atmosphere that sucked me into this character 20 years ago.

It feels like having an affair with an in-law -- an unattractive in-law.

But we have to take Morrison’s interim run for what it’s worth, and so far, it has provided at least the seeds of an intriguing character study where Dick Grayson is concerned.

This second issue’s narrative is framed by Grayson’s recounting of a disastrous mission against the macabre circus troupe introduced last month (which for me is recalling, perhaps intentionally, the Red Circus gang of Tim Burton’s BATMAN RETURNS). We learn that the disgusting Toad from issue #1 has been mixing it with Russian people traffickers, trading for “next level mind control drugs.” The showdown isn’t much to Grayson’s Caped Crusader or Damian’s Boy Wonder (though “Blunder” was never more applicable), but as we find out, it may have been a hit-mission of sorts.

In telling the story to Alfred back at the new cave, Grayson further indicates a reluctance to take on the mantle of the Bat. Furthermore, he is haunted by the fact that he isn’t fully accepted in the role, that he is somehow unbelievable to the supporting characters, punctuated, of course, by Damian’s consistent disrespect.

Not to beat a dead horse, but is this character (Damian) ever going to provide a thematic purpose? There is potential lurking between the lines. Using him as a way to break down Grayson’s confidence, perhaps, or even to force even more maturity into Grayson, such as the whispered notion, “Who’s gonna save him if we don’t?” But this is friggin’ Nightwing we’re talking about. Since when does this character need some punk kid to pop up out of the ether and flesh him out like this? It’s not computing.

Though for the Damian-bashers, we do get a (perhaps morbid) sense of satisfaction out of the final frames, but Morrison is clearly going to milk this Pyg character for all he’s worth. We’ll have to wait.

The issue features some really interesting visual ideas from Quietly: the specter of Bruce’s costume behind a silhouetted Grayson, the Hamlet reference in the positioning of the cowl in Alfred’s hands (recalling the skull from the bard’s “To be or not to be” moment), not to mention the colors that really pop in Pyg’s lair. But I’m hoping we get more and more nuance, because it seems the visuals are what continue to intrigue me on this arc, not the writing.

Batman and Robin #2

By Koppy McFad Comicbookbin.com
Jul 4, 2009 - 2:30:18 AM
9

Writer(s): Grant Morrison Penciller(s): Frank Quitely

A rift develops between the new Batman and Robin as a new evil mastermind makes his appearance.

The new Robin (Damien Wayne) proves to be too bloodthirsty and rebellious for the new Batman (Dick Grayson) and soon, the team breaks up, leaving Dick wondering if he deserves to wear the mantle of the Bat. To make things worse, a new villainous mastermind finally shows his face and he may prove more than Dick or Damien can handle.

This story does a great job in fleshing out the differences between the old Dynamic Duo and the new one as well as establishing the fact that people can tell that this is not the same Batman and Robin. Commissioner Gordon may be willing to give them the benefit of the doubt but what about the rest of the world? And how will the villains react?

The villains-- another variation on the 'evil circus freaks' gimmick-- are not all that original but the story makes it clear how dangerous they are-- dangerous enough to put the hurt on the overconfident new Robin. It is almost enjoyable to see the cocky Damien finally realise his limits.

The art by Quitley is an acquired taste. He does make his people look a little less idealised which would hurt Batman (who after all, is just a guy in a funny suit) but as this is a new Batman and Robin, the uneasiness of these characters with their new identities actually fits in. The fight scene is certainly interesting without being chaotic or overly gory.

Batman and Robin #2

by Stephen Schleicher Majorspoilers.com
July 1, 2009
4.5

The second installment of Grant Morrison’s Batman and Robin hit the stands today. Now that the euphoria of the first issue has worn off, how well does this issue hold up?

This issue is told slightly different than the first, in that Dick Grayson is relating how he and Damian had a falling out after recent events at the police station. Morrison then takes readers back to the moment immediately after the end of the first issue, where Batman and Robin meet Commissioner Gordon to get the low down on the interrogation of Mr. Toad.

The conversation is cut short as a band of circus freaks attack the police station, killing and maiming officers on their way to the holding cell. Morrison cranks out a fast action sequence that is simply brilliant when combined with Frank Quitely’s art. The two page spread featuring Batman flying across the room and bringing down a group of the bad guys will stun readers in how the art and action blend together in a way that makes one think they’re watching a motion picture. Comic scholars and art instructors will use this simple two page spread for years to show how one can portray action in sequential art.

I have begun to really like Quitely’s art, but the biggest failing with this issue is the color by Alex Sinclair. It’s not that he doesn’t know how to color a page, but when the backgrounds throughout the book look like a bad compression job it totally turns this reviewer off.

Being the first time Batman and Robin are interacting with the police, there is an interesting moment when several officers question Gordon on the look and sound of the caped crusader and his kid sidekick. Gordon follows with a sly yet insightful comment that is meant to throw his fellow officers off, but reveals more about his keen investigating skills than readers may have ever seen.

Damian being Damian, the fight gets out of control when he doesn’t follow orders, which leads to the first tussle between vigilante and cops that could ruin everything Bruce built up over the years. It also leads to Damian and Dick having their first Master/Apprentice argument that results in Damian running off to do his own thing, and totally getting caught up in a bad situation for which he is not prepared.

Morrison’s writing continues to shine in the series that asks you not to take anything too seriously, as he peppers the issue with one liners and gags that will either make the reader roll their eyes or chuckle audibly. Morrison caps off the issue with a new vehicle that immediately had this reviewer thinking of the over the top Batmobile from Jim Starlin and Bernie Wrightson’s Batman: The Cult series from 1988.

Save for the coloring, Batman and Robin #2 is another top notch read. Morrison doesn’t fill the issue with heady thoughts, and Quitely cranks out the action earning the issue a solid 4.5 out of 5 Stars.

Batman and Robin #2

by Greg McElhatton CBR
July 2, 2009
4.5

Story by Grant Morrison Art by Frank Quitely

It was the second time through "Batman and Robin" #2 that it suddenly hit me -- this book got its title for a very specific reason. It's not merely just to split it off from the regular "Batman" title, but because this is a book that's actually about Batman and Robin; both them as individuals, as well as the idea of them working together as a cohesive unit. And with Dick Grayson and Damian Wayne as the new Batman and Robin, it's the latter that is proving to be the central conflict of the issue.

Don't get me wrong, there are a lot of other things going on in "Batman and Robin" #2 as well. Le Cirque D'Etrange's assault on the Gotham Police station runs through the majority of the issue, and it almost goes without saying that a circus attack under Morrison's watch is much more than a Ringling Brothers show. Morrison and Frank Quitely are good with the action sequences, but there's more to this comic than just that. "Being Batman and Robin isn't about working alone and thinking with your fists," Dick says after the dust finally settles, and it's true. I was a little surprised at first to have some of the Gotham City Police Force members twigging that something was wrong with the normal appearance of Batman and Robin, but it makes sense the more you get into the story. After all, this new Batman and Robin are learning not only how to fit into their roles, but how to work together as a single unit. Damian Wayne's nastiness here is definitely part of the journey that the two of them have to take (both together and individually), and nothing feels even remotely gratuitous.

The art, unsurprisingly, is gorgeous. From the first page with Alfred coming across the depressed Dick on the stairs, there isn't a line out of place here in these perfectly composed drawings. I love Dick's slumped shoulders underneath his outfit, or the way that Alfred hesitantly approaches him. Likewise, the tight focus on Gordon's face with the light shining off of his glasses is beautifully composed, even as the reflection closes off Gordon as a person from this new Batman and Robin, a visual representation of the distance that now exists between them as Gordon tries to figure out who replaced his old friend.

And as for the action shots, well, they're fantastic. There's such a strong level of energy here, characters virtually leaping across the page in a beautiful fashion. Even the little touches like how Robin's grappling hook line uncurls jump out at the reader. I love how Quitely's page layouts are complex but never gratuitously odd; they follow the action of the characters themselves, with the panels almost jumping into place and forming themselves around the characters inside their boundaries. Looking at the double-page spread of Batman fighting the circus performers, every oddly-angled panel fits perfect; both as an individual drawing as well as with connection to all the others around it.

It's great to see Morrison and Quitely working together in such fine form; their 12-issue "All-Star Superman" was a comic for the ages, but I think everyone's going to talk about their "Batman and Robin" with some reverent words as well. This is, in a nutshell, how all superhero books should get approached by their creative teams. Great work all around.

Batman and Robin #2

Posted: Sunday, July 5, 2009
By: Chris Murman
2.5

Grant Morrison Frank Quitely (with Alex Sinclair, colors) DC Comics

"Batman Reborn Part Two: The Circus of the Strange"

Le Cirque D'Etrange attacks Gotham City police headquarters in an effort to free The Toad from his holding cell (or is it to kill him?). However, the All-New Batman and Robin defend the fort against the bizarre, circus villains.

In the process, they discover they don't make as good a team as the All-New Batman had hoped!

Dick's not ready.

Granted, is anyone really ever ready to get the call-up from sidekick to Bruce's replacement? Many would say "no"--which is why you have to be your own Batman, and Grayson's learning that slowly but surely. Most likely, he'll figure it out just as Bruce is getting back from whenever he is.

Regardless, you sit there telling yourself with every page turn, "This just feels weird and wrong. This can't really be what's happening in the DCU. Dick's not doing it right. He's making all the wrong decisions."

Maybe that's why this shift in the Bat-verse will end up working out in the end: Because this is the first real status quo shift in quite some time. We're used to Bruce being there and making the right move and decisions. Something tells me this group of circus criminals would be something Bruce could fix in his spare time between dates with supermodels.

I say that because in the end, nothing is scarier than the moves the Joker has pulled over the years. Make Pyg as scary as you want, throwing dominos to his prey right before he offs them, but it's not the Joker. I get the sense that Bruce would get a certain level of mental stimulation from matching wits the mind of this Lecter-esque character.

Nevertheless, what this story lacks in interest from the villains is made up for in typical Grant Morrison fashion with the script. Very little time has elapsed from last month to this issue (most of this issue is a flashback, with only a few minutes passing in "the present"), yet the information and action abound. I appreciate how many of the panels carry with them the gravity of the moment the writer desires this series to have. It may not always succeed, but Morrison certainly gets his point across.

A lot of that "gravity of the moment" has to do with Frank Quitely's ability to get the most out of his friend's script. Smaller and more numerous panels during the action sequence communicate how more laborious this dynamic duo's fights are compared to their predecessors. Conversely, larger panels utilizing perfect angles show that we're not dealing with amateurs here.

Sure Quitely uses a lot of lines in his work, and sometimes it makes a character seem older than he's supposed to be, but it adds depth to his close-ups and splash pages. I don't quite understand the new four-wheeler Dick takes out at the end, but who knows what goes on in the mind of these two creators.

Even as I laud this team's ability to give nuance and texture to this creative property, I know the cliché is still coming at the end of this arc. This initial story is meant to set up the new status quo of Batman and his Robin. They are currently raw and unrefined, and they don't particularly like each other a whole lot right now. However, we all know in the end something will bring these two together, and Dick will finally get the "respect" Damian very clearly wants to give someone.

There's a huge hole that was left when Damian's "father" went away, and he's still a 10-year-old boy that didn't have a father growing up. Grayson will probably provide some of that in a way and they will get back to the sort of happy family that Batman and Robin were before--just with the masks being worn by different people. However, I'd be okay with Dick and Damian not getting along, forever if need be, because that's just how different they are as characters.

It'd be nice to hope for things to really be changed and shaken up around Gotham. I'd love to see Dick take his freewheeling attitude toward crime fighting and carry it over to the cape and cowl Bruce left for him. However, we know that's a bit too far outside of DC President Dan Didio's comfort zone, so Morrison will have to make this comic fall in line like the others.

A guy can hope though, right?

Batman and Robin #2

Posted: Sunday, July 5, 2009
By: Paul Brian McCoy
4

Grant Morrison Frank Quitely (with Alex Sinclair, colors) DC Comics

"Batman Reborn Part Two: The Circus of the Strange"

Le Cirque D'Etrange attacks Gotham City police headquarters in an effort to free The Toad from his holding cell (or is it to kill him?). However, the All-New Batman and Robin defend the fort against the bizarre, circus villains.

In the process, they discover they don't make as good a team as the All-New Batman had hoped!

For some reason, I didn't enjoy Batman and Robin #2 as much as I did the first issue, which I thought was a damn-near perfect beginning. Let's see if we can figure out what's not working for me this time around.

Well, the first page is a beautiful, full-page shot of a dejected Dick Grayson sitting at the bottom of a set of stairs while Alfred approaches him cautiously, asking what's wrong. Robin's emblem/badge has been torn from the uniform and lays in the foreground.

Frank Quitely's use of body language in his depictions of Dick and Alfred is superb. Furthermore, by fading out the background details and making the two figures and the stairway so vividly focused, he creates a very effective sense of isolation for Dick and he places Alfred in a symbolically superior or, as the case turns out, more experienced position of wisdom. With just this page, we see that Alfred is the heart and soul of this new operation--providing a core around which the other characters are tethered.

The next page moves us back to the very next moment after the Dynamic Duo leapt from the Batmobile in response to the Bat Signal. The silent landing, followed by "You called Commissioner Gordon," is again, very effective at capturing the emotional core of the moment.

Batman has been gone for a while. People think he's dead. More importantly, the police think he's dead. Dick's matter-of-fact stepping into the historically established relationship between Batman and Commissioner Gordon is strangely disconcerting, and Gordon's brief pause before taking up his role says volumes.

These two pages do a very nice job of setting up the awkwardness of Dick and Damian stepping into their new characters, in a way that is overtly referenced later by Alfred, when he suggests Dick approach the role of Batman like an actor taking on the role of James Bond. Commissioner Gordon and the police are playing the audience, as these new actors re-launch the franchise.

The idea of a new actor taking on the role of James Bond is an appropriate and insightful comparison--made all the more impressive in that is incorporated into the story itself. That's really what this first story is about, when you think about it. It's about that legacy and how the passing of the torch alters and changes the ongoing narrative. Like the readers, Gordon isn't sure what to make of this new Batman and Robin just yet. However, like a good reader, and a good detective, he's going to allow it to play out for a while and see where it takes us.

All in all, a fantastic opening three pages.

It's the next sequence where I begin to lose interest for some reason. Oddly enough, this is an extended action sequence where Batman and Robin take on the Circus of the Strange as they attempt to break Mr. Toad out of jail--or that seems to be their goal anyway.

I'm put off of the action right from the start as we get another full-page splash, this time of our heroes diving down the center of a spiraling stairwell. It should be a dynamic, breath-taking shot, but it's hard to tell just what's happening in this scene. Oh, I know, they're clearly diving down, using Bat Cables (or whatever you want to call them), but the angle of the shot keeps us from getting a good look at Batman--though Robin is clearly visible. I can understand the physics of his movement, but Batman is swathed in shadows, blocked by Robin, and isn't clearly drawn at all.

I assume that Quitely intends for Batman's right leg to be drawn up to him during the dive, but Robin is blocking the view, so all we see is his extended left leg. This combined with all the shadows, makes the scene far less effective than it could be.

That full-page dive down the stairwell is immediately followed by Rex, the flaming man of the Circus of the Strange, repeating exactly what we saw him do last issue: Pretending to be in pain and burning, then using the hesitation of the police to jump on them, burning them to death. It's a horrifying moment, but one we had already seen done to other police officers at the end of the previous issue.

I understand that this is going to be Rex's modus operandi, but the repetition seems stale; the shock value already used up. The introduction of the next two members of the team is muted for me, as well. Big Top is a morbidly obese bearded "lady" who is referred to as a "he" in the rest of the book.

Apparently, Big Top is really just a fat guy in a tutu--which isn't really strange so much as silly. I'm not impressed.

We also meet Siam, a group of conjoined triplet kung-fu warriors--which sounds a lot better than it actually works on the page.

There's a nice pause in the action as Batman and Robin enter the room to confront the Circus of the Strange, and then we're into the action sequence proper. We get three full pages of first Robin, for one page, and then Batman, for the next two, fighting Siam.

I found the fight difficult to follow and I wasn't able to tell just what was happening on more than one occasion. On the plus side, Quitely takes this opportunity to play with the page layouts. I hadn't even noticed before this that every panel was either a full-page splash or stretched across the full width of the page, creating a wide-screen effect. When the fight starts, the panels fragment and seem to be tumbling in upon each other.

I don't think it's really a domino effect, but it does echo the notion of dominoes, which are somehow connected to the Circus of the Strange's criminal plot. Quitely's tumbling panel fragments also serve to break up the action--allowing for a more densely choreographed fight and a speeding up of time. The rapid cuts simulate the speed of the punches and kicks being thrown.

Unfortunately, without actually seeing the movement and relying, instead, on the frozen panels of the comic page, it loses some of the fluidity that a live-action sequence could get away with. There is also a bit of background action that isn't clear, as Robin disarms a hallucinating police officer. If you blink, you'll miss it completely.

So . . . interesting ideas thus far, but not very clearly executed, which pulls me out of the sequence. Next we shift to Robin taking on Big Top, but the transition isn't defined, and Robin just appears ahead of him from out of nowhere. I suppose we can attribute this to his ninja skills, but I needed more information to make it more than just a cliché that sidesteps a staging problem with the writing.

By the end of it, we've been in an eight-page fight scene, and there are a couple of moments that really shine--for instance, when Batman is calling for Robin while taking on Rex and Siam. Batman's "Everyone's a critic!" line is funny, and the action is well paced. Again, though, it suffers from the still shots being unable to really capture the movement.

What I mean is, when Batman swings a fire extinguisher around to clobber Siam, the only indication of movement is the arcing of smoke around them and the shifting of Batman's position from one panel to the next. Because Quitely isn't utilizing action lines or impact lines, as in traditional comic art, the effect is frozen rather than active. It's a stylistic approach that can work most of the time, yet sometimes it can fall flat. Here, it fell flat--though it's not a horrible moment.

As the fight scene ends, the panels return to the wide-screen format and remain that way for the remainder of the issue. The rest of the book also gets us back to the character-work that I think is the strongest part of the story. We see Dick agonizing over the fact that four cops were killed, and six more were seriously wounded. We see Damian go all Jack Bauer on Big Top, leaving the gigantic transvestite with a concussion and unable to give them any information.

And, while nobody was looking, Mr. Toad was murdered in his cell.

It really is a disastrous second time out for the new Batman and Robin--and Damian's lack of respect for Dick (and for anyone else, really) erupts into an argument that forces Dick to assume the role of father figure when he really isn't expecting to have to, and isn't ready to do so.

So Robin leaves, and Alfred gives the wonderful pep talk that I mentioned at the beginning of this review. He suggests Dick treat his taking on the mantle of Batman, not as a memorial, but as a performance. Really, the dialogue between Dick and Alfred over these pages is perfect and worth the price of the book.

This idea of Dick figuring out how to become Batman, and Damian growing into the role of Robin, is what Morrison's story is about.

