On the very first page, we are greeted by this comment from Suren Darga. And I have to admit, it made me laugh pretty hard. Was this meant as a meta-comment by Ray Fawkes, or am I simply reading my own feelings into it? I’m not sure, but either way, I don’t understand why this series didn’t end with the last issue. Everything was wrapped up, and then on the last page, Damian says that they can’t leave Suren in the hands of his mother. No. You were done. We are already 4 weeks into Rebirth at this point. I’ve already moved on to bigger and better things. Why couldn’t you have just left this alone. I mean, really, is this specific story even worth an extension? And further more, why would Suren even trust Damian after the way he epically duped him in the last issue? Oh well. Whatever. Even though I think this is a waste of time, I’ll try and maintain some level of objectivity for the review. Now, let’s get this over with.

Where are the other patrons? And even if there aren’t any, why aren’t the owners of the establishment at the window snapping all kinds of pictures. There is a big red monster with wings just chilling at their rest stop. Whatever.

So, the story opens with the kids stuffing their faces at “The BBQ Shack” in plain daylight. Seriously? If I were reading a story from the 50s/60s, I’d have no problem with this, but it’s the kind of thing I don’t expect to find in a modern day comic. At least not in the Batman corner of the DC Universe anyway. We get some exposition that fills us in on who Darga and his father are, just in case you didn’t read the last several issues, including some quick snippets about where Batman is. The transitions from one subject to the next is rather choppy and sudden, as if they were just trying to shove all the exposition into as little space as possible, and there is even a grammatical error. It feels very thrown together. Actually, it makes me think that this story wasn’t already finished in the pipeline and ready to go, but put together last minute. Which begs the question: why did they feel the need to move forward with this?

Then a bunch of Lu’un Darga troops find them, but before anything happens, they all die. You see, Den Darga is siphoning off the life-force of his followers in order to re-energize himself. Maya slaps a frequency disrupter on Suren so he doesn’t die. Frequency disrupter? You mean something to block radio waves and communication transmissions? How does that work against magic? Never mind. I don’t know why I am even trying to rationalize this. They end up following the spirits of the recently departed Darga troops to the source of the siphoning with…..Maya’s visor. Cause it can see spirits now. Ok. All of this was way too convenient for me. If the troops hadn’t shown up right when they did and died right when they did, Robin and Maya would have no clue any of this was even going on. And the fact that her gear can conveniently do all the stuff that they need it to do is just so…so…well…convenient.

So, they find Den Darga’s secret lair and the fighting ensues. Pow. Boom. Baf. Zip. Robin shorts out the magic crystal using his own body as a conduit. Killing him in the process….. But…Maya can see spirits and they redirect his essence back to his body. Damian’s alive! Cue phone call from parents to scold him, and then the trio fly off on the back of Goliath to seek some new adventure. The End. Yay.

Everything in the last half of the book just felt hollow and cliche to me. The bait and switch with the hero’s sacrifice has been done to death (pun intended). He’s not dead, and really, we should have never even feared that he might have been. I did like Robin’s nonchalant attitude about having almost died and the way he thanked Maya in the most minimal way possible, but other than that, the end was a bust for me. And as always, the heroes head off to some unseen destination and continue to fight the good fight. I’m soooooo tired of seeing this kind of ending. Give me something new for a change.

Ok. I’m done. Hope my review wasn’t as big a waste of time for you to read as this issue was for me to read. Now go check out the Rebirth books. They are fantastic!

Odds and Ends:

This is officially the best part of the book. In my opinion of course.

Recommended if…

You want to read the last issue of Robin: Son of Batman… for some reason.

Overall:

Pardon me, but I’m just going to be blunt. This wasn’t the worst thing I’ve ever read, but it definitely wasn’t anywhere near the best. And really, I just feel that there are much more worthwhile things out there right now for you to be spending your 4 bucks on than this. Now go pick up some Rebirth books.

SCORE: 3.5 / 10