Batman and Robin #5

Time to get back on the snide and getting these out on time....ish. Batman and Robin 5 previews the possible fall of Damian Wayne. While the four previous issues have shown concern for Damian's mental state (frustrations with Bruce, abuse to animals, needless violence, etc.) issue five proves to be the tipping point as he teams up with Morgan Ducard (our villain Nobody) to "fight crime" in Gotham. Ducard's trying to turn Damian (why? we're not sure yet, other than the general undermining of Bruce's Batman INC).

This issue also features a little backstory for Bruce's past with the Ducards, and the brief nut needed personal history of Morgan and his father Henri. Basically, Henri Ducard was a mercenary agent for various governments who had nowhere else to turn, who fell in love with and married a terrorist agent hired to kill him. They had a child, the terrorists threatened to kill the son if she didn't kill Henri. She agrees, the son Morgan overhears, and kills his mom, convincing his father that he was the only one who truly cared about him, at which point Henri began to train Morgan.

Batman and Robin #3

 This continues to be one of the top five ongoings as a result of the "New 52." Tomasi seems born to write Batman (his past as a Batman editor obviously helps him here), and while Patrick Gleason's pencils vary in quality (A+ on one page, lackluster on the next), together they create very fine books. It's really a shame they only got one story of Dick and & Damian, surrendering arcs to Winick (although that story was decent, good writing with up and down art) and Paul Cornell (god was that terrible).

Last issue introduced to the reader two new characters, Morgan -- who works for Henri Ducard, and Damian's new dog, who better be named Ace or I'm just going to get so annoyed. These characters both play a big role in this comic, as Damian struggles to understand the value of a dog (I guess not every 11 year old really wants a dog, maybe Damian would prefer cats? His dad certainly has an affinity for them).

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).

Batman and Robin #1

This was a very pleasant surprise. Count me in as a skeptic about whether this would work or not. I thought the chemistry between Bruce and Damian wouldn't mesh well. And it doesn't, but in a way that totally works for this comic.

Batman and Robin when it set out was based on the chemistry that Damian respected Dick, honored that he would choose Damian to be his partner over Tim, and eager to prove that he belonged as part of the Wayne legacy. He respected Dick partially out of respect to his father and because Dick didn't treat Damian like a child, so Damian didn't act like one in return.