The book ends with a return to the condemned amusement park that is Professor Pyg's hideout, where Robin arrives and is swarmed by Pyg's doll-like henchmen. It's very quick, taking less than two pages for the entire scene, but then something strange happens.

I can only assume that the final panel on the page takes place elsewhere. It appears to be a suicide bombing by more of the Dolls, but there's no other signaling of the scene shift except for the fact that a previously unseen couple appear to be dying in the explosion. Professor Pyg's narration is also ballooned as voice-overs in that last panel--rather than being connected to anyone in-panel.

It's not clear, but I think that's what's going on the issue's final panel.

It would have been nice to have at least another panel or two to establish the scene change, or to at least make clear just what's going on in that panel. I kind of feel like Quitely ran out of pages and we'll have to wait until the next issue to really see what just happened.

I'm not sure how Robin knew where to go, either. I suppose Big Top might have given up that much during his beating, but it would be nice to have a clear indication of it somehow. Maybe next time?

The last scene of the book is Dick riding on a ridiculous, gigantic balloon-wheeled contraption, provided by Mr. Fox's R&D Division. I wasn't aware that Morgan Freeman's character from the two recent Batman films was a part of the comic world. That was a bit jarring, but I guess that ties into Morrison's intent to bring all of Batman's history together into one multi-layered and multi-faceted narrative. But then, I'm not a Batman fan, so maybe he's been around all along.

So it looks like my problems are fairly minor, and probably wouldn't even be considered problems by many readers:

I found the fight sequence confusingly choreographed, but effectively laid out on the page.

I thought the fight went on too long, with at least one page's worth of repetitive elements that weren't needed.

The conclusion of the issue seems rushed.

I don't care for Robin's ability to pop up from out of nowhere, and I also don't know how he found the amusement park.

There's also not enough Professor Pyg this issue, but I'm sure that will be rectified next time out.

On the plus side, we get a lot of very good characterization--particularly between Dick and Alfred, and most of Frank Quitely's art is a wonder to behold. Other than the moments in the fight scene that confused me--forcing me out of the story in order to go back over panels to figure out what was happening--the rest of the art is expressive in its staging and in the detailed body and facial work. The wide-screen format is a nice way of moving us smoothly and efficiently through the story.

Okay. Objectively there are a few problems, but just as objectively, there are quite a few strengths. Since the problems are momentary and technical, rather than central to the plotting and characterization of the narrative, I'll cut it some slack.

For the middle chapter of a three-part story, it does a good job of moving us from Point A to Point B in the development of Dick and Damian as Batman and Robin. Even though it's mostly a fight scene, this issue lacks some of the creative energy of the first issue, but we'll see how Morrison and Quitely bring it home in issue three.

Batman and Robin #2

Posted: Sunday, July 5, 2009
By: Dave Wallace
4

Grant Morrison Frank Quitely (with Alex Sinclair, colors) DC Comics

"Batman Reborn Part Two: The Circus of the Strange"

Le Cirque D'Etrange attacks Gotham City police headquarters in an effort to free The Toad from his holding cell (or is it to kill him?). However, the All-New Batman and Robin defend the fort against the bizarre, circus villains.

In the process, they discover they don't make as good a team as the All-New Batman had hoped!

For the second issue in a row, Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely use the new Batman and Robin title to provide a Batman comic that's more unashamedly entertaining than the character has been in years. There's a real sense that Morrison is cutting loose and having fun here--whether it's the wide variety of freakish circus villains that Batman and Robin have to contend with, the awful (yet admittedly funny) pun on the death of the Toad, or the ridiculous oversized quad-bike that Dick Grayson takes out on the road at the end of the issue.

A fair amount of wit is also channeled into the artwork. Again, there's a flawlessly-integrated sound effect with the cracks in a wall spelling out "smash" as Robin is hurled into it. There are some very well-choreographed fight sequences, as Batman and Robin take on some circus freaks in a Gotham city police station- including one fantastically-conceived villain who takes the form of a trio of ninjas (I can't work out whether they're conjoined triplets, or simply three men strapped together in order to be able to fight in three directions at once without leaving their back unguarded).

I'm still not completely sure that the clean, precise work is best suited to the character of Batman (who often works best with darker, moodier visuals), but Quitely is still turning in some excellent work here. It also seems that this lightness of tone is completely intentional on the part of both writer and artist, with no doubt that Quitely is bringing Morrison's story to life in the way that the writer conceived it. Also, in fairness to the artist, there seems to be a marked intention to modify the style of his work slightly to suit this book--particularly when it comes to the inking, which occasionally seems a little looser and sketchier than it has in previous projects.

Towards the end of the issue, Morrison begins to really get his teeth into the character of Dick Grayson, having the character voice his concerns and self-doubt about taking on the role of Batman, and showing the mutual antagonism of his relationship with Damian (which recalls the Bruce Wayne/Jason Todd dynamic). There's also a pleasing exchange with Alfred, who manages to bring Dick round by suggesting that he treat Batman as a theatrical performance--which is a fitting way for both characters to approach the matter, given Dick's circus roots and Alfred's past theatrical endeavours.

Finally, the issue ends on a disturbing note, setting up a cliffhanger with Robin and Professor Pyg that I'll be keen to see resolved in the next chapter.

This is another solid issue of Batman and Robin that advances the plot strands that were begun in issue #1 whilst also providing a substantial amount of action and some insightful characterisation of the leads.

On a first read, I found myself worrying that the book might be skewing a little too strongly towards cartoonish superheroics for my tastes. However, the more I read it, the more I began to appreciate the idea that Morrison and Quitely are experimenting with a new style of Batman story that's quite different to the dark, moody, grim'n'gritty adventures that we've grown used to over the last couple of decades. I look forward to seeing more of it.

Batman and Robin #2

Posted: Sunday, July 5, 2009
By: Charles Webb
4.5

Grant Morrison Frank Quitely (with Alex Sinclair, colors) DC Comics

"Batman Reborn Part Two: The Circus of the Strange"

Le Cirque D'Etrange attacks Gotham City police headquarters in an effort to free The Toad from his holding cell (or is it to kill him?). However, the All-New Batman and Robin defend the fort against the bizarre, circus villains.

In the process, they discover they don't make as good a team as the All-New Batman had hoped!

So who here is dreading the day that Grant Morrison inevitably kills Dick Grayson? Hands up?

It's my fear that at the end of this run, Morrison will have made something out of Damian Wayne--but it will come at the cost of his teacher, the new Batman. Keep in mind, Batman #666 from Halloween a couple of years ago presented a future where Damian was the lone defender of Gotham in the absence and death of the previous Batman. Morrison has stated that this issue is canon in his Batman continuity. Ergo, I believe that after everything is said and done, Dick is death-bound before Morrison leaves his writing duties on the Bat-books.

What does my belief in the eventual death of Dick Grayson have to do with this current issue, which sees Bats and Damian tussling with the outré members of Le Cirque D'Etrange? Why do I believe that in underlining the tension between Bat protégés new and old Morrison is laying the groundwork for tragedy?

It's certainly nothing specific, I assure you (Morrison hasn't telegraphed anything so blatantly), but it feels like something is in the wind given how this arc and Morrison's run as a whole has been about telling the reader who or what Batman is exactly.

My theory (and please feel free to tell me I'm full of it in the forum comments) is that Morrison is not only educating the reader but also Damian as to the "True Meaning of The Batman." New to the role himself, Dick must come to grips with being an iconic figure for the city of Gotham while also acting as an instructive example to a youth who is on the precipice of becoming a villain.

Here, the former Nightwing admits that his frustration with his sidekick is due to the youth's posturing and haughtiness. Damian has killed before, but swore to Bruce to not kill again. However, Damian is not averse to torture--but is pulled back by Dick who tells him that they may intimidate criminals but they don't torture (clever--Morrison inserts the ticking clock torture scenario and comes down squarely on the side of not using torture to avert a hypothetical threat).

The content is instructive; even if it may feel rudimentary, it's all part of the process of Building a Better Batmobile (as Morrison's first arc on Batman was titled). It's about laying down the groundwork for the future by creating new conflicts for Batman and Robin (I'm excited to see Mr. Pyg fully enter the scene), and about defining the Dick and Damian team in terms of their roles as Gotham's protectors.

This story is about the new Dynamic Duo growing into their role (there's a nice little moment where Commissioner Gordon meets them and knows something is obviously off) and about shaping that role to fit themselves. When Dick complains about his discomfort with the Bat-cape, it had me looking forward to a Frank Quietly-redesigned costume.

Oh, how was the issue?

,It was very good, I think. Like most works by Morrison it moved briskly and made me eager for more when it was finished. Most importantly, it provoked some thought as to what the book means for itself, for the character, and for the franchise--but not in a particularly overt way.

As for Dick Grayson--I'll enjoy him while we have him, but won't be shocked if we lose him in the next couple of years.

Batman and Robin #2

Posted: Sunday, July 5, 2009
By: Thom Young
4

Grant Morrison Frank Quitely (with Alex Sinclair, colors) DC Comics

"Batman Reborn Part Two: The Circus of the Strange"

Le Cirque D'Etrange attacks Gotham City police headquarters in an effort to free The Toad from his holding cell (or is it to kill him?). However, the All-New Batman and Robin defend the fort against the bizarre, circus villains.

In the process, they discover they don't make as good a team as the All-New Batman had hoped!

Like my colleague Paul McCoy, I liked this issue--but just not as much as I did the first issue (and for mostly the same reasons that Paul listed in his review). I agree with Paul that the action scene at Gotham City Police Headquarters went on a bit too long and wasn't executed as well as it could have been visually. However, Frank Quitely not executing a sequence as effectively as I'd like is better than 90% of comic book illustrators doing the best work they're capable of producing.

In addition to what Paul listed in his review, I didn't care for the idea of Dick Grayson sitting around in the Batcave beneath the Wayne Foundation building feeling depressed because (according to Dick Grayson) four cops were killed and six others were injured at police headquarters, and because he thought he should have handled his confrontation with Damian better.

Unlike Chris Murman wrote in his review, I don't see that Dick Grayson made any wrong decisions in the way he handled the attack on police headquarters. Between this issue and the first, I only counted three dead and six injured cops--and the bodies of all the dead and injured officers from the first issue can be seen on pages five and six of this issue (on the street just outside of police headquarters). I don't know where the other dead cop is that Dick Grayson tallied; perhaps he was killed off panel.

Of the nine that I counted, all three of the dead and five of the injured met their fate before Batman and Robin went into action--leaving only the officer that Big Top dragged down the stairs by his scalp as one that Batman and Robin might have been able to save. Thus, I don't think that Dick Grayson needs to feel like he "failed" to perform well as Batman (though there is that fourth dead cop that I can't account for). Yes, Grayson can regret that some officers were killed and injured in the line of duty, but it's hardly his fault--and it's no reason for him to look like he needs to take a gram of soma.

I have even more difficulty in believing his state of depression is the result of his failure to communicate with Damian. I have similar difficulty in believing that he couldn't have prevented Damian from riding off on the Robin cycle. Surely all Bat vehicles are fitted with a remote-control switch that would allow Dick Grayson to turn off the bike before Damian could clear the cave's exit. Such technology is available on commercial automobiles now, so the Bat-vehicles should certainly have an even more sophisticated form of the technology installed on them.

Yes, Damian might have been able to disable the cut-off switch on the motorcycle, but not before Dick Grayson could have tackled him. In fact, that might have been a better scene that could have led to Dick feeling depressed--a hand-to-hand battle with Damian that resulted in both being injured and Damian confined to his room in the penthouse.

However, given my four-bullet rating for this issue, the action scene at police headquarters and Dick Grayson's subsequent depression didn't sour me too much. It's just that I didn't find the state of depression believable--though it's reason for being in Morrison's story of Grayson growing into his role as the All-New Batman is obvious (perhaps too obvious).

One thing I did like was the way Quitely depicted Batman and Robin landing on the roof of police headquarters in the second panel on page two. As their legs absorb the shock of their landing (after gliding down on their para-sail capes), they appear to be curtsying to Commissioner Gordon. Well, Damian's position is that of a curtsy; Dick's might be more of a regular bow (his cape obscures our view of the position of his legs).

Given his elitist and condescending attitude towards others, the image of Damian curtsying to the police commissioner brought a smile of amusement to my face. It caused me to wonder whether Morrison requested the image in his directions or Quitely made the decision himself to have the landing look like an inadvertent curtsy.

One aspect of the story that I didn't like during my first reading of the issue (but which I grew more comfortable with by my fourth, and last, reading) was the almost Dadaist dialog that Morrison scripted. Of course, Morrison didn't make the dialog overtly Dadaist the way he did 20 years ago in the issues of The Doom Patrol in which the Brotherhood of Dada appeared. Nevertheless, there was a sense of Dadaism in the dialog due to the liberal use of fragmented speech and circus slang.

Not counting Alfred's first-page sentence fragment of "Master Richard." The fragmented dialog really starts on page three with Commissioner Gordon's sentence fragments: "A whole lot of rumors" and "Follow." Of course, people often do speak in fragments, so that didn't bother me during my first reading. What seemed more Dadaistic to me was when Le Cirque D'Etrange showed up on pages five and six.

After Rex storms into the building by pretending he's been set aflame (killing three cops and injuring two others in the process), Siam and Big Top enter the fray--and it's here where I thought the dialog was on the Dadaist side:

Siam: Big Top! Ready? Rex is in!

Big Top: Oummf kushti.

- - - - -

Big Top: . . . and now. Keys, Police! To the cells.

Siam: Eh? Heh.

And then later on pages nine and ten:
Siam: Flick-flackin' freak!

- - - - -

Big Top: Don't come no closer, Raklo.

Eventually, Batman himself gets in on the Dadaist dialog on page 13:
Batman: I rokker the jib, Toby. Who's your gaffer?

Siam: You'll see. While you're all roped up with me . . . Tober Omi's on the loose!

Then, not to be outdone, Robin starts speaking that way, too, on page 14:

Robin: Wooden gallopers where? Explain!

Indeed. Explain. Wooden gallopers where?

Paul's right. Big Top don't tell Raklo wooden gallopers where. So how?

(Damian doesn't actually get Big Top to tell him that the Circus of the Strange is using the Joker's old dilapidated carnival from Alan Moore and Brian Bolland's The Killing Joke. Perhaps Damian used his detective skills (which Dick Grayson had told him to use) to discover that the Joker's old carnival is the only place in the area that has wooden carousel horses.

Interestingly, on page six of The Killing Joke, The Joker walks past a poster for the old carnival's Fat Lady. Could it be Big Top at an earlier time in his life? Could Big Top have led Mr. Pyg to the carnival he used to work at--the same carnival that The Joker took ownership of in The Killing Joke?)

Anyway, I'm all for Dadaism. The Brotherhood of Dada arc in Morrison's Doom Patrol is one of my favorite stories. Yet, the fragmented speech and heavy use of circus slang in this issue seemed unnecessarily Dadaistic. However, I then went through a Web site devoted to "British/Euro Circus/Fairground Slang" (probably the same one that Morrison consults when scripting the dialog), and I translated the slang into standard English.

Initially, I thought that Morrison was overdoing it on the circus slang--that he was loading too much of it into his script and was losing a sense of verisimilitude. After all, everyone uses slang at times, but most of us don't load our conversations with it to such a degree that we can't make ourselves understood without a translation dictionary when speaking to outsiders.

However, I then translated all of the circus slang into 1950s Beat Generation slang to see how the characters would sound if they were Maynard G. Krebs wannabes. Here's what I came up with:
Siam: Big Top! Ready? Rex is in!

Big Top: Oummf cool.

- - - - -

Siam: Back-flippin' freak!

- - - - -

Big Top: Don't come no closer, Kit-Cat.

- - - - -

Batman: I grok the lingo, Clyde. Who's your bossman?

Siam: You'll see. While you're all roped up with me . . . The Man's on the loose!

- - - - -

Robin: Wooden Merry-Go-Round horses where? Explain!

Oddly, I didn't get nearly as much of a Dadaist vibe when I switched hep-cat slang for circus slang. Do you dig or are you like a real L-7, Daddy-o?

Yes, it's still over the top to load so much slang into the dialog of a story.

Despite how it's often satirized, the highest examples of Beat literature (the works of Kerouac, Ginsberg, Burroughs, and Holmes) were not filled with page after page of hep lingo. Still, I eventually became more forgiving (by my third reading) of Morrison's decision to use a lot of fragments and slang--especially once I thought of the etymology of the word dada. It's French for "hobbyhorse"--as in a type of "wooden galloper." Hmmmm.

Perhaps Morrison is keenly aware of what he's doing with the dialog in this issue, and why he's doing it. Anyway, moving on.

Like Charles in his review, I was also drawn to Dick Grayson's complaints about the cape of the Batman costume (though Quitely has already given us a slight re-design of the costume for Dick Grayson). However, I thought it was a bit ironic that Grayson complained about the cape after he seemed to use it so effectively on pages 2 and 8-9.

Furthermore, it didn't seem to be a hindrance in any of the other pages. It made me question whether Quitely was supposed to make the cape so . . . kushti . . . on pages 2 and 8-9.

Perhaps the point is that even though Grayson can work the cape as well as Bruce (after all he wore a cape as Robin from 1940 to 1985), he still would prefer not to have it.

Along that same line (of there being a point to the way that Quitely depicted something in contrast to how I would think it should be), I thought it was odd that Damian (whom we discover is only ten years old) is shown in at least two panels (possibly three) to have a head that is too big in proportion to the rest of his body. Of course, children do have heads that are slightly out of proportion to the rest of their respective bodies, but Damian's head seems too exaggerated in those few panels.

At first I thought that Quitely had simply made the mistake that a lot of comic book illustrators make when drawing children--such as John Byrne's drawings of Franklin Richards in Fantastic Four 25 years ago. However, I then began to suspect that Damian's oversized head was a visual cue for those scenes in which Damian is feeling too smug and arrogant (as in he's feeling bigheaded).

Additionally, I was glad to see the return of Lucius Fox to the comic book mythos. The character was created by Len Wein 30 years ago back in Batman #307, and he was a regular member of Batman's supporting cast for seven years. However, I believe his last appearance in the comics was in 1986--which was right around the time that the decision was made to essentially remove Bruce Wayne's life from the stories and simply have him be Batman all the time.

That was also around the time that I stopped reading the regular Batman titles for nearly 20 years (starting up again when Morrison started on the character three years ago), so perhaps Lucius Fox has appeared in a Batman story at some point since 1986--though this is the first time I've seen the character in the last 23 years.

Well . . . except Lucius Fox doesn't actually appear in this issue; he's merely mentioned by Alfred. Still, I'm glad to see that Morrison brought him back to the comics--even if only by name so far.

When Morrison started writing Batman three years ago, I was hoping we would see more of Bruce Wayne's life as well as more of the supporting characters from Wayne Enterprises--and even a "civilian" romance for Bruce. My favorite Batman stories from the 1970s (by Steve Englehart & Marshall Rogers) tended to balance Batman and Bruce Wayne rather than giving us all Batman all the time. Thus, I'm still hoping Morrison eventually gets around to revealing the civilian side of the Batman Family's identities--such as Dick Grayson meeting with Lucius Fox to discuss the operation of Wayne Enterprises now that Bruce is presumed dead (surely Dick and Tim inherited the company with Dick becoming the operating owner).

