Batman and Robin #2 Review

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by Brian Cronin
in Comic Reviews

I liked the first issue of Batman and Robin a lot, but the second issue is even better, on both the writing and the art side of things, which makes for a great comic book.

The first issue of the series was spent more or less on introducing the concept of the book (Dick as Batman and Damian as Robin), so with that out of the way, Morrison can do a lot more character based stuff, and it's really striking to see his take on Dick Grayson as Batman. Dick and Alfred have a long conversation that adds a lot of nice insights into both characters. I especially like how this is such a bigger deal for Dick than when he was filling in for Bruce during Prodigal. There's a significant difference between filling in for Batman while Bruce was taking a break to recover from Knightfall and actually BECOMING the next Batman, and Morrison does a great job showing how the two situations are dramatically different, and how the current situation weighs on Dick a great deal more than Prodigal. It's a nice nod to those people who think, "But Dick WAS Batman before!"

Meanwhile, Damian continues to be the flame that is getting dangerously close to the powder keg, as Dick is having an increasingly difficult time getting Damian to respect him, but in this issue, we get a clearer sense of WHY Dick is willing to put up with Damian's nonsense (I especially love how he refers to Damian's behavior as practically supervillain-esque).

Quitely is given a lot of action to draw in this issue, and hoo boy, it was awesome!! Dick and Damian taking on two new Circus-themed villains was brilliantly executed. Quitely was good in #1, but in #2 he had a lot more to do and it was amazing. I also liked how Morrison worked in the circus slang in such a way that you instantly got that whether you understood it or not, it was clearly circus slang (and Morrison even had Dick expressly say it was circus slang, just for the slow kids in the class).

The first meeting between Gordon and the new Batman and Robin was handled well.

But mostly, the highlights of the issue were the character work on Batman and Robin (telling the story out of chronological order was a great idea), especially the bit where Alfred explains how Dick should approach his "take" on Batman, comparing being the next Batman to playing the great roles of theater, like Richard III or Stanley Kowalski. Great stuff. And seeing Robin beating answers out of the villain then showing anger at the idea that he not only can't kill, but now he has to be nice to the police, TOO?!?! Hilarious.

The issue was a fun read, with great action, great art and great characterization - what more do you need?

Definitely Recommended.

Posted on July 2, 2009 @ 01:12 PM

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18 Comments

Dan Felty

July 2, 2009 at 2:10 pm

Sounds good.

How is this going to be collected? Will I be able to get just the Quitely issues in trade, or should I look for these now?

Bill Reed

July 2, 2009 at 2:18 pm

I hate that this comes out the first week of the month. I've only just read the first one, and now I've got a long wait until the next box of comics arrives...

I'm going to be depressed when Phil Tan takes over with #4.

CF

July 2, 2009 at 2:27 pm

@bill reed:

If you want someone to blame, blame Dan Didio for assigning Tan instead of Doug Mahnke. Perhaps some electroshock therapy will help Didio get his mind in order.

Kwas

July 2, 2009 at 2:49 pm

wow. harsh much. I think Mahnke's busy at work with Green Lantern. Besides, Phil's fantastic with the gritty noir stuff. anyone ever flip through FC: revelations?

Nitz the Bloody

July 2, 2009 at 3:04 pm

As excellently as these issues are crafted, I have to wonder how long this premise can credibly last. The storytelling engine has the hero as the sidekick's handler, with the sidekick being a rather two-dimensional character ( which makes sense, given how he was bred to be the perfect assassin ). And Dick isn't the alpha personality; Morrison's script acknowledges this, but while the idea of a well-adjusted career hero trying to play The Goddamn Batman is good, I see it running thin.

Hopefully once these twelve issues finish, I'll either be proven wrong, or we'll get Bruce back, or there'll be another status quo upheaval.

Neal K

July 2, 2009 at 3:12 pm

Really, someone thought Tan's art in Final Crisis: Revelations was good? I thought it was a lot like a sewer - dark, muddy, and kinda stinky.

Plus, even if it was fantastic for a gritty noir feel (which I completely disagree with), that's not the tone Morrison is going for on this book, so at the very least it seems a mismatch. I hope Tan proves me wrong, but right now I am dreading his tenure on this book.

Julian

July 2, 2009 at 3:21 pm

I'm still pissed Cameron Stewart got nixed.

Jake

July 2, 2009 at 3:44 pm

Morrison's already stated that he's changing the tone of the book to fit each artist. Same will happen for Frazier Irving.

Also, you all should see Phil Tan's stuff before it's inked. It's great. It's the inking that's not doing him any favors.

Faisal

July 2, 2009 at 3:45 pm

i agree julian... quitely, stewart, mahnke and back to quitely would have probably made me a happy, happy, camper and would have had us all jumping around every time an issue came out.

Stephen

July 2, 2009 at 4:19 pm

The one thing I don't like is that I think Dick really would have enough respect for Gordon to come to him and say "listen, Batman's dead, you know me, you trust me - I'm going to make this work." Gordon's gotten pissed off at Bruce being replaced before without having the guts to tell him to his face, and Dick would have to know that.

And when did they retcon Luicius into his R&D role from the Nolan movies?

SageShini

July 2, 2009 at 4:35 pm

There are people that don't like Philip Tan's artwork? This is news. Then again, t'was news to me people liked Pat Gleason on GLC.

DanLarkin

July 2, 2009 at 5:59 pm

This issue was great. Count me in the worried about Tan camp. I didn't like the art in that Revelations thing at all. He's one of those guys that draws faces all squinchy.

Percocete Pete

July 2, 2009 at 7:55 pm

Why are there so many comments regarding Tan's future work? Why not just enjoy what you have now with the first 3 issues.

Brian Cronin

July 2, 2009 at 8:15 pm

Tan's recent Green Lantern arc was worlds better than Revelations, so I'm not too worried.

Rebis

July 3, 2009 at 9:55 am

I also chuckled when Dick moaned about having to learn how to deal with a cape again.

I'm not a huge Tan fan, but we'll see what we get. He was OK on "GL." I would love to see Cameron Stewart on a "B&R" arc, but I will not complain at all, since we've got Quitely now and the sublme Frazer Irving on tap. Meanwhile, Pat Gleason rocks, and he and Mahnke will make an awesome one-two pair on "GL"/"GLC." Did you know that for several years now Gleason and Mahnke have shared the same studio? And now they're collaborating (in a way) on one of DC's best title groups*. Neat.

* I suppose that's not saying much, given how (presumably) dreadful other titles are, like their "JL" books and "Titans" books (all of which I stopped reading several years ago). But this new wave of Bat-books — specifically "B&R" and "Detective" — might just overtake the "GL" books for me.

Dalarsco

July 3, 2009 at 4:15 pm

I love Tan, but I think that if he's going to alternate with Quitely then Mahnke would be a better choice. They have more similar styles. But oh man was he on fire this issue! The paneling in the fight scene was exquisite.

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