Batman and Robin #33 Review

Robin Rises

Writer: Peter J. Tomasi

Penciller: Patrick Gleason

Inker Mick Gray

Colorist: John Kalisz

Letter: Carlos M. Magual

released:7-23-14

DC Comics, Monthly issue, $2.99

The continuation of the Robin Rises story line appears in this week’s

Batman and Robin. I’ve been excited for this story because of it’s main draw, the return of Damian Wayne as Robin. Damian is Batman’s illegitimate son with Talia al-Ghul, who was murdered by a clone of himself (comics are strange) in Grant Morrison’s Batman, Inc. line of comics. This week’s offering begins where Robin Rises: Omega ended, Batman is determined to make it to Apokolips to retrieve Damian’s remains. However, the other members of the Justice League physically prevent him from retrieving his Hellbat suit, thus leaving Batman with no other options than to return home. When he arrives at Wayne Manor he consults with the other members of the Bat-family about how they

would retrieve Damian’s body.

Having read the past few books in this series, Batman’s emotional distress has begun to grow a little stale. This carried the story well through Batman and Ra’s al-Ghul #32, where an excellent scene takes where Batman threatens to kill Ra’s if he does not leave Damian’s body be. In contrast, throughout this book Bruce is constantly arguing with his fellow Justice League members, most of whom I think would be sympathetic, at least, if they knew that Batman was going after more than the remains of his fallen side-kick. It feels very counter-intuitive for Batman being at odds with the Justice League, because he did not take the five seconds to reveal that Robin is actually his son. (It seems a few members of Justice League do know this fact, but it isn’t represented well within the pages of the comic.)

With this being the first story in the monthly format, I did expect this to be a little bit slower than the action packed, one-shot that preceded it. The plot did stall, somewhat, in the middle of the book where the Hellbat suit’s origins and capabilities were discussed.

The art was well done. The character’s emotions were high, and it was well demonstrated by their body language, enhancing and effectively communicating the high levels of drama and tension pervasive throughout the book. Seeing Batman unable to overcome the other Justice League members and retrieve his son was tragic and the art represented it all very well.

The comic was enjoyable, and worth the three dollar price tag in my opinion, but did leave me worried about the future of the story. I can easily see this story becoming the cliché of Robin being revived and used against Batman if he confronts Darkseid.