I'd also like to see Dick get a civilian love interest. I haven't kept up with the character's romantic involvements over the years--not since he was engaged to Princess Koriand'r--but I know he was involved with Barbara Gordon a few years ago. I'd like to see him have a civilian girlfriend, though.

I think he had a girlfriend back in the early 1970s when Mike Friedrich was writing the Robin back-up stories that ran in Batman. If so, then perhaps Morrison can bring that old girlfriend back into Dick Grayson's life. If not, then perhaps he could create a new girlfriend for him--one who won't turn out to be a villainess the way Jezebel Jet turned out to be for Bruce Wayne.

Finally, I also liked Alfred's advice to Dick that Dave and Charles mentioned in their reviews. However, I was wondering about the first two roles that Alfred mentioned when he told Dick that he should think of being Batman as "a great role, like a Hamlet, or Willie Loman. . . ."

Uhm, Hamlet or Willie Loman? The characters have nothing in common aside from both dying at the end of their respective plays.

At that point I had the same idea that Charles had: That Dick Grayson's story is going to follow the arc of a dramatic tragedy and end with his death. However, I really doubt that the Death of Dick Grayson is on Morrison's agenda.

Still, I wonder about Alfred's choices of Hamlet and Willie Loman. I can understand the choice of James Bond, but Willie Loman seems particularly incongruous to the concept of Batman. Of course, Hamlet and Willie Loman are great characters who can make stars of the actors chosen to portray them, but they're not really characters in the Batman mold (well, Hamlet may be in the Bruce Wayne mold, but not the All-New Batman mold).

Perhaps Alfred should have suggested D'Artagnan and Don Diego Vega as more appropriate roles for Dick to consider. They would have been more in keeping with the James Bond notion.

Batman and Robin #1 Reviews

Batman and Robin #1

Rob G. and Raymond Hilario Weeklycomicbookreview.com
Posted on June 5, 2009
Grade: A

By Grant Morrison (writer), Frank Quitely (pencils, inks) Alex Sinclair (colors)

The Story: Following the events of Battle for the Cowl, Dick Grayson and Damian Wayne reunite the dynamic duo in the new Batman and Robin. Meanwhile, a new crew of mysterious and freaky villains, led by a sadistic criminal known as the Pyg invades Gotham as the new dynamic duo try to come to terms with each other and their respective roles.

What’s Good: There is a lot to love for this new Batman epic. It’s exciting to see a completely new and novel incarnation of such a well tread concept, as Morrsion perfectly states it in the comic: Batman and Robin are “together again for the first time.”

The new, flying Batmobile is a perfect fit for the crazy, bouncy, and fun themes that comprise this comic. Like all of Grant Morrison and Frank Quietly projects, this effort has a near perfect symmetric prose and beautiful and haunting images. Morrison’s creation of the weird and campy threat of Pyg and his crew blends perfectly with the Quitely’s illustrated words, such as “Splsh” and “Bwasksssss.” As in All Star Superman, Morrison leaves the heavy lifting to Quietly, while executing minimal dialogue and extremely well-scripted scenes.

Surprisingly, Damian was my favorite element of this read. In the past, his character irritated me like he was a demonic Jar-Jar Binks. But here, his characterization is very strong and rich with depth. His interactions with Dick and Alfred were really interesting and subtle. I look forward to seeing his character develop.

Its kinda like beating a dead horse over here at WCBR (see here), but Quietly’s work is basically astounding. The character designs are beautiful. The perspectives are things of wonderment. It really is good to have Quitely and Morrison, together again. I see Eisner Awards in the near future.

As for Morrison, by concocting and executing this light and accessible tale on top of some of the most complex comic book stories (R.I.P and Final Crisis) he’s ever told, he has cemented himself as an expert storyteller with possibly the widest range of any writer around. Those of you who were let down by his most recent projects will be delighted here, and those who enjoyed those projects will be equally, if not more, pleased with this comic.

It should also be pointed out that Alex Sinclair works the palette masterfully here. The choice of tone and color are flawless. Just flip through the comic casually and you’ll see what I mean.

What’s Not So Good: Truthfully, there is nothing to complain about in this comic, especially when taking into account that it is the first issue in a series. That being said, I did feel that Dick’s character was a little flat and boring, but honestly, I always felt that way so I can’t blame Morrison for keeping this particular streak alive.

Conclusion: It may not be Bruce, but Batman is back! After the roller coaster of deconstructing one of (if not) the most famous characters of all time, it’s nice to be back to some old-fashioned, action-packed stories featuring the Caped Crusader and the Boy Wonder– and not Batman of Zur-En-Arrh. You won’t need Wikipedia to get through this comic, you won’t have to download .cbz files of Batman from the Silver Age to know what Morrison’s talking about, and you definitely won’t have to worry about thinking of dropping a Morrisson book! Between the great art and great writing, Batman and Robin is poised to be the read of the year.

Batman and Robin #1

by Benjamin Birdie CBR
Jun 3rd, 2009
4.5

Story by Grant Morrison Art by Frank Quitely

Just shy of exactly eight years ago this month, Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely introduced their landmark reinvention of one of the most significant pop culture artifacts in comics with the release of "New X-Men" #114 in July 2001. The artist and writer (who some might argue are the best of their respective specialties working in the industry today) have had other collaborations since then, including the instantly definitive "All Star Superman," but nothing has come close to recapturing that sense of relentless ambition and upheaval until now, with the release of "Batman and Robin" #1.

It's impossible for anyone that anxiously picked up that issue on a long ago Wednesday to not feel the same thrill here. Behind a similarly iconic and swagger-drenched cover, we are treated in the opening sequence to a double page spread of Batman and Robin in the cockpit of the all new Batmobile, in the light of the same red windshield that Cyclops and Wolverine sat behind in an all new X-Wing of their own eight years ago; practically in the same position. The resemblance could be completely coincidental, the product of two sensibilities that simple like the same things they've always liked, but it's a fitting parallel, because the books end up doing very similar things.

Once again, there's been some set up for this relaunch. "Battle For The Cowl" ended with Dick Grayson as Batman and Bruce Wayne's biological son Damien taking the mantle of Robin. Far from just a cosmetic change in these icons (indeed, Quitely has made only the most minor adjustments to their costumes), Morrison has given them a new lair (stories below the towering skyscraper that appears to house Dick's new penthouse Gotham apartment [all shown in a delightful cut out diagram]), a new Batmobile (it flies), new villains, and a fresh sense of unease that never seemed to plague Morrison's unflappable Bruce Wayne.

Quitely is, as always, a masterful storyteller. There's a moment, completely silent, in which Batman and Robin thwart the escape of a criminal who thinks he's scott free that is almost literally breathtaking in its adeptness of narrative. His talent has always been in coordinating exacting and dimensional detail with an almost superhuman command of panel-to-panel transitioning, and this brief and charming scenario is the perfect example. He's crafted a book that can (and will) be pored over again and again to catch new details, like the henchman who packs almost nothing but loose bullets in his getaway luggage. Quitely also adds a new item to his toolkit here, where at key moments he draws certain sound effects himself, integrating them fully into the three dimensional space of the panel (ably assisted by the color work of Alex Sinclair). It's a fantastic display of the unique qualities and opportunities of the medium.

Just as "New X-Men" introduced a new, creepy, and diabolical adversary, "Batman and Robin" #1's Circus of Strange is a genuinely frightening collection of antagonists. The introduction of their leader, Pyg, and his doll-faced minions at the close of the issue is about as vicious and unsettling a sequence as I've ever seen in a Batman book. His Rogue's Gallery, even Joker most of the time, has always played at menace but usually just traded on diamond heists and broken windows. Pyg's revenge on a henchman trying to escape with his family reads like something out of a Japanese horror film and Quitely's rendition of his brutally disfigured victims/assistants is authentically chilling stuff.

So our heroes clearly have their work cut out for them. Morrison always wrote Bruce Wayne as a man never without the perfect solution, a detective who always stayed one step ahead (even in "death"). That Batman is casting a long shadow over Dick Grayson here, even as Alfred tries to assuage his concerns (and Damien broadcasts his readiness to do the job himself at any opportunity). And, frankly, Bruce Wayne never had to deal with anything this messed up. (Seriously, best of luck guys. Yikes.)

While fans are already jittery about the necessary concessions being made to keep "Batman and Robin" an ostensibly monthly and firmly in continuity book (Quitely will only be drawing the first three issues), Morrison and Quitely have laid some thrilling and invigorating groundwork that anyone should be able to follow easily. There is a sense of dark wonder throughout the book, a mood that is a perfect summation of the character, and a tone that is perfectly suited to a new Batman. Dick Grayson is committed but unconvinced; with a wild and unstable ward; both of them plunging head first into a Gotham City that has never looked this good, felt this strange, or been this deadly.

Batman and Robin #1

by Chad Nevett CBR
Jun 3rd, 2009
4.5

Story by Grant Morrison Art by Frank Quitely

“This is it. Batman and Robin. Together again for the first time.” And what a beginning it is. The much anticipated “Batman and Robin” #1 has everything you’d expect and want with a new creative team, a new Batmobile, new villains, a new secret hideout, and, of course, a new dynamic duo protecting Gotham.

If you haven’t noticed, the word here is new. Not only that, but it’s also fun. When was the last time a Batman comic felt both new and fun? Yes, Bruce Wayne recently died and that is addressed here, but “Battle for the Cowl” was the mourning period, and “Batman and Robin” is everyone moving on with their lives. And what better way than capturing a new bad guy, the Toad, in a brand new Batmobile that hovers?

The new dynamic duo is certainly different from what fans would expect with Dick Grayson as a Batman trying his best to have fun in a role he always knew he’d have to fill, but hoped against. While his disposition has always been lighter than Bruce’s, the quiet moments with Alfred in the new Batcave show that the happy-go-lucky front he puts on is just that -- partly for himself and partly for Damian, Bruce’s son with Talia al Ghul and new Robin.

From his first appearance shortly after Grant Morrison began writing “Batman,” Damian has been impudent, rebellious, and rude —- and he’s changed little here. The only noticeable difference is that he’s dedicated himself to taking after his father and is willing to tolerate Dick and Alfred (who he addresses as ‘Pennyworth’). He has the skills to do this job and, worse, he knows it -- and can’t help bringing it up at any chance he’s given.

The interplay between the two is unusual and not at all what’s expected of Batman and Robin, and it works very well. Dick and Damian have had little on-panel interaction up until this point, so their relationship is very fresh, with neither comfortable with the other yet. Damian acts like he’s the one in charge and Dick does his best to shrug it off, knowing that a well-timed remark is all it takes to bring him back down to Earth.

Nothing seems more fitting for this first issue than for Frank Quitely to join his longtime collaborator Grant Morrison on art. While Morrison is no stranger to Batman, Quitely has only drawn the character a few times in the past, mostly on covers, and he brings a fresh energy to the book. Morrison's work on the Batbooks to this point has been plagued by less-than-stellar art, so seeing him get a chance to work not just with one of the top artists in the industry, but an artist who so completely understands Morrison’s writing is a joy.

As with most projects, Quitely has added a new trick or two to his art. The most noticeable is the integration of sound effects into the art, which adds to that feeling of fun I mentioned. Since this issue is fast-moving, he opts for large panels and drawings that could easily become iconic stalwarts. The new Batmobile showing off its capabilities, Batman and Robin taking out the Toad, the two testing out their new paracapes... you can’t turn a page without stopping to admire the art.

With expectations high, “Batman and Robin” #1 could have easily disappointed, but it not only meets those expectations, it exceeds them. No one could have asked for a better introduction to the new Batman and Robin.

Batman and Robin #1
By Jay Cochran Comicnewsi.com
Jun 16, 2009
4

Story by: Grant Morrison Art by: Frank Quitely

Grant Morrison seems to be off to a decent start with the new Batman & Robin, but I can’t help but feel we’ve gone through all this before. Maybe it’s from the last time Bruce Wayne was taken out of action by Bane and we had to muddle through Azrael trying to assume the mantle of Batman or maybe it’s because we just went through this over at Marvel with Steve Rogers. As much as I like the character of Dick Grayson, it’s hard for me to get invested with the idea of him being Batman when I know within a year’s time the likely hood of Bruce Wayne returning from the dead is about 100%. I don’t know about the rest of you but frankly I’m getting tired of these comic companies feeling the need to kill off one of their major characters only to bring them back some 12 months later.

Anyway getting back to the specifics of this particular issue we find the new Batman and Robin and their new flying Batmobile taking on what appears to be a new baddie who goes by the name of Pyg and his henchmen Toad (No relation to Toad from the X-Men books). Grant does his normal good job of leading you into the story and wanting you to come back for more in this first issue. Frank Quitely’s art is ok but there is several times where it seems like the batsuit is just hanging off of Dick making him appear scrawny.

The whole hero reborn thing to me has been done to death (No pun intended) but still Grant Morison is a good enough writer and off to a good start with this title that I would recommend any Bat fan picking this one up.

Batman and Robin #1

By Chris Mautner Robot6.cbr.com
June 3, 2009

by Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely DC Comics, 32 pages, $2.99.

See, this is how it should have been from the start.

Much was made when Grant Morrison took over the writing reins for Batman, though few ultimately found merit in the confusing and at times even dull slog through canon and character that the book turned into (though, of course, the series does still have its fans. I also understand there are people who collect milk bottles).

Batman and Robin chucks all the excess baggage that hampered Batman R.I.P. — the elbow in the ribs riffing on classic tales of yesteryear, the need to make an important statement about the character, Tony Daniel — fills up the gas tank to its flying Batmobile with rocket fuel and proceeds to floor that puppy out of the cave with nary a glance backward. The result is a streamlined, but no less surreal or smart, tale that’s one of the most satisfying superhero reads I’ve had so far this year. This is a really fun comic book.

Now, I haven’t been following Battle for the Cowl at all, so I have no idea what has or hasn’t been revealed up until this point and thus will probably unleash all manner of spoilers without meaning to. You’ve been warned.

That being said, I think everyone by this point is aware that Nightwing/Dick Grayson has assumed the Batman mantle of new Batman with Bruce Wayne’s illegitimate and surly son, Damian, serving in the sidekick role.

One of Morrison’s traits (or quirks, if you prefer) is that he tends to define his characters and their relationships to each other as quickly as possible. He’s an economic writer when it comes to dialogue and not one for exposition; he’d rather cut to the chase. This can be a useful tool but also detrimental to the overall story and reader immersion (I think it ultimately hampered Final Crisis).

It works wonderfully well here though. One of the things that impressed me the most about this comic was how succinctly and effortlessly it set up the central relationship between the two characters. Halfway through the book we know just about everything we need to about Grayson (professional, dedicated, willing to assume the role, but far from eager) and Damian (cocky kid with violent past who’s perhaps a bit too eager).

The comic kicks off with a thrilling car chase involving a frog-faced villain and doesn’t really pause for a moment to catch its breath. Morrison has spoken in interviews about how he’s wanted to create a “psychedelic noir” feel that evoked the 1960s TV show but still felt relevant and modern, not to mention occasionally creepy. He certainly delivers on that last part in the final two pages, a reminder, perhaps, of just how good Morrison can be at evoking horror and dread.

But none of this would have worked half as well if Morrison didn’t have Quitely working with him. The artist’s not-quite-caricature, not-quite-photorealistic style serves the material astoundingly well here, particularly in depicting some of the more gruesome and new additions to the rogues gallery. (Just imagine what Quitely could do with a war horse like Dick Tracy.) Beyond the pronounced jaws and hyper-detailed costumes, however, is a really smart and playful layout, that carries the reader through as speedily and effortlessly as possible yet still has time for a one-page sequence involving Alfred’s trip to the Batcave that evokes those great schematic “a look inside” maps of yore.

Really, it’s hard to imagine any of Morrison’s critics, especially those who claim he’s too “clever” or esoteric, finding something to complain about here. This is one of the most straightforward, economic and, as a result, immersive comics he’s ever written.

OK, there were a few “Hey, wait a minute” moments, like: How have they attempted to explain Burce Wayne’s disappearance? Has Grayson inherited the Wayne fortune as well? And didn’t Damian kill somebody? Wouldn’t that be a stain on his crimefighter resume?
Oh, but those are all questions for the future. This first issue is nothing but setup. And what a wonderful setup it is, tantalizing and immediate and fun in a way that doesn’t neglect new readers or the party faithful. I can’t wait for the second issue.

Batman and Robin #1

Brian Cronin Goodcomics.cbr.com
June 3, 2009
Definitely Recommended

Two things stood out to me in the first issue of Grant Morrison’s new comic, Batman and Robin (with Frank Quitely along for the first issue, on the art), one fairly standard the other a bit odder.

The first is the spooky new villain, Pyg. Pyg’s introduction was eerie and effective as all get out. The second is the amount of exposition Morrison put into this comic. It was not inappropriate, as this WAS a number one issue, but it still struck me by just how accommodating he was to the ephemeral “picking this comic up for the first time” reader.

Those were the two things that jumped out to me (having a good villain was the standard thing, by the way), but the issue as a whole worked extremely well for an introduction to the new Dynamic Duo.

Quitely’s art was amazing, as usual, especially his brilliant layouts and page designs. Morrison filled the issue with plenty of action, but managed to highlight a number of little character bits (one of my favorites was the way he made a point of showing that Dick loves to eat, as opposed to Morrison’s Bruce, who never seemed to eat). Damian was his usual pain-in-the-ass self, but Morrison also made sure to show exactly how effective he is, as well.

The Circus of Strange were interesting, particularly how Quitely drew them.

I loved the sort of “there is still hope!” moment with Gordon and the GCPD and the Bat-signal, which leads to one of the coolest pages from the comic.

I presume that’s Jason as the Red Hood, right? So he has a “Robin,” too? Very cool. Great to see Dr. Hurt return. After the Circus of Crime, it’ll be nice seeing an “older” villain come back. I also love how Batman #666 now becomes this almost blueprint to the series, with all the characters in this issue who first appeared there.

Batman and Robin #1
By Chris Smits Mania.com
June 09, 2009
A

"Morrison just nailed it with this one"

The first adventure for the new incarnation of Batman and Robin starts here! The capture of some lackeys opens the door to a larger mystery for the new Dynamic Duo. With motives that are yet to be fully revealed, a psychopath calling himself "Pyg" seems to have what it takes to be a villain in Gotham City; the town that sets new standards daily when it comes to criminal lunatics. Luckily for the citizens of Gotham, there was also a standard set for the city when it came to standing against such criminals; a standard set by the original Batman and Robin and is now being followed by their successors.

