Batman and Robin are back together! Bruce and Damian Wayne are living under the same roof and doing their best to act like a fairly normal father and son. But as the animal villains of Gotham revolt, the Dynamic Duo face a mysterious new threat. Batman and Robin #1 is written by Joshua Williamson, drawn and colored by Simone Di Meo and lettered by Steve Wands.
Itâs all come down to this. The countdown to the bombs in the members of Joker Inc. has started. What can the heroes of Batman Incorporated do to stop them? Who will live? Who will die? Who will break the One Rule in this series finale? Batman Incorporated #12 is written by Ed Brisson, drawn by John Timms, colored by Rex Locus and lettered by Clayton Cowles.
Itâs time to say goodbye as the new volume of The Batman & Scooby-Doo Mysteries wraps up. But this book isnât going out quietly, as Mystery Inc. wakes up in the not-too-distant future of Batman Beyond to team up with a new Batman. The Batman & Scooby-Doo Mysteries #12 is written by Ivan Cohen, drawn by Dario Brizuela, colored by Franco Riesco and lettered by Saida Temofonte.
Matt Lazorwitz: Remember, everyone, tomorrow is Batman Day. Be sure to leave your gas bombs and Batarangs by the chimney tonight, and hopefully Batman will deliver crushing defeat to those who have wronged you, as long as theyâre criminals.
Will Nevin: I canât wait to wake up to find a half-glass of protein sludge. âHe was really here!â Iâll shout. A Merry Batman Day to all who observe. And what a week to be dropping the 100th episode of the podcast!
Batman and Robin ride again
Matt: Weâve said it before, but having multiple Batman titles works best when each one has its own flavor. Before this week, weâve had two core Bat titles: Batman, which is a superhero comic with a psychological edge, and Detective Comics, which is a supernatural thriller. I feel like Batman and Robin is trying to be the more traditional superhero comic, with a big, bold plot. Itâs not trying to tread the deeper beats of Bruceâs failing mind and body, but instead being about his relationship with Damian.
Will: There sure are some nice story beats, arenât there? I like Damian best when heâs an actual kid, and we get a little of that here, especially when heâs showing off in the kitchen and pushing back against some of Bruceâs rules without being absolutely unreasonable. My one issue here is with the art: Visually, itâs impressive. Bold. Stylistic. But I donât think it matches the book because it 1) doesnât work in those smaller moments and 2) doesnât really capture action all that well.
Matt: Joshua Williamson has been working hard to mature Damian since he started writing the character in the Infinite Frontier-era Robin ongoing, and this continues that arc. Now that heâs 13 or so, rather than 10, heâs learned some important lessons and isnât the same little snot from his earliest appearances. We saw him out in the world, trying to be on his own, and know heâs back with his father and is trying to fit back in and be the loyal son, which is an odd place to be since the two sons that usually fit that role, Dick and Tim, are not in Batmanâs good graces.
And yes, I agree on the art front. Simone Di Meo has a really different style. He places the âcameraâ at angles we usually donât see in comics, and it gives many panels a look Iâm not used to seeing. But it can be a bit busy, and might have benefited from someone coloring his art, rather than him coloring himself.
Will: Lord, I did not care for the coloring at all. Overexposed? Thatâs how Iâd describe it, maybe. âGenerally unpleasantâ might be another way to go.
Matt: Washed out was my first thought, especially in the daytime scenes, or scenes with a lot of light. The headlights of Damianâs Robinmobile just seem to sap everything of color.
Will: One thing I did like, though, is how this book is clearly set during âGotham War,â but it is not part of what has been a tiresome story so far. So art aside, this was a nice little bit of fresh air.
Matt: Absolutely. And I love the one page of Damian writing ⌠Damian fanfic? Williamson established Damian as a manga reader in the Robin series, so here, heâs growing and trying to deal with his trauma through art.
Will: That was heartbreaking! His little protagonist has a parent who âdoesnât know how to be a parent.â More emotionally vulnerable Damian, please!
Matt: One of the places where the art does work for me is the two-page spread at the end, where we see all the animalistic Bat rogues gathered in front of the house of this doctor theyâre trying to kidnap. Itâs one of the places those odd camera angles really work. A shot from below makes Croc, usually big and intimidating, look even bigger, and even makes C-Listers The Terrible Trio seem more badass than they usually are.
Will: Yet, again, the coloring doesnât do that scene any favors. I agree with your point, however â that was some badass framing.
Batman Inc. rides off into the sunset
Will: Fun story here. So I put #11 and #12 in my folder to read for today â since we hadnât covered the former and I donât read anything Iâm not covering because ⌠well, I guess Iâm weird â and I get into the first issue, and Iâm thinking, âHuh. This all wraps up pretty nicely. Joker Incorporated is defeated, and Ghost-Maker comes to the conclusion that the One Rule is pointless, so he gives up and leaves in a huff. What are they going to do for a conclusion?!â And then I realized they were backward in my folder. Whoops.
