CREDIT: DC Comics
Rating: 3.5/5 – Damian Wayne is Back Whether You Like it or Not.
by ComicSpectrum senior reviewer Shawn Hoklas.
Batman and Robin, over the course of the last five issues, has been telling the story of Batman’s quest to get his son back. In this fifth part, that quest brings him to the planet Apokolips and face to face with Darkseid. It’s Batman versus Darkseid for the fate of Damian Wayne. Although this issue’s battle and action action scenes are fun and beautifully drawn by artist Patrick Gleason, some of the story beats fall apart towards the end and left me guessing as to how it all happened.
Issue thirty-seven opens up with Batman still in the Hellbat suit coming face to face with Darkseid. Their battle will rage on throughout the course of this issue while the Bat Family attempts to hold off a swarm of parademons as Batgirl desperately tries to fix a broken a Boom Tube in order to get them all back to earth. Writer Peter Tomasi doesn’t let up on the action until the touching and warm hearted ending. Unfortunately, that ending left me wondering just how it all happened. There’s a chaos shard, Omega beams and a petrified Damian Wayne that combine to fix, well…almost everything. I’m not sure what happened at the end, and the confusion took me momentarily out of the story. Luckily though, Gleason’s art kept me engaged despite the confusing storytelling.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, Patrick Gleason is easily one of the most underrated artists in the industry today. Gleason has been on this title since the first issue, making this and the Batman proper title two of DC’s most consistently excellent series. Gleason gets to show off a bit in this issue with a terrifying Darkseid, action galore and a two page spread that pulled on my heartstrings. At times his faces can come off a bit awkward with eyes that are drawn just a tad too large, but it’s such a small complaint in what overall is fantastic work from start to finish. Although his art won’t be seen on the Robin Rises: Alpha issue up next, he’ll be back in issue thirty-eight.
Although at first I wasn’t a Damian Wayne as Robin fan, the character grew on me over time and when he died, I was a bit sad to see him go. With him coming back now, I’m excited to see the father and son dynamic of Batman and Robin begin again. Tomasi and Gleason have become one of the most talented teams in comics, and I trust that their next chapter of Batman and Robin will be their best yet.
Reviewed by: Shawn Hoklas
(shawn@comicspectrum.com)
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