The Good

Absolutely every line of art and every word on its pages. Grant Morrison returns to perfection here after a year of hits and misses with the fan base. Having a ringer like Frank Quitely handling the artwork makes this an outstanding kick-off to the series and the second issue can't come fast enough. The family aspect is still intact with the characters but new dynamics are being formed between them. There's new everything in this book and it all hits the bullseye; from a flying Batmobile to a fresh group of baddies making their mark, this is the return to greatness that the fans have been promised.

The Bad

There is no bad, seriously. If you've ever been a fan of Batman, you're gonna dig this book. If you like classic superhero tales, you're gonna dig this book. Long time readers and first timers alike are going to come away from this having been thoroughly entertained.

The Bottom Line

Grant Morrison just nailed it with this one. He may have taken a zig-zag path to get to this point, and it's a matter of debate as to whether it could have been handled better, but now that it's here, Batman and Robin is overflowing with kick-assery. The banter between Dick Grayson as the new Batman and Bruce Wayne's son Damian as the new Robin was fantastic. The anchor of mainstay butler/caretaker Alfred is used to perfection as the pivot point between the two, but it's the difference in styles, mannerisms and (in Damian's case) ettiquette, that made this incredibly cool and really fun to read. This may not physically be the Batman of old, but the tone is everything that's ever been great in the characters history. Since Dick Grayson is the epitome of a legacy character, it's like a father/son situation in the fact that there's a lot of Bruce still on the page. I loved that everything about Dick Grayson being raised and trained by Bruce comes into play and it works very naturally under the handling of Morrison. The situation has changed and yet every selling point for fans of Batman are in here: Detective work, great gadgets, the family dynamic and crime busting. Not only are all of those things in here, but it has such a natural flow to it that it never reads like a writer's checklist as to how to write Batman. This reads as something absolutely new and fresh and yet it retains everything about the mythos that you would never want to give up. The biggest accomplishment with this book is that it doesn't read like a re-boot, it reads like the next chapter of the Bat family. Obviously I'm giving this an A as far as a grade goes, and at $2.99 I can't imagine a better value on the shelves right now. Fun factor, adventure, Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely...I dare you to find fault with that!

Batman and Robin #1

By Jesse Schedeen IGN.com
June 3, 2009
7.8

Grant Morrison returns to kick off a new era for the Dynamic Duo.

Batman has been around for 70 years. It's almost impossible to tell a story with the character that hasn't been done in some way, shape, or form already. That's precisely why Grant Morrison's run on Batman has been such a breath of fresh air over the past few years. Morrison is a writer who always brings something new to the table, regardless of the project. By the same token, Morrison tends to attract a sizable chunk of detractors who disapprove of his storytelling methods. So it was, and so it ever will be.

With Batman and Robin, Morrison continues to mine the Batman mythos for unexplored nuggets. It's not enough that this series is the first to showcase the new Dynamic Duo of Dick Grayson and Damian Wayne. Morrison is pulling from a variety of strange and unusual sources this time, including the much loved and reviled '60s show. Beyond nostalgia, I'm no real fan of the Adam West Batman, but this didn't worry me. I've learned to place my faith in Morrison by now. The only aspect of this new project that worried me involved something the writer himself said in a recent interview. He admitted that he was making a conscious attempt to make this new Bat book more accessible to new readers. It's a noble goal considering there are probably going to be a healthy number of newcomers with this issue. All the same, that sounds a little too much like self-censorship to me. And when it comes to Morrison, self-censorship is like a four-letter word.

My fears were not exactly put to rest by reading Batman and Robin #1. Compared to his debut in Batman #655, this feels a little bare-bones. It's certainly not a bad debut for Dick and Damian, but I expected a little more from the script. Morrison allows us to see them in action, complete with a new Batmobile. After trouncing a few thugs, the focus moves to the new Batcave, with Morrison exploring the sometimes uncomfortable relationship between Dick, Damian, and Alfred. And before the issue's end, an all-new villain will be introduced. All the bases of first-issue storytelling are covered. But as far as ringing in the new day with a huge bang, ehh...

I don't want to sound like I'm hating, because I did enjoy this issue quite a bit. Morrison employs the campy tone of the '50s and '60s comics to great effect. It makes sense that Dick's Batman would spend less time hiding in the shadows and more pounding heads. And so far, Damian makes for a top-notch Robin. I have my doubts how the character will be handled by other writers, based on past experience, but as long as Morrison guides Damian he manages to tread that line between annoying brat and kid super-genius well. And the new gaggle of animal-themed villains make a good first impression in what little time they're given.

So far, there just doesn't seem to be the usual Morrison-esque density to the story. Dialogue is fairly sparse. The plot progresses in swift and very linear fashion. It's tough to get the sense that a greater conflict is brewing. To a large extent it's just too early to tell where Morrison is going with this new series. And if I'm lucky, maybe after a few more rereads I'll discover some vast, unseen subtext to the story. However, remembering how strong a hook his previous Batman debut had, it's tough not to feel a little disappointed.

Frank Quitely follows suit by delivering art that, while stunning in many respects, still manages to disappoint in at least one area. A major reason why this story feels so sparse is because Morrison allows Quitely numerous splash pages and wide panels. This may lighten the plot, but it's only good news for lovers of Quitely's art. Quitely livens up every page with his unique, bombastic layouts. The new Batmobile receives a particularly nice debut in the opening sequence thanks to some spectacular choreography. Meanwhile, the colors of Alex Sinclair only further the retro throwback flavor of the story. The one real weak spot comes with Quitely's figure work. Quitely has something of a reputation for giving his characters overly wrinkled faces. Usually it's a quirk I can ignore, but not here. Quitely relies on a very thin, scratchy form of inking in this issue, and it only serves to amplify the wrinkle effect several times over. In a few cases I'd swear characters are wearing a second set of skin.

I have little doubt Batman and Robin will rank among the best of the Bat family once all the respective books have had their chance to debut. Even in its early stage the series is a huge amount of fun and, for the most part, a visual stunner. But this issue didn't bowl me over like I hoped it might. It's certainly not Morrison's strongest debut on a series. Let's just hope that doesn't matter when held against the bigger picture.

Batman and Robin #1

By Dan Phillips IGN.com
June 3, 2009
9

Another Take by Dan Phillips

If you're wondering what to expect from Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely's latest collaboration, the first eight-page sequence of Batman and Robin #1 should tell you a lot.

It begins as a carload of criminals bursts out of a fiery explosion while barreling down the highway. The new Dynamic Duo suddenly appears in their snazzy new flying Batmobile, derails the car with a well-placed missile and then swoops in to snatch the vehicle off the road like a hawk does a field mouse. The car full of goons is deftly deposited in the nearby river, and we watch as their leader, the hideous Mr. Toad, swims ashore only to find Batman and Robin standing over him. The following page begins with a brilliantly executed silent shot of the two heroes delivering a pair of haymakers to the unsuspecting rogue, and at this point it's abundantly clear that we're in for another incredibly fun collaboration from this legendary creative team.

In a number of ways it's really a perfect opening for this new series, Morrison and Quitely's first outing since the near-universally acclaimed All-Star Superman. Not only are their perfectly in-sync storytelling chops on full display in these early pages, but the sequence also effectively announces the marriage of iconic elements and utter weirdness that follows in the rest of the issue. This is far and away the most straightforward Batman script Morrison has delivered since his run began several years ago, but it's still lush with the sort of surreal, off-the-wall ideas fans have come to expect from his work.

Morrison employs a bare-bones, economic approach to storytelling that hasn't really been seen in his recent DC work. This being the debut of the new team of Dick Grayson and Damien Wayne, Morrison takes time to hit a number of familiar Batman tropes and subtly showcase what makes this duo different from past incarnations. Whether we're watching Dick's unique style of interrogation, his hesitance to step into his mentor's shoes, Damien's eagerness to prove himself as his father's rightful heir, or the different ways each hero interacts with Alfred, Morrison is able to convey each personality beautifully in a very limited space.

When you contrast this approach to the one taken in Batman RIP and Final Crisis, it becomes even more clear that the scribe wasn't kidding when he said he wanted to make this book more accessible and straightforward than his recent output. I don't think I'm exaggerating when I say this might be the best character work Morrison has achieved in a long time.

But as straightforward as the majority of the issue is, the book's last four pages are as strangely horrific as anything Morrison has written. It's here that we get the first glimpse of the insane Pyg and his Circus of Strange, who immediately announce themselves as terrifying additions to Batman's rogue's gallery. That final sequence, as well as the one-page teaser that concludes the issue, is further proof that we're in for a hell of a lot more of this brand of surreal, manic fun.

And as with most Morrison/Quitely collaborations, Quitely's art is the real star of the show. Quitely's style is noticeably looser here than it has been in the past – particularly in close-ups on characters' faces – but his storytelling chops are as tight as ever. The way he works sound effects into the actual visuals heightens the bombastic nature of the story, and his splash pages and wide, cinematic panels are as gorgeous and dynamic as you'd expect. Like his collaborator, Quitely is constant tweaking and reinventing his style to accommodate the story he wants to tell, and this issue marks his latest exciting artistic evolution. It's just a shame he'll only be around for two more issues before an extended break.

Batman and Robin #1 is an outrageously fun start for this new series. It's not as cerebral as Morrison's past Batman work, but that's part of the fun. It's full speed ahead for both this book and its new Dynamic Duo, and I can't wait to see what happens when the pair runs smack dab into the horrors that undoubtedly await them.

BATMAN AND ROBIN #1

By Kristopher Tapley Batman-on-film.com
June 5, 2009

OFFICIAL SYNOPSIS: "The new Dynamic Duo hit the streets with a bang in their new flying Batmobile as they face off against an assemblage of villains called the Circus of Strange. They also tackle their first mission investigating a child who's been abducted by the mysterious Domino Killer. But will everything go smoothly? And who exactly are the new Batman and Robin? The newest era of The Dark Knight begins here!"

EDITOR'S NOTE: The following review may have details that some would consider a "spoiler," FYI. Also, my friend Kristopher Tapley of INCONTENTION.COM will be reviewing this title for BOF. - Bill Ramey, Founder of BATMAN-ON-FILM.COM

Is this what you wanted?

Is this the “new direction” you hoped for?

Is this the personality of Gotham City you’re willing to cozy up to for the next 12 months?

It better be, because for better or worse, Grant Morrison’s BATMAN AND ROBIN will be the new flagship for a character who just celebrated his 70th anniversary last month as the devoted await the inevitable return of Bruce Wayne to the pages of BATMAN and DETECTIVE COMICS.

Following the events of “Battle for the Cowl,” we know a few things: Dick Grayson has reluctantly assumed the role of Batman; Tim Drake has slipped into a fascinatingly ominous state of mind; And yeah, unfortunately, Damian wasn’t some cruel manifestation of our imaginations, having now annoyingly taken on the role of Robin to Grayson’s Caped Crusader.

In the first installment of the new title, we’re immediately introduced to a fresh world of villainy. A grotesque plumper called Toad, spouting what Grayson would later call “European Circus slang,” high-tails it through the streets of Gotham after “a simple exchange” gone awry. The details of the exchange are of course saved for later issues in the arc, which brings to mind something this book happens to get right: planting the seeds of future intrigue.

The opening sequence also introduces us to The Dynamic Duo’s new ride: a hovering Batmobile rendered beautifully by artist Frank Quietly. Though a double-page spread of the cockpit is perhaps too reminiscent of a similar image of Cyclops and Wolverine in the pages of NEW X-MEN #114 (the first issue of the “E is for Extinction” arc, Morrison and Quietly’s “new direction” of the X-MEN franchise in 2001).

There’s a lot of NEW X-MEN vibe to this, actually, which begs the question: Is Morrison planning to piggyback his own covered territory? It’s too early to judge, but the suits at DC would likely hope for nothing more. After all, “E is for Extinction” re-ignited the floundering X titles and ushered in a new era of vibrant creativity. But was the Bat universe really all that desperate for a facelift? I submit that it’s the writing talent that hasn’t been up to par (Paul Dini excepted), but that’s just me.

Getting back to the book, it moves along nicely and has a richness of mood that’s rather unmistakable. Morrison owes much of this, no doubt, to Quietly, whose textured pencils work a lot more than may have been expected by the seemingly caveat-laden cover we’ve seen for months. (There is actually a JG Jones variant cover that is more appealing, if somewhat against the grain of the narrative’s tone.) Quietly has moved effortlessly from the high key elements of Metropolis and the Fortress of Solitude in the pages of ALL-STAR SUPERMAN to the grit and drab streets of Gotham. I’m reminded of Tim Sale’s similar tendency, even if both artists have drastically differing styles.

What Quietly’s work really brings out, however, is Morrison’s macabre-soaked vision. The book’s final moments with a diabolical new villain, Pyg, drive this point home. I have mixed feelings on Pyg because he seems somehow derivative, and with a rogue’s gallery such as the Bat’s, is a new antagonist really appropriate? Will Morrison leave Pyg to finally be defined five years later as Jeph Loeb did with Hush or does he actually have thematically pertinent plans for him? Time will tell, but as a start for the hopeful, BATMAN AND ROBIN #1 certainly introduces a well of potential.

We’ll see what they do with it.

Batman and Robin #1

Posted by Lee Newman Brokenfrontier.com
Jun 3, 2009

Words: Grant Morrison Art: Frank Quitely Colors: Alex Sinclair

Story Title: Batman Reborn - Part One: Domino Effect

What’s that in the sky? Is it a bird, a plane, Superman; no... it’s... the... Batmobile?

God love Grant Morrison. You have to, as after the mess that was Final Crisis and the full speed ahead derailment known as "Batman R.I.P.", he just gets right up on the saddle. He probably can’t help it, this is the guy who wrote Animal Man and All-Star Superman, after all.

Dick has a bit of a youthful feel here. Like maybe Batman’s death took a couple of years off the guy. He is not exuberant, he mentions that wearing the cowl is the equivalent of a shroud, but this is not the guy that was at the end of Nightwing. Well, maybe the guy that was in Titans. Anyhow, his take on Batman is not any more edgy, not in a real sense, it just feels edgier. Maybe the fear that the criminals allow to creep into their Adam’s apple is leaping off the page, but for a moment, I thought Dick was going to drop Toad to his death.

Then there is Damian. He is still a spoiled, obnoxiously egotistical little brat. However, it would appear he is some kind of wunderkind. He makes the Batmobile fly! It comes soaring out of the air shooting missiles and then seems to pick up a bad guy’s car like it is some kind of industrial magnet crane! Gadgets. That used to be a Bat-mainstay, but had fallen to the wayside for melodrama and those famous detective skills of late.

Then there are the villains. The Toad? He looks like he came out of Wind in the Willows. And he is driving the car like it is a Disney ride too!

And all of this is in the first four pages.

Then comes Pyg. Yeah, brace yourself, this might be the most creepy villain since Simone introduced us to her little friend Junior. I mean this guy gives me the willies.

It is a little hard to tell exactly what is going on with the story. There is not a whole lot past exposition here. There is an odd payment and the obvious concern from the police that Batman is dead and gone and the reciprocal glee from the criminal community. Given time, it is possible that Morrison can let this ball unravel as well, but this debut issue is smoke gushing, guns blazing, BATMOBILE FLYING fun! That is an element that has been missing from the core Bat books for some time. Sure, Batman Confidential had its moments and then some guy named Kevin Smith decided to have a little bit of perverse fun with the Joker, but excitement was long gone from the franchise.

To go along with some keen character moments and a script full of explosions and the like, Quitely steps up to the plate. This is not the bright and beautiful Metropolis of All-Star Superman, this is Gotham. This is dark corners and gritty crime. This is the realm of the insane criminal masterminds and it is all reflected in the people and the streets. To contrast this is the sleekness of the new Batwheels. There is an edge to its lines, it stands out.

The artist also puts his touches to paracapes and Batsignals. The action is crisp and almost bursts off the page in your face. The layouts help, as they are as dynamic as the hoops that the creative team puts this new Dynamic Duo through. As perfect as the action sequences are, so too is Pyg creepy - you can almost feel Malcom McDowell smiling behind the mask in his bloody apron. Shivers, I tell you, shivers.

This is the big popcorn book that we are promised every year and never quite get. This is the new Star Trek, Die Hard, The Matrix, etc... it may not be perfect, groundbreaking or thought provoking, but damn, it’s a lot of fun. And did I mention it already? The Batmobile flies!!!

Batman and Robin #1

By Grey Scherl Comicsnexus.com
June 9, 2009
9

Written by Grant Morrison Art by Frank Quitely

BATMAN: REBORN!

After three agonizing months without Bat books (aside from Battle and it’s tie ins), we finally got what we were waiting for. Batman and Robin, the new franchise title in the Batman line, and the forerunner to the Bat reboot, hit shelves this week. Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely doing a book about the new Batman and Robin, Dick Grayson and Damien Wayne. Did it live up to expectations? Is this book really good enough to head up the Bat line?

Short answer?

Fuck yes.

Grant didn’t give us his usual first issue, in that this wasn’t a wall of plots to be touched upon later, rather he wisely chose to go with a more straight forward issue that gave us a basic understanding of the new status quo in an attempt to ease us into the changes. New Batmobile, new Batcave, same old Alfred. And while we’re at it, hey, new bad guys! We got our first look at the Circus of Strange in the first issue with Toad and Pyg, and it appears that they’re just guys in masks….well, actually, Toad I’m not so sure about. Damn good mask.

Something I like that Morrison is consciously taking into account is that despite Dick and Damian being the new Dynamic Duo, there isn’t history between them. Damian is the real son, but Dick is the favorite. Damian doesn’t respect Dick, and Dick doesn’t know a thing about Damian. In interviews Morrison kept making it clear that it’s a different style of Batman and Robin with the Bat being the lighter one, while the Boy Wonder is grim and gritty. He succeeds immediately, and it comes across very well.

Damian still exudes the cockiness that left most readers writing him off earlier in his life span, but there is no lack of effort put into his character. The little nuances that both make you hate him, but also keep it fresh in your mind that he was raised to be an assassin. He’s not Dick, or Tim, and he’s not even Jason. Damian Wayne is very much his own character, and he’s stronger because of it. Well, that, and the fact that he hasn’t been passed around a writer pool until he was left one dimensional.

Oh the fun that shall be had.

Dick is still finding his legs in the role of his mentor, and he does feel very much over his head. There’s a distinct difference though between Dick in and out of the costume, as when he’s in the suit he knows what he has to do, and he gets the job done, but once the mask comes off he resorts back to questioning himself. The Bat must be confident at all times, but Dick Grayson can still wonder if filling in for Bruce is the right thing. Very nice little characterization.

There isn’t much from the supporting cast, Jim Gordan is there for a page or two, and Alfred helps out for a few more (during which Damian refers to him simply as “Pennyworth”), but again, first issue. There is time to bring in more later, but the first issue needs to establish the main players in the book to keep the reader enticed. Morrison does this exceptionally.

But what about the art? Anyone who’s read a review of mine knows I’m no art critic, but Frank Quitely turns in pages that look very reminiscent of his recent All Star Superman work, and trust me when I say that’s a good thing. Quitely is a phenomenal artist, and in a book like this he truly shines (cast of men, his strong point). His Batman and Robin shine immediately with the same iconic tone he was able to give the Man of Steel. Now, with any luck, he’ll be handling pencils for more then two or three issues at a time. He may not be a monthly penciller, but the more work he does for a book the better it seems to be.