Matt: Oops. I do agree that this wraps up the series in a nice bow, although I definitely feel like the creators had more planned and they were told they had to wrap it up after two arcs. It wasnât rushed, per se, but there was definitely more story to mine here.
Will: This book was so much better when it was quieter. The best page out of this whole arc might have been the origin story in #11 of Dusty Bronco, a rodeo cowboy who turned to self-medication and was subsequently beaten half to death by the local Batman. See how dedicated I am, Matt? I went back to read the issue I accidentally skipped.
Matt: I knew you had it in you! Yes, the origin of Dusty Bronco was a great sequence. But I also liked that we didnât get those origins for all these Joker Inc. guys. I kinda want Charles de Ghoul to just be Fâed in the head and evil. I also liked developing Gray Wolfâs dilemma of whether to stay with the team or defend his country. Not every one of these heroes was planning on being a globetrotting adventurer, so even if he decides to stay with Batman Inc. at the end, it was good to see that angle addressed.
Will: Charles de Ghoul definitely wins for best name at least.
Matt: I usually hate a dropped plotline when a book ends before the creators wanted it to, but I will not miss the stuff about the new Wingmanâs identity. Playing with that New 52, âOh, Jason Toddâs dad really wasnât deadâ thing? Nah. Willis Todd is dead, and letâs just leave it at that.
Will: Hereâs a question for you: Was the Alfred statue in BlĂźdhaven established at some other point?
Matt: Not in this book, but yes, in NIghtwing from before we started covering it. When Dick inherited Alfredâs fortune and decided to use it for charity, he named his enterprise the Alfred Pennyworth Foundation and put the statue up in the block area he built up to serve BlĂźdhavenâs disenfranchised.
Will: I assumed as much, but that was still really nice to see. RIP, Alfred. ;â-(
Matt: I am curious to see what happens the next time Ghost-Maker shows up, which I never thought I would say. He failed here. He couldnât make the grade. And we know he wonât take it that way, at least not publicly; his ego is too big. So I have to assume heâs going to redouble his efforts to outdo Batman, but without the constraints of the One Rule, which will only lead to more trouble.
Will: An emboldened Ghost-Maker coming to the aid of Batman during âGotham Warâ would be at least one way to get Bruce to think about what heâs doing â âOh, shit, if this asshole is on my side, I must be in the wrong here.â
Bat/Scoob Beyond
Matt: Alas, poor Bat/Scoob. I knew it, Horatio. A book of most infinite jest âŚ
Iâm going to miss this book. In a line of generally dark comics, this was always a breath of fresh air. And I really liked that weâre wrapping with a visit to the future of Batman Beyond.
Will: If youâre not going to do another âCrisis of Infinite Scoobs,â what other way is there to go? This was a great sendoff that covered literally the entire history of Batman, from âHugo Strange and the Monster Menâ to Batman Beyond with a little Dark Knight Returns thrown in for fun.
Matt: It just does what this book does best: little nods to canon, some comedy and a fun mystery that is seeded throughout. The Easter eggs in the Batman museum are phenomenal. I am going to be poring over those panels to try to pick everything up.
Will: Makes me want to go back and look over it again already.
Matt: The end gives me the warm fuzzies. We see Mystery Inc. Beyond training in the Batcave. I like the idea that the two legacies are bound together even into the future. Props for adding some diversity to the team! Iâm thinking the blonde kid is Fredâs son. He has that look about him.
Will: Now I want to see the Mystery Inc. team in the future. I bet the ascot looks even more distinguished on elder statesman Fred.
Matt: There is definitely a miniseries in that concept. Even without the Batman tie-in, having the original gang serve as mentors for a new generation? I think that has legs.
Although hearing Terry talk about âthe â20sâ as if it was the distant past? Excuse me as I crumble to dust.
Will: It hurts when I cough now, Matt. Weâre ancient.
Bat-miscellany
- Itâs the big one: BatChat Episode 100! Weâre reading âBatman R.I.P.,â the climax of the first act of Grant Morrisonâs Batman epic, and two of the Golden/Silver Age stories that inspired it. Plus, listener questions.
- Iâm wondering if the doctor in Batman and Robin will somehow tie into Splicers from Batman Beyond. Weâve seen the Powerses in the present, and maybe itâs time for some other nascent threads of Beyond tech.
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Matt Lazorwitz read his first comic at the age of 5. It was Who's Who in the DC Universe #2, featuring characters whose names begin with B, which explains so much about his Batman obsession. He writes about comics he loves, and co-hosts the podcasts BatChat with Matt & Will and The ComicsXF Interview Podcast.
Will Nevin loves bourbon and AP style and gets paid to teach one of those things. He is on Twitter far too often.
