Batman and Robin #2

Wow. Just wow. There's so much too talk about in this comic I could write four times the normal amount for a review. But I'll spare my reader. To make this easy, I'm going to start at the simpler stuff and move on to the more complex topics. First off, at the end of the book, we find Bruce adopting a dog, who looks exactly like Ace the Bat-hound as seen in the "Batman Beyond" animated series. Not that this is the first incarnation of him (he appeared as early as Batman #92 way back when) but this is still really fun. There's something about Ace that I always made him best fit as Bruce's best friend, moreso than any human. Thanks Tomasi for bringing him back.

Next, the return of Henri Ducard! Peter J. Tomasi brings another character back from obscurity, even if he doesn't make a physical appearance, only his follower "Morgan" does, telling Bruce that Ducard isn't happy with him, especially in regards to Batman Incorporated. Bruce and Morgan's statements imply that Morgan is our new killer, "Nobody," though one can never know for certain. For those who don't know, Henri Ducard taught Bruce much of what he knows about detective work, and was heavily involved in his early training, although he isn't on the side of justice, he's on the side of whomever pays him the most. The return of Henri Ducard should be very exciting in the oncoming issues (last appearance that I know of in the comics was when Tom Drake went on a trip to Paris as part of his training).

Now the next particularly interesting part of this comic: Bruce's line of "I'm afraid of what Damian could become without me around." Um, hello Bruce, you were just off globe-trotting/missing/presumed dead for what Post-Flashpoint appears to be about a year. And not only did Damian prosper in your absence, he excelled. If anything, he's reverted back to his more hostile origins since your return. This is for one of two reasons: when he knew little of his father, he wanted to live up to his legacy. He was a legend to him, he didn't have to question why his methods were how they were, he just wanted to be next in line of the great Wayne-crimefighters. Now that Bruce is back, he realizes what a softie Bruce can be, how emotional he constantly and how  much of a jerk he can be. And all of a sudden, following the Batman code-of-conduct isn't so easy. The second reason is that Damian is constantly trying to prove to his father what a great fighter and detective he is himself. And as Alfred points out, Bruce really sucks at acknowledging to Damian how great and proud he is of him. Bruce truly doesn't know why telling Damian his actions are "commendable" doesn't go nearly as far as saying he's "proud of him." This is nothing new, he has had this same problem with Dick, Jason, and Tim, but Damian needs it more. After all, he's only 10.

(Further reason why Dick is better than Bruce, *cough* *cough*)

The most interesting, and frankly, disturbing page is after Bruce tells Damian to get some sleep, where Damian grabs a flying bat with his bare hand, crushing it to death with a nonchalant face suggesting complete apathy towards its death, stares at it, and tosses it down into a deep cavern. May I say WOAH all kinds of symbolism going on here. On a surface level, this just shows a blatant disrespect for the cave (in the page he busted $1.1 million of equipment in frustration, so this is a consistent interpretation). He seems to lack an appreciation for how monumental what Batman, Nightwing, and others have built is.

But on a deeper level this also shows how very little Damian truly understands death. He's grown up under al Ghul care, wear he has a grandfather who has lived for hundreds of years never truly worrying about death, and among assassins, he are trained killers. He perceives little value in life, because its never displayed as precious to him. Ever disregarding that, he's worked with Dick and Bruce, two men who put their lives on the line every night selflessly. On the surface, it would seem as if they don't care if they live or die either. He doesn't exactly have any education in this field. Damian probably doesn't worry about dying, because he figures he'll come back to life. Hell, if that hack Jason Todd (his perceptions, not mine, I actually greatly respect Jason's abilities) did, why can't he?

Also, on a deeper level, this might show some frustration directly at Bruce. In these last two issues, Damian certainly seems unhappy being sidekick to his father. We learn a lot about what Bruce is thinking in his discussions between him and Alfred. However, the reader doesn't really know what Damian is thinking or feeling exactly. While he had open lines of communication with Dick Grayson, he doesn't have that with his own father. He never really had that report with Alfred either, at best a begrudging respect for a man he still considers little more than his butler.

Anyways, I barely scratched the surface on what there is to talk about on this issue. Excluding Scott Snyder's "Batman," this is easily the best book starring Batman out there right now.

What I enjoyed: Tomasi covered a lot this issue, but it didn't seem rushed or hurried one bit. His sense of pacing a story is excellent. I'm really enjoying his take on Damian and Bruce, all the layers he's developing to their relationship is really fascinating. Plus, his ability to bring in elements of Bat-history but not rehashing the same old stories is really cool.

What I didn't: While the two pages with Damian killing the bat were really, really good, Patrick Gleason's art in the rest of the issue leaves something to be desired. For ever page he nails, there's two that he should have spent a lot more time on, that look sloppy and lazy.

Conclusion: Adding this to my pull list, and tracking down paper copies to the first two issues. Or I might buy this in trade. Either way, this is worth paying for. I'm really curious to see where this is going, and Tomasi's take on Damian is probably the most interesting out of any writers', including Grant Morrison, who created the character. 8.9/10 (B+).