It’s a whole new team, and a whole new beginning, but at the end of the day it feels just like it used to.

Batman and Robin will never die.

Batman and Robin #1

Posted by Matt Price Nerdblogon
June 3, 2009

Writer Grant Morrison teams up with his “All-Star Superman” and “New X-Men” collaborator, artist Frank Quitely, for “Batman and Robin” No. 1, and the result is the best comic-book launch of 2009 to date.

I often have excessively high expectations for DC event-type comics, but this issue met them all, with the new Batman and Robin beginning their partnership in an issue that felt both fresh and respectful of the past.

At the conclusion of “Battle for the Cowl,” Dick Grayson, the first Batman, has taken on the role of Batman, taking over for his mentor, even though he hoped he’d never have to. He’s assisted by Damian, the son of the original Batman, who is a bit of a hothead, but has the skills to back it up.

It makes for great Batman-Robin interplay, and it’s something we haven’t seen before. I’m not sure where this puts the former Robin, Tim Drake, but dramatically speaking Dick and Damian make for a fun team.

Batman and Robin have a new, flying Batmobile, a new Batcave, and new, very creepy villains introduced this issue.

This is the accessible, exciting launch I had hoped “Batman RIP” and “Final Crisis” would be. Morrison is writing a great “Batman” take that can be read by anyone.

“There’s a new Batman and Robin,” you could say, “read this.” And people would instantly be able to follow along. Yes, Morrison’s run to date and “Battle for the Cowl” inform the story, but all you need to know is on the page.

“This is it,” says the new Batman during the story. “Batman and Robin. Together again for the first time.”

Batman and Robin #1

By Leroy Douresseaux Comicbookbin.com
Jun 3, 2009
A

Writer(s): Grant Morrison Penciller(s): Frank Quitely

Batman: Reborn, Part l: “Domino Effect”

Batman and Robin #1 is a new series by longtime collaborators, writer Grant Morrison and artist Frank Quitely, the team behind the acclaimed, All-Star Superman. This new series stars the old Robin (not Dick, but Richard Grayson) as the new Batman and Damien Wayne (Batman and Talia al Ghul’s lovechild) as the new Robin.

When New X-Men #114 debuted in 2001, for the first time in two decades, the X-Men comic books stop living under the enormous shadow of the X-Men comics of Chris Claremont and John Byrne. In New X-Men #114, the then, new creative team of writer Grant Morrison and artist Frank Quitely changed the status quo of the X-Men comic book franchise, and updated the concept for the 21st century. Nearly everything done with the X-Men since their run has been a marathon race backwards.

Since early 1986, Batman comic books have lived under the shadow of Frank Miller’s dazzling graphic novel, Batman: The Dark Knight Returns. 23 years after DKR, Morrison & Quitely are pulling off another amazing job of liberation by simply moving Batman into the future. As a comic book writer, Morrison is the guy who seems always to be three generations ahead of everyone else working in superhero comics. And Frank Quitely: his art always looks as if it belongs to tomorrow.

Batman and Robin #1 doesn’t disrespect anything that came before it. Morrison and Quitely merely take the best of the past (concepts, storylines, characters, settings, etc.), and present something new – reinventing and re-imagining (a flying Batmobile). Whatever it is called, it sure tastes good and looks even better – thanks to Alex Sinclair’s shimmering colors.

This first issue, which foreshadows a nasty new adversary named Pyg, gives us a solemn, leveled-headed Batman, intense like the old, but in his own quiet way. Damien is Robin as the teenaged Kobe Bryant. He’s arrogant; he’s talented. He hasn’t achieved much, but already thinks he should be the captain. He’s so darn cool.

I can’t imagine that Batman and Robin will be all downhill from issue one. Morrison & Quitely are reshaping Batman for the current entertainment and pop culture landscape the way J.J. Abrams and company have redone Star Trek. Yeah, this is the best $3 I’ve spent on a Batman comic book since… 1986?

Batman and Robin #1

by Stephen Schleicher Majorspoilers.com
June 3, 2009
5

I picked up Batman and Robin #1 today and sat down to read it with great trepidation. I haven’t been the greatest fan of what has happened to the Batman titles over the last three years (as evident on the site), and certainly was not a fan of the person behind the curtain pulling the strings to shape the DCU to his world view.

I made sure to only drink water throughout the morning to keep the body and mind pure, and ate a light lunch so as not to upset my constitution. I took my time reading the first issue that features Dick Grayson as the new Batman, and Damian Wayne as the new kid-side-kick.

I’m done reading.

I don’t feel like throwing up.

In fact, to borrow a phrase from Rodrigo - “I liked it.”

That’s right true believers, I really like what Grant Morrison has done with the new Batman and Robin. From the first page explosion to closing pages that introduces a villain that could rival Black Mask, I really liked every single page.

What really makes me appreciate what Grant Morrison is doing in this inaugural issue is that he isn’t writing a Bruce Wayne Batman story. He already had his chance to do that, and it didn’t work from this reviewer’s perspective. Bruce Wayne is a really screwed up person, so he can be bitchy, dark, and brooding and it fits with his character. Morrison tried to change the direction of that barge, and there was too much resistance from long time Bruce Wayne Batman fans.

Here, Morrison gets a second chance to tell a different Batman story with Dick under the cowl. Dick, while having gone through a lot of tough times, has always had a lighthearted approach to crime fighting, and in the pages of Batman and Robin #1, Morrison doesn’t allow the mask to take away from Grayson’s personality. It’s clear Dick isn’t Bruce, as he spends almost as much on page time out of the cowl as in. From the way Morrison is spinning this version of Batman, I doubt there will ever be a question of which personality is the real one; it’s always going to be Richard.

I loathed Damian when he was first introduced. I loathed him in such a way, that as soon as he was introduced, I almost dropped every Batman title DC published. He was portrayed as a real prick, and if he had is own Damian Dickness Meter, he would have eclipsed anything his father could have come up with. I don’t know if the events of Battle for the Cowl played any part in the change, but Damian has mellowed out quite a bit when readers are re-introduced to the brat in this issue.

Instead of snapping at Alfred and treating him as a being far beneath him, he at least elevates the Batman’s batman back to the level of trusted servant. Even in his interactions with Dick, Damian keeps his attitude in check, and there is a mutual respect for one another. Damian willingly allows Dick to call the shots due to age and experience, however, beneath the surface, readers can see Damian’s desire to be the team leader bubble to the top as Morrison practically slaps us in the face by showing Damian’s brilliance and willingness to jump into the fight.

The Black Glove story seemed to take forever to build to any kind of drama, but Morrison gets right to the action here. The introduction of the villains of this arc is built up quite well, as readers are presented with intercut shots of things taking place elsewhere, with no indication of who, or what, these characters are until things heat up and smash the reader in the face once more. Readers learn about Pyg through one of his lackeys, and the mystery of the role a case of dominos play in the story takes center stage immediately after the opening action sequence.

I think it is the opening sequence that sold me the most on this issue. It felt so much like a James Bond movie opening, that I half expected Frank Quitely to layout the final pages before the first ad break in the shape of the new Batman logo.

Even with the action, there are quiet moments in this issue as well, as Dick and Alfred finally close shop on Wayne Manor and move to new digs downtown. Morrison really is closing the book on everything Bruce Wayne related, going so far as to use a parting shot of Dick looking back on the graves in the Wayne family cemetery as the duo drive away. Touching.

Of course, all of this could be wiped away with the very next issue.

With all this praise I’m giving to this issue, it doesn’t mean I have changed my mind about what Grant Morrison did before. I still don’t like it. I think it was a heavy handed way of pushing an agenda to get to this point in story telling. As i’ve always said, a writer is only going to be as good as his most recent work, and from what I’ve seen in issue one, Morrison is on the right track to regaining the trust and respect of the readers he turned off with his previous DC series.

As far as the Quitely artwork goes, I didn’t care for his portrayal of Superman in the All-Star series, and I think it was the key factor in me dropping that series before issue #6. However, I thought his art was quite appropriate for Batman and Robin. His Batman looks real, but not too realistic that it falls into that 2D version of the Uncanny Valley that turned me off of All-Star.

I love how he incorporated sound effects into the art as well. He most certainly could have gone for the BIFF! BAM! KRAK-A-DOOOOOOOOM! lettering over the action that we see in other titles, but instead Quitely makes the explosions, splashes and everything else form the sound effects. I’ve seen this done in a similar fashion in a couple of action movies released over the last decade, and it works.

The only thing that might keep the reader from thoroughly embracing this new status quo, is the big elephant in the room. Namely the question of, “When is Bruce Wayne coming back?” I seriously hope DC give Bruce a rest for at least five years before digging him up again. I want to see writers stretch their legs and give this new dynamic duo a chance to show readers what they are capable of.

Batman and Robin feels a lot like an Ultimate Batman reboot and if DC plays its cards right, could make this title the number one title for months to come. I’m hoping the coming issues are as high caliber and fun as this one has been. Batman and Robin #1 has renewed and rejuvenated my interest in the Batman titles once again, which before today was at my lowest interest level in decades.

Batman and Robin #1 features exciting action, interesting character interactions, and a story that I find engaging from the get go, earning a well deserved 5 out of 5 Stars.

Batman and Robin #1

by Jamison Sacks Popsyndicate.com
06/06/2009
4

Surprised that Grant Morrison still has enough credit to be handed the new Batman book? Me too…

I have to give DC props; they sure do know how to stand behind their talent at times. However, I personally would not want to stand behind someone with so many guns pointed at him as Grant Morrison. After the disaster that made the Titanic look like a Sunday row around the lake, Final Crisis, I think it will take a lot for people to gain confidence back in Grant Morrison. His Batman R.I.P.’s confusing, lackluster story did not win him any points either. So you have made a mockery of the DCU and killed Batman, what next? Team up with Frank Quietly, the artist who helped your run on X-Men become legendary, and tell the story or the New Batman & Robin, of course.

In case you did not know, the Battle for the Cowl ended up with the mantle of the bat in the hands of Dick Grayson, Nightwing, the original Robin. The man raised by the Batman. No stretch there. The weird part? Bruce Wayne’s bastard son, Damian Al’Ghul, wears the Robin suit. This caters to a new style for Batman and Robin as Dick handles things with a more light hearted tone and Damian tends to be the soul crushingly serious one. He only refers to Alfred as ‘Pennyworth’ in the most dismissive tones even. The story for this first issue contains setup: Batman and Robin reintroducing themselves to Gotham after months of Batman’s apparent death. Morrison wastes no time introducing one of his crazy new enemies, Pyg. No mention at all of anything setup in the Battle for the Cowl series.

Some other interesting and fun changes revealed in this book come in the form of a modified Batmobile that now flies (apparently thanks to Damian), new style capes and Dick and Damian’s do not use the old cave. They have apparently made a cave underneath a skyscraper (probably a Wayne building) in Gotham, abandoning the Batcave for now. Considering how many people know its whereabouts and have access to it, that probably comes as a smart move. They blow the last page of story with a teaser of ‘coming in the next year’ panels. Unfortunately, it looks like Morrison will not be letting go of some of his previous ideas any time soon. Maybe he can breathe some sense into some of them.

Quietly’s unique, stylistic art accentuates the Batman feel perfectly. His art contains an edgy, almost-but-not-quite sketchy feel that adds a feeling of surrealism. I am still not a big of the way he draws faces, as many times people suddenly jump in age 10 to 15 years, but it is something I tend to overlook with him. I like the slick new style of the Batmobile; it reflects Dick’s personality better.

The first issue of Batman and Robin leaps into the fray in an enjoyable way. Surprisingly not splashy or overly spectacular, Morrison almost makes me believe that this comic might actually make sense. Coupled with Frank Quietly’s art, I will at least give it a go for a bit. Or until I end up staring at an issue going ‘WTF?!’

Batman and Robin #1

Bigshinyrobot.com
June 5, 2009

Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely kicked off their launch of the newest title in the Batman canon on Wednesday, Batman and Robin.

Morrison seems to be bringing in new villains to the mythos (which is quite refreshing) and we’re introduced immediately to a Mr. Toad riding about in a motor car, much like the Mr. Toad from The Wind in the Willows. Later in the issue, we were introduced to Mr. Pyg, a character straight out of the Twilight Zone, but we’ll get to that in a minute.

The major difference in this Batman and Robin book is who they are behind the masks. It’s not Bruce and any previous Robin. Dick Grayson has assumed the mantle of the Bat and is working alongside Bruce Wayne’s Damian, who’s proudly wearing the Robin suit. Tim Drake has taken off to be Red Robin, presumably, and we’re left with the bickering between the Dynamic Duo of days gone by.

It’s this relationship and matching of characters that makes me feel like this book belongs beneath an Elseworlds logo. Dick has taken the mantle before (in Batman: Prodigal), but there wasn’t the feeling of permanence that we get here. As much as I don’t like seeing the status quo changed from Bruce as Batman, I could get used to this for as long as this is the case. But when you’ve been reading Batman as long as I have, I think it’ll feel like an out-of-continuity tale for a little while, as our palates readjust to the new present.

It’s quite obvious that by the next issue, Dick and Damian will be facing off against Mr. Pyg. Like I said, he comes straight from the Twilight Zone. In fact, the whole scene he’s in does.

Don’t believe me? Check this out:

I don’t mind this.

I love the Twilight Zone and any attempts to tell cool stories in a world occupied by characters that Rod Serling might have dealt with makes me happy.

Though I’d love to see the Caped Crusaders played by Bruce Wayne and Tim Drake once more, it’s refreshing to see stories that would otherwise not be able to be told. Morrison has truly created a new era in Batman, much like the Azreal era, or the era of No Man’s Land. Who knows how long this continuity will last, but we’ll all instantly recognize it as uniquely Morrison’s, and to make a mark of that magnitude on a character with as much history as Batman is a hard thing to do.

Batman And Robin #1

By Scott Johnson Comicbook.com
June 9, 2009

If you had told me the basic premise of Batman & Robin #1 without telling me the artist and writer on the series, then I don’t think I would have liked it. I’ve always preferred my Batman to be Robin-free. I’ve also always been more fascinated with the dark, brooding detective aspects of Batman, then the gadgetry and gimmicks of Batman’s various vehicles and his utility belt. So if you told me that there was going to be a new Batman & Robin series, where the dynamic duo traveled in a flying batmobile and fought a giant toad, then I would have probably groaned and mumbled something unprintable about how DC Comics is determined to kill the Batman franchise.

I write all this, so that readers can truly understand, how completely surprised and blown away I was when I read the first issue of DC Comics’ new Batman &Robin series. As I mentioned in the first paragraph, I probably wouldn’t have even picked up this comic book if I had only been told the premise behind it and not the writer and artist behind it. The fact that Grant Morrison is the writer on the series and Frank Quitely is the artist on the series was the motivating factor for me to at least give this new series a try, and I’m glad I did.

First, in regards to Frank Quitely’s artwork, it is stunning. While Quitely’s version of Batman is different than most recent takes on the character, it is the absolutely perfect look for the series. Quitely breathes the words written by Morrison to life with absolute perfection. It’s incredible that Quitely is able to draw a Batman story that looks both nostalgic and futurific at the same time.

Next, in regards to Grant Morrison’s writing, it is both intriguing and captivating. The most powerful thing I can say about Morrison’s work is that he has taken a basic idea which I would otherwise have had no interest in and has crafted it into one of the best comic books I have read all year. I absolutely hate the idea of a flying bat mobile, but Morrison actually makes it work. I couldn’t help but chuckle, when one police officer asks Commissioner Gordon, “You really believe the freak saw Batman and Robin in a flying batmobile, Commissioner Gordon?”

The basic plot in the first issue of Batman & Robin #1 was solid. It introduced a character called the Toad and laid the groundwork for what looks to be a strange circus-type story. However, what really impressed me the most about the first issue was how Morrison started to develop the relationships between the characters. The Batman in the story is Dick Grayson, and the Robin in the story is Damian Wayne. The beauty of this concept is that even though Dick’s wearing the cape and cowl, Dick acts more like Robin than Batman, while Damian in Robin’s bright yellow, red, and green, acts more like Batman. Damian is truly his father’s child.

When Dick whines and moans to Alfred about taking on the mantle of Batman, Damian is quick to quip, “If you’re not up to it, stand aside, Dick Grayson.” Later, while in the flying batmobile, Damian tells Dick, “You can have my respect if you earn it, that’s all I’m saying. You’re not my father.” In one issue, Morrison has created possible the most interesting twist on the Batman & Robin relationship ever. I really can’t wait to see how things pan out between these two characters.

If I had any complaint about Batman & Robin #1, then it would have to be that it wasn’t long enough. The story whetted my appetite for more, and this is one case where I would actually have gladly paid more for a double size issue.

Batman and Robin #1

By Chris Reed Nerdiest-kids.com
June 6, 2009
5

Writer: Grant Morrison Artist: Frank Quitely

Synopsis: The new Dynamic Duo hit the streets with a bang in their new flying Batmobile as they face off against an assemblage of villains called the Circus of Strange. They also tackle their first mission investigating a child who’s been abducted by the mysterious Domino Killer. But will everything go smoothly? And who exactly are the new Batman and Robin?

As a new reader to DC Comics, I was hesitant to pick up the first issue of the new Batman and Robin. But since I knew enough about Final Crisis and Battle For The Cowel, I felt that it would be easy to start off in the DC universe with this comic series. For those, like me, who have followed DC very little or not at all Batman and Robin takes place after the events of Battle For The Cowel with Dick Grayson as Batman and Damian Wayne as Robin. Even without knowing much about previous DC titles this was a great issue to pick up and read for new comic-book readers.

One thing that really stood out above all the other comics I have read was the Art direction. Every explosion and comic sound that is usually annotated on the page, was instead drawn into the action creating the sounds. Those little things really made the comic that much more enjoyable. But what Batman and Robin really offers is a fresh new start of two beloved characters in the new age world. Along side these new heroes Morrison introduces new villains as well. All from a talking toad to a psycho face transplant doctor named “Pyg,” who reminds me of the Manhunt 1 final boss. But what is important about this series is that a new Batman and Robin means pretty much new everything. I’m talking everything from a new Bat-cave, Bat-mobile, and possibly a new butler. All this really helps usher in the new era of Batman and Robin, but also indents into your mind that this is not the same duo that you are use to reading.

In the end, Grant Morrison does a great job of introducing you to the new Batman and Robin and also find a familiarity with them, which in turn leaves you very satisfied. If you are looking to start reading DC Comics this issue is the comic book series to start off with. Overall from a first time reader I give Batman and Robin a 5 out of 5 stars. You can find Batman and Robin at your local comic book store. Don’t know where your local comic book store is? Check this site and find out!

Batman and Robin #1

By Tomer Soiker
Jun 7th, 2009
4.5

Surprisingly, Adam West fitted well into the Batman suit. Burt Ward had to be replaced, though.

‘Domino Effect’

Written by Grant Morrison Art by Frank Quitely

Let me start from the end: This is the best book of the week.

Now, I’m not a big Batman follower, but he’s one of the few DC characters I like. I never really read his monthly books other than several issues here and there, a collected edition and some other stories. I read the first issue of the ‘Batman RIP’ story arc by Grant Morrison. I wasn’t thrilled despite some interesting ideas presented in that issue. The plan was to catch with the rest of the issues later, but it never happened. Then it ended with the alleged death of Bruce Wayne (who actually died shortly after in another story; don’t worry, I don’t get it either) and now we have his big supporting cast taking over the roles of Gotham City’s protectors.

The story begins months after Bruce’s death and the disappearance of Batman. New players use the opportunity to bring their crime game to the city, just when Dick Grayson takes on the role of his mentor as Batman and Bruce’s son Damian becomes the new (cynic) Robin. A goofy gangster called Mr. Toad and his henchmen are taken down easily, while their boss Pyg - revealed later in the issue - is a real sadistic bastard, accompanied by men dressed in blue dresses and permanently masked by plastic doll faces.

Dick seems unsure about doing what he’s doing, although he overcomes his doubts very easily when it comes to fighting crime. Damian is more confident and mocks Dick for his doubtfulness. He also shows disrespect to Alfred and doesn’t seem to appreciate his loyalty to the Wayne (and Bat) family. Dick and Damian’s relationship as adopted and biological sons to Bruce now working together, looks like a good fill-in for the old father-son relationship usually attributed to Batman and Robin.

Grant Morrison is probably one of the best writers of our age, although I’m not always into his works: I loved New X-Men as a whole, but didn’t like some parts, especially his departing arc. Now I appreciate All Star Superman, but it took me five issues to get it and Morrison’s take on the Silver Age. Final Crisis almost ruined his image in my eyes and that’s all I’ll say about this story.

And here, with Batman and Robin #1, it looks like Morrison is back to his game. I hope lateness won’t damage this book and that as I expect from the first issue, it’ll be as good as All Star Superman.

Frank Quitely is such a good artist, seeing people calling his work “ugly” feels to me like blasphemy. Looking past the “repulsive” characters, a good eye will see the amazing craft this man has in his hands. Quitely is a brilliant designer (WE3 is one of the best examples of that), and in this issue he uses funny sound effects, incorporating them into the drawings. And of course, each and any collaboration of his with Morrison produces pure gold.

Batman and Robin #1

by Elizabeth Delaney Dynamicforces.com
June 3, 2009
8

Batman Reborn Part One: Domino Effect

Written by Grant Morrison Art by Frank Quitely

A new DC title. A new dynamic duo. A new batmobile. A new batcave. A new rogues gallery. That’s what awaits the fans who have held on through the devastation of Batman’s character in Final Crisis and Batman RIP. Grant Morrison needed a sandbox to let his crazy flag fly so he gets his devilish puppet strings on his very own title, Batman and Robin. *Note: It’s best to read this after Batman #687.

Issue #1 opens up with a fantastic car chase featuring the new flying batmobile. Mr. Toad leads the dynamic duo into Gotham Harbor. He loses his briefcase full of dominoes and alludes to the boss named Pyg. If you enjoy the cheese of anthropomorphic supervillains akin to the Golden Age of Comics, then perhaps this series will be right up your alley.

As for the new team, Alfred is attempting to break ground with Damian as the new Robin. This spoiled brat with somewhat regal lineage is at least showing that he’s not completely useless and does possess quite a bit of his father’s extraordinary intelligence and aptitude for engineering. Whether anyone will be able to tolerate his petulance, it left to be seen. For less Damian, stick with the main Batman title. Other than getting pulverized in the recent Battle for the Cowl, it’s unstated as to why Tim Drake would decide to be Red Robin as opposed to continuing on as Robin under the leadership of Dick Grayson as Batman.

After there have been sightings of a new flying batmobile, Commissioner Gordon tries once again to light the bat signal and pray for the best. His prayers are answered as Dick and Damian, or rather Batman and Robin, descend from the sky out of the hovering batmobile.

Getting back to the new villains, Pyg is a whack job in a pig mask who has a gang of minions dressed in purple frocks, opera gloves and bastardized Lil Orphan Annie masks. Their modus operandi is a call back to the 1964 episode of The Twilight Zone titled “The Masks.” In this case, the victim does not naively put a torture device on his face; instead he is held down while his daughter is threatened and an acid-laced mask is forced upon him.

It’s not just Mr. Toad’s wild ride, but the fans’ as well. If Morrison’s whacky and out of this world storytelling is something tolerable, then you’re decision whether or not to buy into another Bat-series may hinge on the supporting cast. Frank Quitely’s art is truly amazing but that might not be enough for readers to justify another commitment.

Highlights:

When comparing the recent teams of artists on the Batman books, Frank Quitely is standing out with more appeal than Batman’s new regular artist Ed Benes.

Fans have a love/hate relationship with Morrison. By now you know how you feel about him and whether this book will be right for your white boxes.

Damian may grate on your nerves but he also might bring a sense of freshness to the team; if you can tolerate a genius that acts like a spoiled two-year old prone to tantrums, then you might find this little jerk appealing.

Batman & Robin #1

Brian Green
June 8, 2009

I’ll admit that after the less-than-favorable reviews of “Final Crisis,” I was reluctant to pick up the first issue of the flag-ship “Batman & Robin” title, now being handled by writer Grant Morrison and artist Frank Quitely. But I’m glad that I did. Out of the gate, Morrison and Quitely establish that they aren’t trying to recreate the classic dynamic duo of Batman and Robin. It feels very reminiscent of the old days, while also alluding to readers that this is a very new and somewhat unlikely team-up. Our new Batman, Dick Grayson, carries an air of uncertainty as he tries to adapt the demanding mantle to his own abilities. Juxtaposed to Grayson is the new Robin, Damian Wayne, who is obviously a capable crime fighter, but comes off as arrogant and boastful.

The first few pages depict a high-speed car chase that shows off the new and futuristic Batmobile, sporting updated features such as flight, rocket launchers, and car-snatching grapples. I was instantly reminded of the Batmobile featured in the animated series, “Batman Beyond,” right down to the big, red bat logo on the windshield.

But a weak spot of this maiden voyage is the cast of villains. The Toad character was an obvious nod to “Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride,” as he plows through the streets of Gotham. But the story’s true villain, Mr. Pyg, is nothing more than a mask-obsessed villain typically found on Gotham’s streets. But the uniquely gruesome trait of Mr. Pyg is that he forces his victims to wear masks too, both painfully and permanently.

The feel of “Batman & Robin” #1 isn’t the same as when Bruce donned the guise of the Dark Knight. That’s neither good nor bad—it’s just different. Morrison’s story feels very much like the last few issues of the “Batman” series in that it lacks the constant use of the hero’s mainstream Rogue’s Gallery. By not always falling back on the same canonical villains, Morrison showcases a more detective-oriented approach to Batman’s unending battle against crime.

In the end, I’d say that “Batman and Robin” #1 is a decent comic with a lot of potential to turn into something great. This issue alone won’t shake the foundations of Batman’s place in comic history, but it seems likely to become much larger and grander as the tale unfolds.

Batman and Robin #1

Posted: Sunday, June 7, 2009
By: Dave Wallace
4

Grant Morrison Frank Quitely (with Alex Sinclair, colors) DC Comics

The new Batman and Robin hit the streets in their new flying Batmobile and we begin to meet a few of the new villains that Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely are introducing into the Batman mythos.

Batman and Robin #1 sees Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely pick up the post-Battle for the Cowl status quo and run with it, wasting no time in getting stuck into a fun action-adventure that introduces the new dynamic duo at the same time that Morrison kicks off a brand new supervillain plot.

In many ways, this debut issue is a far more straightforward and traditional superhero comic than Morrison's previous complex and layered work on the Batman title. The writer has mentioned in interviews about his desire to recapture the energy and verve of the 1960s Batman TV show with this book--and, with the help of Quitely, he achieves his goal admirably.

Not only does the book benefit from a fast-paced plot with plenty of action, but there's a sense of humour here that is often lacking in DC's Batbooks. Whether it's the larger-than-life sound effects that are seamlessly incorporated into Quitely's linework, the whimsical inclusion of a low-level villain who appears to be based on Mr. Toad from Kenneth Grahame's The Wind in the Willows, or the sense of comic timing that's apparent in moments like the one in which Dick and Damian punch Toad off his feet simultaneously, there's a real sense of fun to the book.

In addition to all of the former, this first issue is very accessible--especially considering that it's essentially a continuation of Morrison's existing body of work on the Batman title. The story feels relatively self-contained as it explains everything for any new readers who might not be up to speed with the new status quo of the Batman universe, yet it never seems as though readers are being spoon fed large chunks of exposition. Instead, all the relevant and important details are scattered throughout the issue--dropped into dialogue at natural moments rather than being forced into the book in a heavy-handed manner.

For longtime readers of Morrison's Batman run, there are also quite a few subtle references back to previous stories--such as the similarity between the design of the new Batmobile and Bruce's unfinished prototype that was unveiled by Damian way back in Batman #657, or the introduction into present-day continuity of the Dollotrons and Professor Pyg, who featured in the future-set Batman #666.

Not only does Morrison refer back to his previous Batman stories, but the issue inevitably evokes past collaborations with Quitely, too. More than once, I was reminded of their run on New X-Men, with the identical Dollotrons bearing a resemblance to Emma Frost's Stepford Cuckoos, and the opening shots of Batman and Robin in this issue looking very similar to some of the earliest shots of the mutant team in the first issue of Morrison and Quitely's New X-Men. The resemblance is uncanny in places--all the way down to the new design of the superheroes' sleek black aircraft (with the characters' logo in red as a windshield) and the in-cockpit view of the book's heroes drenched in red light.

Perhaps these similarities are intentional--signifying that Morrison wants to put his own personal stamp on Batman and Robin in the same way that he did the X-Men--or perhaps it's just a natural result of the collaborators repeating a couple of past ideas after having worked together on so many projects.

If Morrison is consciously trying to put his own stamp on these characters, he's doing a good job so far. I like the way that the writer treats Dick and Daiman as embodying different aspects of Bruce's personality: Dick has all of Bruce's discipline and restraint, but tempered by a certain lightness and humanity; Daiman, on the other hand, is a more formal and serious superhero--a terse and tight character who treats crime-fighting as a job rather than a hobby.

Morrison effectively establishes the difference between the old Batman and this new version in a couple of scenes that demonstrate Dick's differing approach to crime-fighting--most memorably tormenting Toad by making him believe that he's in mortal danger when in actual fact he doesn't intend to harm him at all. It's quite far removed from the dark, uncompromising techniques that we often associate with Batman, and promises that Dick will take quite a different approach to Bruce in dealing with his enemies.

Frank Quitely's illustrations work in perfect tandem with Morrison's script to tell the story. His excellent new designs for the book include a new flying Batmobile and slightly modified costumes for Batman and Robin. The storytelling is clear and smooth throughout, with a couple of standout moments. I love the pin-up style splash page in which the heroes try out their new paracapes, and the disturbing closing sequence strikes a perfectly bizarre and horrific tone for Morrison's new villain, Mr. Pyg.

There are also one or two smaller visual touches that help to connect the book to the history of the Batman mythos--such as the old-school cutaway page that show the contents of Batman's old Wayne Foundation Tower headquarters from years ago, or the fact that the Dollotrons are hiding out in the Ghost Train from Alan Moore and Brian Bolland's Killing Joke. All of these touches help to reinforce the idea that this book may deal with new characters in the roles of Batman and Robin but it's very much a continuation of the same Batbooks that we've been reading for years.

Finally, I can't help but mention the clever wordplay of the issue's title, "Domino Effect." It seems to refer not only to the idea of a catalysing sequence of events--and to actual dominoes themselves, which are a significant plot point--but also to the "domino" mask previously sported by Dick Grayson and now adopted by Damian, the transfer of which has had a noticeable effect on the personalities of both characters as they grow into their new roles.

With Batman and Robin #1, Morrison and Quitely aren't reinventing the wheel of superhero comics. However, it doesn't seem as though that was ever the intention. Instead, they're taking the new Batman and Robin and setting out to have as much fun with them as possible--whilst also imbuing their world with a sense of freshness and novelty. It's a testament to this fresh feeling that Morrison even manages to pull off the old "together again for the first time" cliché without it feeling self-satisfied or self-aggrandising. This issue feels like a genuinely new take on these old established heroes, and I can't wait to see where Morrison and Quitely take them next.

Batman and Robin #1

Posted: Sunday, June 7, 2009
By: Charles Webb
5

Grant Morrison Frank Quitely (with Alex Sinclair, colors) DC Comics

The new Batman and Robin hit the streets in their new flying Batmobile and we begin to meet a few of the new villains that Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely are introducing into the Batman mythos.

Comments: After months of middling stories and false starts, fans of the Bat-family finally get back to solid footing with the return of Grant Morrison. Better still, he returns with frequent collaborator Frank Quietly--reuniting the team that ushered in radical reinventions/reinterpretations of comic mainstays the X-men and Superman.

The last few months have dealt with the supposed death of Batman and its repercussions on Gotham. This scenario has elicited introspection about the nature of a hero's death (thanks to Neil Gaiman) and nearly histrionic insistence that a Gotham without Batman is a city in flames (thanks to Tony Daniel). Neither approach had any particular resonance for me.

The former was a flat-footed and on-the-nose analysis of the titular character with trite commentary on the nature of the Dark Knight that did disservice to both the "death" of Batman and Neil Gaiman's otherwise stellar legacy of innovative storytelling.

The latter represented one of my great pet peeves in modern comics writing: Editorially mandated running around by the principal cast until the "real story" took effect. I'm sure everyone involved in the construction of Battle for the Cowl* and its miscellaneous tie-ins felt they had something to say about Batman, his city, his friends, and his foes. Ultimately, however, it ended up feeling scattershot, lacking unity, and (worse yet) any feeling of suspense.

The pro forma question of who would wear the pointy ears and voluminous cape of Batman was there, but frustratingly not there. It had less to do with the stories that were being told since these weren't the "real" writers who would ultimately get to dictate this course of events.

With that recent history firmly dealt with, let's look at the present: Morrison and Quietly have (as expected) generated a brightly-colored pop candy confection that doesn't nourish but nonetheless satisfies.

I have alternately loved and admired Morrison's work on Batman since he took the reigns of the book back in 2005. I must clarify this admiration is because I didn't necessarily think some of the choices he made worked--primarily in Batman: R.I.P.--but because the giddy influx of ideas made me excited for what would come next.

Giddiness. That's what this opening issue of Batman and Robin has in abundance. It appropriately feels like Batman as seen through young eyes--for all that entails. In times past, Robin was the character the reader was asked to identify with. However, Morrison asks us here to step into the shoes of protégé-turned-mentor Dick Grayson as he guides Damian Wayne in his role as the new Robin.

Tellingly, the Robin/Nightwing-turned Batman is airborne and aloft both physically and in terms of story. Quietly has reinterpreted Batman and Robin visually as Morrison has shifted the characters behind the masks. Together the creators have made the dynamic duo agile and extremely kinetic. Gone is the grimness of the character but not the essential danger. The genius detective has a greater part of daredevil added to the mix alongside his vicious little deadly-ninja sidekick.

About Damian: I've noted that we now identify with Batman instead of Robin, and I think this is in part because the role of Robin is now in flux with the son of the Batman wearing the modified costume. Indeed, Damian as a character is in flux, still haughty but lacking much of the bratty excesses of his early appearances. It peeks in around the edges, but he seems humbled by his new role as a protector against the threats that face Gotham.

Not content to reinvent Gotham's heroes, Morrison and Quietly reassess the bizarre costumed evil that infects the city. We see hints of it with Mr. Toad and a suitably unsettling appearance at the end of the issue by new heavy Mr. Pyg. What differentiates Morrison from other writers is his enthusiasm for creating new villains instead of relying on the constant tweaking of old ones.

The issue is a perfect first issue--both as an introduction to new readers as well as for longtime readers eager to see the new direction of the series. If I haven't evangelized enough in the last 700 or so words, let me state plainly that I can't wait to see what Morrison has in store for his readers over the next year.

*And what was Battle for the Cowl if not something relentlessly and ploddingly built instead of told?

Batman and Robin #1

Posted: Sunday, June 7, 2009
By: Karyn Pinter
3.5

Grant Morrison Frank Quitely (with Alex Sinclair, colors) DC Comics

The new Batman and Robin hit the streets in their new flying Batmobile and we begin to meet a few of the new villains that Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely are introducing into the Batman mythos.

If you've been living under a rock and have no clue what's happening in the world of Batman right now, I will give fair warning of spoilers.

I guess we'll all have to suck it up and face the fact that Bruce Wayne isn't coming back--at least for a little while--and someone else is going to have to fill his Bat-shoes. Of course, the one filling them is the one we all knew would--and the only one that could. I can't understand why DC kept beating around the bush for so long. Wasn't it obvious? Like father, like orphaned circus performer taken under wing.

And what about Tim? He's just out and Damian is in? That was the biggest con for me. I liked Tim as Robin. So what, he got stabbed by Jason Todd. Boo-hoo. He's the Boy Wonder, and the Boy Wonder doesn't just leave because he got stabbed by a crazy ex-Boy Wonder.

Things are falling into the right places: Dick is now Batman, and Bruce's son, Damian, is Robin. But Damian is a little shit, and I never liked the kid. His only real contribution so far is to make the Batmobile fly, which now makes it the Mary Sue of all heroic vehicles.

As for the story itself, it's not bad, but there certainly have been better.

As we all know, Grant Morrison is very capable of pulling off a Batman story--but I was expecting a little more from the man who offed Bruce Wayne. The issue seemed a little mild.

It's a first issue, but it's not a first issue; some more action would have been nice. Hopefully there will be less flying around in the Batmobile in subsequent issues in favor of some real dynamic duo fighting.

I did like this new villain, Mr. Pyg, and his creepy dolls. That's the Grant Morrison I know, not afraid to take risks by making a villain wear a pig mask and a bow tie. Goofy, yes, but freakish and terrifying overall.

I do have one concern: I hope Morrison writes Dick Grayson as Dick Grayson being Batman, and not Dick Grayson trying to be Bruce being Batman. Dick has always been the one to inherit the mantle of The Bat, but he should retain some of his Robin/Nightwing identity and not just become a carbon copy of Bruce's Batman.

You can see this "carbon copy" character in the way he is drawn in this issue. In the Batman suit, Dick looks like Batman--the way Batman has always looked. Out of the costume however, Dick looks like Dick Grayson-young, a little plucky, but never a Batman. There's a definite facial change in and out of the costume.

This is like the New Coke scenario--brought to us by the makers of the original but with a new recipe. How long will it last and was it really necessary? DC replacing their original characters has had a poor track record. The original is always better and eventually comes back. Batman and Robincertainly is a must read, good or bad. This is a new dawn for Batman. The change has come, but we can all secretly hope it changes back.

Batman and Robin #1

Posted: Sunday, June 7, 2009
By: Paul Brian McCoy
5

Grant Morrison Frank Quitely (with Alex Sinclair, colors) DC Comics

The new Batman and Robin hit the streets in their new flying Batmobile and we begin to meet a few of the new villains that Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely are introducing into the Batman mythos.

Finally! A Batman story for me.

I am not a fan of Bruce Wayne. I think the character is absurdly sophomoric in both his motivations and his methodology, and any notion that reader identification with the character because he has no powers and therefore could be an ideal that we all could achieve with the proper training and education is just absurd.

Bruce Wayne epitomizes the adolescent power fantasy that prompts enraptured gushing by the worst of stereotypical fanboys. Calling him the "World's Greatest Detective" (when clearly he's only ever as good a detective as his writers are at constructing mysteries) is the equivalent of walking around flexing your fists and saying "Snikt" whenever someone bugs you, or making humming noises and pretending to do light saber routines.

The idea that someone with the financial resources of Bruce Wayne, and who thinks that dressing up like a bat and going out to punch people in the face is how to stop crime is just silly. It always has been. The only rationalization for it is if the character is insane.

Really. Why fight poverty and hunger with your inherited millions when you can punch a "bad guy" and look all cool before going out with models and starlets, but not enjoying it?

Girls are icky, after all.

Bruce Wayne has always been a spoiled, emotionally-retarded, pseudo-psychopath and he always will be. I say "pseudo" there, because he's a gutless marketing tool that DC won't even allow the moral complexity of Wolverine (what there is of it). The mere fact that he's let the Joker live all these years puts the blood of every one of the "Clown Prince of Crime's" murder victims' on his hands. Simple as that. And don't quote me moralistic crap about "lowering" oneself to the level of the enemy. Save it for the cartoons.

The only times I've enjoyed stories about Bruce Wayne are when he's clearly bugshit crazy and/or wracked with guilt for not doing enough.

I wish he was actually dead and wasn't coming back.

So why the perfect score for this Batman comic?

I love the idea of Dick Grayson assuming the mantle of Batman. He's a character that is much more relatable and worthy of admiration. Don't forget, he also saw his parents murdered in front of his eyes, but . . . look at that . . . he didn't go insane or turn into an asshole!

Dick Grayson has become a leader in the community without intimidation tactics. He actually has friends, romantic relationships, and a social life that isn't part of his "cover." When Dick makes a moral argument not to kill, there's actually some integrity involved rather than just corporate appeals to adolescent moral constructs.

Dick Grayson is the kind of character who deserves the adoration of fans.

Pairing him up with Damian as Robin is a stroke of genius. In one fell swoop, Morrison has created a dynamic between the duo that couldn't be found with any other pairing. The idea that Batman is the nice guy without personality problems and Robin is borderline psychotic takes the traditional motif of the sidekick being introduced to help mellow out and humanize the protagonist and then immediately subverts it--making it fresh and interesting. This is a Robin who won't hesitate to kill if he thinks its necessary, and that fact creates complexity. It creates interest.

I've never really wanted to read about the Batman and Robin team. Instead, I just followed Morrison and Quitely (creators whose work I have liked) over to this title when they took it on. Now I want to read about these characters.

Morrison captures both distinct personalities effortlessly and he has created in this first issue a work that doesn't require any outside reading to enjoy. Even if you didn't know that Bruce Wayne was "dead," Morrison works all the exposition and introductions that a reader needs right into the dialogue in a way that is extremely natural and organic.

When it comes to Batman's Rogues Gallery, I've never been much of a Joker fan either. Oh, I love the idea of the Joker, but he's never been a serious threat, and when he is written as a truly dangerous character, there's never any serious resolution. He's as much an industry as the Bat is, really.

I enjoyed what Morrison tried to do with him during his run on Batman. Yet, just as with Bruce Wayne, there's really just nothing interesting that can be done with the Joke within DC's main continuity.

However, Morrison's new villain for this piece, Pyg, is what the Joker should be: Genuinely disturbing and chillingly insane.

Pyg is particularly unnerving thanks to his gelded group of "henchmen." Burning blank-expressioned masks onto men's faces and then using medical tools to remove their genitals before dressing them like little girls and making them your brainwashed/damaged slaves is an area that I dare the Joker to step into.

Odds are, even the Joker would be creeped out by Pyg.

So we've got a brilliant passing of the torch from walking fanboy cliche Bruce Wayne to complex and mature Dick Grayson, a Robin who deliciously declares that "Crime is doomed," and a mysterious threat in the form of a nightmarish villain who literally makes my sphincter tighten just thinking about him. If it were illustrated with crayons and stick people, I'd probably still give it at least four bullets. Luckily, Frank Quitely is back in town, and quite frankly his work is perfection.

The rougher textures of his inking establish a distinct change in tone from his recent work on All-Star Superman--though his layouts and orchestration of action from panel to panel maintain that former level of quality. Working the sound effects into the art organically is a great touch, which, as has been said in other places around the Web, emphasizes the singular strengths of comics as a medium. Quitely's work can't be lifted for storyboards without losing the energy and innovation at its heart.

The level of detail in every panel is just breathtaking--whether it's the engine visible through the grill of Mr. Toad's car, the textured soles and laces of Robin's boots, the way Batman's costume actually looks like cloth as he dives from the hovering Batmobile, or the horrifyingly fleshy emptiness of the masks of Pyg's henchmen. Every page of this book is as good as it can be. I have absolutely no complaints.

Together, Morrison and Quitely have done what I thought was impossible. They've created a Batman comic for me, the guy who hates Batman comics. Batman and Robin #1 gets my highest recommendation.

Batman and Robin #1

Posted: Sunday, June 7, 2009
By: Thom Young
4.5

Grant Morrison Frank Quitely (with Alex Sinclair, colors) DC Comics

The new Batman and Robin hit the streets in their new flying Batmobile and we begin to meet a few of the new villains that Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely are introducing into the Batman mythos.

First of all, for all of those readers who seem to believe that Dick Grayson is "permanently" taking over the role of Batman--in the same way that Wally West "permanently" took over as The Flash, Kyle Rayner "permanently" took over as Green Lantern, and Connor Hawke "permanently" took over as Green Arrow--let me assure you that you haven't been paying attention.

Bruce Wayne isn't "dead" in the way that Barry Allen, Hal Jordan, and Oliver Queen were dead. It was revealed at the end of Final Crisis that Darkseid's Omega Beams must have transported Bruce Wayne back in time to Europe's Upper Paleolithic period. After all, Darkseid's Omega Beams have had that effect on people before--such as The Forever People and Sonny Sumo.

Additionally, DC and Morrison have acknowledged that Bruce Wayne will be returning as Batman in about a year or so. It will undoubtedly be one of the "summer events" for DC in 2010. In the meantime, we are being given The All-New Batman and The All-New Robin, the Boy Wonder--and it's a great team filled with interesting possibilities.

As everyone knows by now (because you've at least read the reviews above mine), The All-New Batman is none other than Dick Grayson, the original Robin. I didn't bother to read Battle for the Cowl, but I knew that Grayson had to be the one to emerge as the new Batman.

When I was a kid, I recall reading reprints of stories that were collectively known as "Alfred's Tales of the Future"--originally published in Batman #131, 135, 145, 154, 159, and 163 (DC should collect these in a trade paperback edition). While those stories were Alfred's "imaginary tales" in which he envisioned Dick Grayson as Batman II and "Bruce Wayne, Jr." as Robin II, they cemented in my young mind the idea that Dick Grayson would one day become Batman when Bruce either retired or died.

Any other character becoming the second Batman (if only for a year) would not be tolerable (I didn't bother to read Batman comics in the 1990s when Bane broke Bruce Wayne's back and Azrael briefly became the new Batman, and I've never had any desire to seek out those issues since then).

Anyway, Grant Morrison is giving us a sort of throwback to "Alfred's Tales of the Future"--but with Damian al Ghul (supposedly sired by Bruce Wayne) filling in as Bruce Wayne, Jr. and Talia al Ghul thus filling in as Kathy "Batwoman" Kane. After all, we have an All-New Kathy "Batwoman" Kane in the DC Universe (or "Kate 'Batwoman' Kane," as they now seem to be calling the new version), and it doesn't seem likely that the new Batwoman and Bruce will be making babies together at any time in the future.

As Paul mentioned in his review, the new Dynamic Duo of Dick Grayson and Damian is an interesting twist on the traditional view of Batman and Robin--with a lighter, devil-may-care Batman and a darker, grim-and-determined Robin. Of course, this dynamic has been touched upon before in a few "imaginary stories" in DC's past, but I believe this is the first time we've seen it in "regular continuity." I'm interested to see how Morrison plays it out--and what changes will be made in Damian's character in the next year as a result of Dick Grayson being the mentor whom Damian doesn't want.

I also want to address a point that Karyn made in her review--not only is Dick Grayson clearly not just going to be playing the part of Bruce-as-Batman, he also looks nothing like the traditional depiction of Bruce as Batman. Dick Grayson's Batman is leaner than Bruce's. He has the body of a circus trapeze artist or gymnast rather than that of a weightlifter or bodybuilder--though Bruce Wayne should never actually look as muscle-bound as so many artists have made him over the years.

I recall Marshall Rogers once commenting in an interview in the 1970s that he drew Batman as having a gymnast's body because a character who swings on Bat-ropes, runs around on rooftops, and performs all sorts of acrobatic stunts would not have the bulky muscles that many artists have given Bruce Wayne over the years--and Marshall Rogers was right!

However, Frank Quitely seems particularly aware of making certain that Dick Grayson doesn't look like Bruce Wayne when he's in the Batman costume--and it will be interesting about a year from now if Quitely is around for the arc in which Bruce Wayne returns and there should happen to be a panel in which the two Batmen are standing side-by-side so that we can see how their physical appearance is contrasted.

Anyway, in roughly chronological order, here are the things I really enjoyed about this issue (in addition to Morrison's writing and Quitely's illustrations, of course):
Batman learns all he needs to know from Mr. Toad even though the villain doesn't answer his questions--because Mr. Toad used words that former circus performer Dick Grayson instantly recognized as European circus slang.

For the record, Toad used the words mingers, jossers, nanti, and dinari in this issue (the last two while being questioned by Batman). In order, those words are:

A British slang term for ugly people (though I don't know why Toad is calling the Gotham City cops ugly);

A British slang term for foolish people, or a British circus slang term for anyone who is not in the circus;

An old slang term in the British gay community for nothing; and

A European circus slang term for money--undoubtedly derived from denarii (with an "e" and double "ii" at the end), which are Roman silver coins that were widespread in Europe after 211 BCE).

It's kind of odd that Mr. Toad would use the British gay slang word for nothing (nanti) but not use the British gay slang term for money (hambag). Perhaps European circus slang picked up the one word from British gay slang but not the other.

In any event, I enjoyed seeing Dick Grayson learn all he needed to know about Toad after hearing his slang--proving that Dick Grayson has indeed learned from "the World's Greatest Detective" (sorry, Paul, but I have always liked that notion--being the Batman fanboy that I was and still am to some extent).

The All-New Batmobile--well, I sort of like it anyway.

Back in Morrison's first issue of Batman (#655), Bruce Wayne was designing a new Batmobile that he wouldn't let Tim Drake see. Andy Kubert was the illustrator teamed with Morrison at the time, and I was looking forward to seeing Kubert's design for a new Batmobile. Then Kubert suddenly left the series (for a reason that I don't believe was ever revealed) and it was eventually left to Tony Daniel to design the new Batmobile--which was unveiled two years later (in Batman #676) to be nothing more than either an Acura or a Bugatti concept car that Bruce Wayne modified into a Batmobile. It was hardly something that Bruce had to build himself from the chasis up.

Of course, the Batmobile has often been modeled after a futuritistic-looking concept car designed by an actual automobile company (the 1960s TV series Batmobile is a Lincoln Futura), but I was disappointed in Daniel's use of rather ordinary-looking "concept cars" even if they are designs from Acura and Bugatti.

However, Quitely gives us a radically different Batmobile--one that hovers (apparently the hover jets are located in the four "arms" that can extend outward from the car's body), but which otherwise looks sort of like a really large AMC Pacer on a dune buggy chasis.

As Dave pointed out in his review, this new Batmobile may actually be a reference back to the one that Andy Kubert was designing and that was partially revealed in Batman #657--which makes Tony Daniel's depiction of the Acura-Bugatti Batmobile all the more perplexing.

However, Mr. Toad actually has the cooler-looking car--an apparent variation on the 1938 Phantom Corsair concept car that was referred to as "the flying wombat."

Quitely's integration of sound effects into the design of his illustrations in a way that reminds me of what Walt Simonson did in the 1974/1974 Manhunter series that he did with Archie Goodwin and that Marshall Rogers did in his 1977/1978 Batman work with Steve Englehart--but Quitely's is even more "organic" in the way the sound effects are integrated into the design.

The return of the Wayne Foundation Tower that has a palatial penthouse home on its roof and a secondary Batcave beneath its basement levels (though not accurately drawn in Quitely's cut-away illustration in this issue, which shows that the Batcave is the building's basement).

In 1969, Dick Grayson left Wayne Manor for Hudson University, so Bruce and Alfred put the mansion and the Batcave under wraps and moved their base of operations to the Wayne Foundation building. In this latest issue, Dick and Alfred do the same thing--place the mansion and cave under wraps and move downtown to the Wayne Foundation penthouse and secondary cave. The building has been renovated since Neal Adams and Irv Novick first drew it 40 years ago, but seeing it come back into use is a nice touch.

Damian's dialog is something that Morrison is paying close attention to. I've often commented that Morrison has a better ear for dialog than do most writers working on DC's mainstream superhero titles, and he proves it again here.

When Alfred descends from the penthouse with a "light supper" of sandwiches for Dick and Damian who are working in the Batcave, Damian first instructs the butler to "leave it down by my toolkit, Pennyworth." However, a second word balloon then has Damian add "Thank you."

The "thank you" was an afterthought as Damian is still getting used to having to be polite to "the servant"--indicating with that one panel and two-word-balloon sequence that Damian is a child who feels a sense of entitlement but who is trying to remember to think of "the little people" whom he otherwise believes are beneath him.

Then, in the next panel (on the next page), Alfred shows an interest in what Damian is working on (the gyroscopic array of the new Batmobile), and Damian responds by stating that he promised he'd finish what Bruce Wayne had started working on. However, he then catches himself responding almost familiarly to "the servant" (symbolized by a word balloon containing just an ellipsis) and so he quickly adds, "That will be all, Pennyworth."

Notice Damian's use of the surname when addressing Alfred; it indicates that unlike Bruce, Dick, and Tim Drake before him, Damian does not view Alfred as "part of the family," and he wants to be certain that the butler knows his place. It's a somewhat subtle thing that most superhero comic book writers don't consider--though a handful do, and Morrison is one of those few (and probably the only one currently being employed by DC).

Not counting Commissioner Gordon or the SWAT team on the roof who take Mr. Toad into custody after he's dropped off by Batman, all of the Gotham City police officers shown in this issue (all four of them) are overweight. In fact, the SWAT team officers might also be fat, but their clothes and our viewing angle of them makes it difficult to tell for certain.

Even though it may not be realistic, I like this idea of Gotham having a lot of fat cops who have grown flabby as they've relied on Batman and his Family to do their jobs. Of course, there really are overweight police officers in cities and towns throughout the United States, but it just seemed that Quitely (and Morrison?) was making a point to show a disproportionate number of Gotham's Finest are carrying around several extra pounds.

Family portraits as a motif in this issue. When Dick and Alfred are putting the mansion under wraps, Dick looks at a framed photograph of himself, Bruce, Alfred, and Ace (the Bat-Hound) in happier times when Dick was Damian's age. Later, in the apartment of the Toad's henchman, Niko, Mr. Pyg shows the man the framed photograph of his own family--Niko, Niko's wife (apparently), and their daughter (Sasha).

It's sublte touches like this motif that I really appreciate, and it actually ties into the motif that has been running through Morrison's run on Batman--going back the first arc, "Batman and Son" in issues #655-58.

Anyway, those are a few of the bits that made me appreciate this issue a great deal. The only reason I'm not giving it a full five-bullet rating is that I didn't see any connotative meanings to these bits, but I trust added dimensions and nuances will be forthcoming.

In the meantime, this first issue is nothing less than an extremely well-written and well-illustrated Batman story that is a lot of fun to breeze through.

Before ending this review I want to add that I'd be surprised if the Knight and Squire hadn't heard of Mr. Toad (even though he wasn't in the International Club of Heroes' database). After all, Mr. Toad's slang was almost all British.

Finally, I'm probably wrong, but I thought a clue to Mr. Pyg's identity might be the fact that we don't see Niko's brother, Lev (Toad's other henchman), in the final scene once Niko regains consciousness. Mr. Pyg is wearing a shirt that looks identical to the one that Lev was wearing when the Dollotrons brought him to Niko's door (though it's just a typical white button-down shirt).

Obviously, Pyg has a full head of hair while Lev is a balding male who shaves what little hair he has on his head (based on the hair stubble that is depicted). However, Pyg could easily put on a toupee when he puts on his pig mask.

I'm probably wrong, though--as I so often was in trying to figure out things in Morrison's run on Batman, which still doesn't hold together for me--but I think it would be an interesting twist to have a Batman villain who disguises himself as one of his own followers and learns what his henchmen think of him (sort of like what Shakepeare had the King do in Act IV, scene i of The Life of King Henry the Fifth--but, of course, with Pyg not being as magnanimous as Henry V.

Batman and Robin #1

By Jim Comicsand.blogspot.com
June 3, 2009
Overall Grade A+

A glorious beginning to what will hopefully be a new era for Batman.

Writer Grant Morrison Art Frank Quietly Colors Alex Sinclair

WOW. What a great comic book. You know when I said it looked like Irredeemable had won best new series of 2009 already, well if you count this as a new series this book started off with a bang and could be the series of 2009.

I have campaigned for Dick Grayson to be Batman for years. Not because I don’t like Bruce as Batman, but because the only way to really being in some life to a character is to let someone else be the character. A flying Batmobile, sky diving from a hovering Batmobile, moving the operations back into the city, a Robin more cocksure of himself, a Batman whose has suffered lose but also was raised with love; can’t be Bruce and Tim, but it can be Dick and Damian.

I enjoyed this book like I have not enjoyed a Batman book in forever and very few comics are hitting this mark. We jump right into Batman and Robin going after the bad guys and a mystery is immediately presented to them as the payoff for the crime was being made in dominoes.

We then cut and see the interplay between Alfred, Dick and Damian and the new dynamic is just great. Dick is the cool and confident one trying to tame the brash and unbridled Damian. Alfred is appreciated by Dick, where he was barely acknowledged by Bruce. Alfred is a servant to Damian where he was a friend and semi-father figure to Dick and Tim.

Next we see a new group of villains being introduced and they are appropriately enough the “Circus of the Strange”. An odd and gruesome bunch and effectively creepy and nasty enough to be a real threat. How appropriate for Dick to fight a circus his first time out as Batman.

The art, ah the art is Frank Quietly and Alex Sinclair on colors and again – WOW. From the double page spread of a flying Batmobile, to the full page spread of Dick and Damian jumping from the hovering Batmobile into the Bat signal, to a car that splashes in the water that forms the sound effect, to burning a doll mask onto a person and to quiet moments between the boys and Alfred, Quietly looks beautiful. The smugness of Damian and the quiet thoughtfulness of Dick come through via body language and expression. I wish Frank was doing the book all the time, but an arc here and there is fine by me. Art and color blend perfectly on each page.

This book has me excited for the Bat universe like I have not been since Denny O’Neil and Neal Adams reshaped the Bat. Back in the sixties due to the success of the Batman TV show Batman and Robin were turned into a campy echo of that show. Denny and Neal turned Batman back into a detective and a creature of the night. Those stories have essentially set the tone for what Batman has been for the last 30 plus years. Soft reboots aside no one has really done anything new with Batman since (maybe Batman Year One by Miller, but that was not a radical change). Now with Bruce out of the way it all feels new again and yet it is still Batman and Robin.

I hope DC is smart enough to realize that leaving Dick as Batman for a year will not be enough. When Bruce comes back (and they should make it longer then a year) maybe he will take a back seat and be more of a behind the scenes guy and let his adopted and real son take over the family business like it has always been predicted they would. The sixties were full of stories of Bruce’s son being Robin and Dick being Batman, some things are meant to be.

Also how are going to keep them down on the farm after they have seen Paris, France. I believe the actual expression (slightly different) was talking about WWI, but the same applies here. When Batman Prodigal son was being done it was just Nightwing in the Bat costume, because Bruce was alive and coming back, just recovering. Now it is Dick being Batman, not waiting for Bruce to come back, it is Dick making Batman into his own creature. So once that conversion is complete, how do you make Dick go back to being Nightwing again? I say, you don’t and Bruce takes a different role. Heck we can always do books like Matt Wagner’s brilliant work a few years ago about Bruce’s early years.

Back to this book, even if you were not fond of Morrison run before, do not miss this book. It promises to be a wonderful tale of two people thrown together by circumstances becoming a team and becoming the legends, while making their own.

Batman and Robin #1

By Rokk Krinn Comicbookrevolution.com
June 4, 2009

Creative Team Writer: Grant Morrison Artist: Frank Quitely

Art Rating: 9 Night Girls out of 10
Story Rating: 8 Night Girls out of 10
Overall Rating: 8.5 Night Girls out of 10

I have been summarily unimpressed with what DC has done with the Batman family. The only Batman title that I will be collecting until Bruce's return will be Batman and Robin. And the reason for that is because I enjoy the creative team of Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely. Even though I am not enamored with Dick and Damien assuming the mantles of Batman and Robin I still have a feeling that this title is going to be a wild read. If nothing else, Morrison is not going to deliver a boring story. Let's go ahead and hit this review for Batman and Robin #1.

Synopsis: We begin with the Mr. Toad and two of his flunkies (one of them named Lev) being chased through Gotham by Gotham Police cars and helicopters. The villains take out one of the cop cars. Mr. Toad gloats that the Gotham Police cannot stop them. That it would take the Batman to stop them. And the Batman is dead.

Suddenly, one of Mr. Toad's thugs looks up into the sky and stammers "No, no, no, no." We see a flying Batmobile appear on the scene and flying right behind Mr. Toad's car. We cut to inside the Batmobile with Damien telling Dick that he knew it would work. That Damien took Bruce's blueprints and got the Batmobile to fly. Dick apologizes for ever doubting Damien.

Dick then fires a rocket at Mr. Toad's car. Mr. Toad's car spins out of control. Damien reminds Dick to never use their real names while in the field. Damien says that those were Dick's words. Dick says that he is glad that Damien has been paying attention. Dick comments that when he was Robin that he would have killed for a flying Batmobile.

Mr. Toad's out of control car is about to crash head on into a bus. The Batmobile swoops down and uses a magnet or something to grab a hold of Mr. Toad's car and lift Mr. Toad's car into the air. The Batmobile carries Mr. Toad's car over the river and then drops Mr. Toad's car into the water.

We cut to Mr. Toad crawling out of the water and onto the docks. Mr. Toad comments that he is too slippery for anyone to catch him. Suddenly, we see Dick and Damien standing in front of Mr. Toad. Dick and Damien punch Mr. Toad at the same time and take him out.

Mr. Toad drops his briefcase and it flies open. The briefcase is full of dominoes. Dick wonders what kind of drug dealer gets paid in dominoes. Dick says that the cops can handle Mr. Toad's two thugs. Dick tells Damien that they are taking Mr. Toad to the Batmobile.

We shift to Mr. Toad regaining consciousness. Mr. Toad is blindfolded. Dick holds Mr. Toad out of the Batmobile by Mr. Toad's ankle. Dick tells Mr. Toad that he is 300 feet above the road and that Mr. Toad is a slippery fellow and that Dick is starting to lose his grip on Mr. Toad's ankle. Dick asks Mr. Toad why he is in Gotham City. Mr. Toad replies that his doctors told him that the Gotham air would be good for his complexion. Mr. Toad then says "I'm telling you nanti! Where's my dinari?"

Dick replies "All I need to know." Dick then let's go of Mr. Toad's ankle. We pan back and see that Mr. Toad was only a couple of feet off the ground. Mr. Toad pulls off his blindfold. The Batmobile flies away. Toad screams "You wait 'til Pyg comes! You'll all wish you'd never been born!"

We slide over to the Batcave where Dick and Alfred have completely shut down the Batcave and covered up all the various computers, equipment and memorabilia. Alfred asks Dick if he is having second thoughts.

Dick replies that he always knew that this is what he would do if something happened to Bruce. Dick says that he just did not want to face it. That this was Dick's worst nightmare as a kid. That as long as he was Nightwing he could pretend that he would never have to take over as Batman. That Bruce would always be here.

Dick then asks Alfred what he is getting himself into with Damien as Robin. Alfred answers that Damien can certainly be difficult, but that Damien is his father's son. That beneath all of Damien's defensive bluster is Bruce's courage, determination and desire to do what is right. Alfred says that if anyone can bring out the best in Damien that it would be Dick.

Dick and Alfred drive away from Wayne Manor. Dick stares at the gravestone of Thomas and Martha Wayne as they leave the grounds of Wayne Manor. Alfred says that Bruce was always so proud of Dick. And that Bruce would be especially proud of Dick right now.

We cut to Dick and Damien in a modified Batcave facility underneath Wayne Tower in downtown Gotham. Alfred enters the underground facility with food for the boys. Damien is busy working on the Batmobile. Damien curtly tells Alfred to put the food by his tool kit. Damien then thanks Alfred.

Alfred comments on how impressive Damien's work on the Batmobile has been. Alfred says that the gyroscopic array was a source of endless frustration for Damien's father. Damien responds that he promised to finish what Bruce started. Damien then says "That will be all, Pennyworth."

Alfred then serves Dick his food. Dick compliments Alfred on his excellent cooking. Dick then says that Mr. Toad does not show up in any databases that the JLA, Titans or International Club of Heroes have. Dick says that he knows European circus slang when he hears it and Toad was definitely speaking it.

Alfred comments that Dick has now kicked off in earnest his first week as Batman. Dick responds that he cannot shake the feeling that he is wearing a shroud. Damien walks over and tells Dick that if Dick is not up for it then to stand aside and let Damien be Batman. Damien says that he was bred for the job. Damien says that he was trained by the League of Assassins. Damien says that he could easily continue his father's work on his own.

Dick replies "Maybe one day. But not today." Dick tells Damien to put on his mask and get into the Batmobile. They then race off into the streets of Gotham city.

We cut to Toad in prison. Toad screams that he has friends and that the Police won't be able to keep him in jail. Toad yells that Gotham will soon belong to "us."

We cut back to Dick and Damien flying through Gotham in the Batmobile. Damien tells Dick that Dick can have his respect when Dick earns it. Damien reminds Dick that he is not Damien's father. Dick tells Damien to lose the attitude and that Dick can still offer the position as Robin to Tim Drake.

Dick tells the Batmobile to hover. Dick asks Damien if he is ready to test the paracapes. Dick says that it is time for Batman and Robin. That they are back together again for the first time.

We slide to Commissioner Gordon and a couple of cops on the roof of the police headquarters. Gordon has turned on the batsignal. One of the cops says that Batman has not been seen nor has Batman answered the batsignal for months. Gordon replies that it is still worth a try to turn on the batsignal and see if Batman responds.

We then see Dick and Damien gliding through the sky where the batsignal is located. We cut to outside the police headquarters. A car screeches up to the headquarters and a man made of fire tumbles out of the car. The man then attacks a couple of cops.

We cut to the apartment where Niko, one of Mr. Toad's thugs from the beginning of this issue, is frantically packing his luggage. Niko tells his daughter to get ready to leave. Niko says that he just escaped from the Batman and that is something you do not do twice.

There is a knock on the door and Niko opens it. An unconscious Lev, the other thug from the beginning of the issue, falls through the doorway. Pyg and a bunch of his thugs who look like deformed dolls enter the room. They knock Niko out.

Niko wakes up and finds himself tied to a table. Pyg is standing there wearing a pig mask over his face. Pyg says that Niko should never have betrayed him. Pyg then says that he is going to give Niko a new face. The doll-like thugs place a mask like theirs over Niko's face. The mask burns itself onto Niko's face.

Pyg says that there is always pain when ugliness is burned away. But that pain is the beginning of perfection. Pyg says that Niko has been a bad man, but that Pyg will not make Niko perfect. The doll-like thugs hand Pyg a tray of surgical tools.

Pyg says that Niko's daughter will be next. And that Niko will help Pyg with her. And that when Pyg is done that both Niko and his daughter will be lovely dolls together. Pyg says that he will make Niko's daughter perfect. Pyg says that he is here to make everything perfect. Niko's daughter screams. End of issue.

Comments

The Good: Batman and Robin #1 was quite an enjoyable read. Morrison does a fine job building off the themes that he was playing with in "Batman RIP" concerning Batman's wacky Silver Age stories from the late 1950's and 1960's. However, Morrison does so in a much less meta-fictional manner. Instead, in Batman and Robin #1, Morrison simply takes some of the feel and look of the Silver Age Batman and subtly meshes into the post-Battle for the Cowl world of Batman.

Morrison takes some of the Silver Age themes of the Batman mythos and incorporates them into a story that has a modern sensibility. It is not nearly to the level of what Morrison did with All Star Superman. Instead, it is just enough to give the post-Battle for the Cowl world of Batman a distinctive flair. And that is important as it emphasizes the absence of Bruce and allows for not quite such a grim and dark take on Batman's world.

Morrison wastes no time injecting the Silver Age feel into Batman and Robin by debuting a flying Batmobile. That was brilliant and put a smile on my face. This opening scene serves notice on the reader that Morrison is going to deliver a version of Batman that is stylistically opposite of the post-Frank Miller Batman that we have gotten since 1986. The outrageously styled flying Batmobile is also a stark contrast with the more "realistic" urban assault vehicle that Batman employs in the past two Batman movies.

Morrison knows that part of what made the Silver Age Batman so entertaining were Batman's wild and outrageous gadgets and equipment that sometimes bordered on ludicrousness. Morrison also unveils the paracapes that allow Batman and Robin to fly through the air in stylish fashion.

Morrison also makes a concerted effort to change the setting for Batman in the Post-Battle for the Cowl world. Gone is Wayne Manor and the Batcave. The new Batman and Robin call Wayne Tower in downtown Gotham their home. And the new Batman and Robin utilize the secret base underneath the tower as their "Batcave." It is interesting to note that this new headquarters for Batman looks quite reminiscent to the underground facility that Batman uses in the latest Batman movie, The Dark Knight.

The new headquarters for Dick and Damien help to further carve out their own identity as Batman and Robin independent of Bruce. By changing the setting of the Batman world, Morrison is able to give Dick and Damien their own independence from the long shadow of Bruce Wayne that is ever present in Wayne Manor and the Batcave.

What was particularly surprising and enjoyable about Batman and Robin #1 was that it was rather new reader friendly. Morrison made an effort to make this issue relatively accessible for new readers. It is not necessary at all for the reader to have read Battle for the Cowl. Morrison nicely incorporates some back-story on Damien and Dick in a succinct manner that does not interrupt the flow of the story. This brings newer readers up to speed with a minimum of effort and allows Morrison to waste no time in kicking off this debut story arc.

Batman and Robin #1 was well paced. Morrison massages the flow of the story wonderfully. The issue starts off with a rousing chase scene. Morrison then slows down the story with more dialogue heavy scenes that flesh out the characters and the initial story arc. Morrison then cranks up the intensity in order to deliver a good hook ending.

Morrison also delivers a nicely plotted read. Batman and Robin #1 is a tightly crafted story as Morrison has a clear destination in mind with this story. Morrison remains focused throughout this issue and lays the foundation for what should be a detailed story that is going to progress with a purpose. There is plenty of substance to the story in this issue without it becoming obtuse or too dense.

Morrison crafts some fine dialogue. All the characters have good external voices. The character work is particularly impressive. Morrison does a fine job with both Dick and Damien. Morrison nicely distinguishes the two "brothers."

Morrison has flipped the traditional Batman and Robin roles as Batman is now the lighter and more positive character and Robin is the darker, more intense and focused character. And just like Dick brought balance and light to Bruce, Dick will now have to do the same with Bruce's son.

Morrison takes effort to show the differences between Dick and Bruce. And I appreciate this effort. I am glad that Morrison is allowing Dick to retain his established personality rather than morphing Dick into a Bruce Wayne clone.

Dick clearly brings his own style to being Batman. And that is how it should be. Morrison also makes a point in this issue to emphasize Dick's circus background. And that is important since Dick's circus background is a unique aspect of his character that separates Dick from Bruce, Tim and Damien.

Morrison does a nice job with how he has Dick accept his new role as the Batman. It was important to stress that it was not a matter of not wanting to be the Batman, but more a matter of not wanting to think about it. That life was easier when Dick was Nightwing and he could just act like Bruce would always be around. This is the typical state of denial that most children experience once they become truly independent adults.

This is the moment where Morrison plays with the theme of the father/son relationship. A son will always want to believe his father will always be around. A son never wants to think about the reality that one day he will have to bury his father. And the fact is that some sons do have to eventually step into their fathers' shoes. Dick always knew that he would be Batman one day. That Bruce would not live forever. But, it was something that Dick simply did not want to think about.

On the flip side, Morrison takes great effort to show how similar Damien is to Bruce. Damien's focus, drive, intensity and curt dialogue are all reminiscent of Bruce. Morrison seems to be the only writer who understands Damien's character. We do not get the shallow bratty punk that Daniel gave us in Battle for the Cowl. Yes, Morrison has Damien act a bit bratty at moments, but that is given considering his upbringing and his age.

The fact is that Damien is the son of Talia and Bruce. And Damien was trained by the League of Assassins. Someone with that pedigree and training would most certainly have an inflated view of themselves and an incredibly large ego. So, while Morrison does have Damien act like a brat at moments; Morrison also pays equal time to Damien's positive traits like his amazing focus, incredible intelligence and his impressive technical skills.

The scene where Alfred serves Damien his dinner while Damien is hard at work on the Batmobile really hammers home the similarities between Damien and Bruce. Damien acts just like a young Bruce Wayne as Damien is completely focused on the task at hand and simply directs Alfred to put his dinner by the toolbox. That is in contrast with how Dick yammers on about how good the food is. Still, Morrison also makes sure that Damien does not come across as a complete jerk. Damien does thank Alfred for the food. Even if it is in a cursory manner like Bruce used to do.

It was a wise move by Morrison to use Alfred to point out to the reader the various similarities between Damien and Bruce as well as the positive aspects of Damien's character. This was a smart way to try to get the reader to warm up a bit to Damien's character. Alfred is a beloved character and if he can find the positive aspects of Damien then hopefully the reader will be more likely to do so as well. This is a good way to sell a new character that has been having trouble gaining traction with many readers. Myself included.

I particularly enjoyed the cool public unveiling of the new Batman and Robin as they paracaped their way through the batsignal in the sky. It had a nice dramatic effect without being too over the top. That was a fine way to kick off the careers of the new Batman and Robin.

Morrison presents the reader with two good villains in this issue with Mr. Toad and Pyg. Mr. Toad is a classic Silver Age styled villain. Old school Batman villains always had a funky gimmick and Mr. Toad certainly has that going for him. And I enjoyed the cute nod to the old defunct Mr. Toad's Wild Ride at Disney World with Mr. Toad's wild car chase scene in the beginning of the issue.

Morrison nicely contrasts Mr. Toad with a much more modern styled villain in Pyg. Pyg is incredibly creepy. Pyg's ghoulish doll-like thugs further his eerie persona. The entire circus of the grotesque as the theme for the villains is a nice choice. And it builds off the Theater of the Grotesque theme of the villains from "Batman RIP."

At the end of Batman and Robin #1 Morrison gives us a teaser page with four panels of events to come later this year on Batman and Robin. In one panel we see Damien turning his back on Dick. In the second panel we see the new Red Hood. In the third panel we see Dick and Batwoman fighting next to what appears to be a Lazarus Pit with Batman's body rising out of it. In the fourth panel we see Dr. Hurt holding a set of keys to Wayne Manor.

We all knew that at some point there would be the inevitable moment of conflict between Dick and Damien. We are also going to be getting a new Red Hood. I remain cautiously optimistic with this plotline. I hope that the new Red Hood is a character that we already know. The scene with Dick and Batwoman in what appears to be a Lazarus pit is interesting.

That panel that interested me the most is the one with Dr. Hurt holding the keys to Wayne Manor. I am glad to see that Dr. Hurt will be making an appearance at some point. Morrison simply left way to many plotlines unresolved with the ending of "Batman RIP." Therefore, I am thrilled that Morrison is planning on addressing the various dangling plotlines from "Batman RIP."

I loved the look of Batman and Robin #1. Frank Quitely did a masterful job with the artwork. The layout for this issue was fantastic and Quitely manages to bring Morrison's story to life in a fine fashion. Quitely is able to blend plenty of Silver Age styling cues into the modern era of Batman. The cutaway shot of Wayne Tower and the secret underground base was a neat old school method that you do not see that much of in modern comic books. The amount of detail that Quitely delivers is impressive. I love how Quitely handles little things like Damien's body language in order to convey his stand-offish and haughty personality.

The Bad: I have no complaints with this issue.

Overall: Batman and Robin #1 was a fun read. This issue immediately hooked me on this new title and I am looking forward to the next issue.
I would certainly recommend this issue to Batman fans. And do not be scared off from Batman and Robin because of the fact that Morrison is writing it. This is not Final Crisis or "Batman RIP." Batman and Robin #1 is a straightforward read that is actually quite linear. For a Morrison penned issue, Batman and Robin #1 is easy to digest.