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Batman and Robin (2011)
Batman and Robin, Vol. 2: Pearl
Damian Wayne, a.k.a. Robin, must prove to Batman, as well as the previous Boy Wonders that he's every bit the hero that his father is in the wake of cataclysmic events.
164 pages, Kindle Edition
Published June 11, 2013
62 people are currently reading
1436 people want to read
About the author
Peter J. Tomasi
1,387 books467 followersPeter J. Tomasi is an American comic book writer, best known for his work for DC Comics, such as Batman And Robin; Superman; Super Sons; Batman: Detective Comics; Green Lantern Corps; and Superman/Wonder Woman; as well as Batman: Arkham Knight; Brightest Day; Green Lantern: Emerald Warriors; Nightwing; Black Adam, and many more.
In the course of his staff career at DC Comics, Tomasi served as a group editor and ushered in new eras for Batman, Green Lantern, and the JSA, along with a host of special projects like Kingdom Come.
He is also the author of the creator-owned titles House Of Penance with artist Ian Bertram; Light Brigade with artist Peter Snejbjerg; The Mighty with Keith Champagne and Chris Samnee; and the critically acclaimed epic graphic novel The Bridge: How The Roeblings Connected Brooklyn To New York, illustrated by Sara DuVall and published by Abrams ComicArts.
In 2018 New York Times best-selling author Tomasi received the Inkpot Award for achievement in comics.
In the course of his staff career at DC Comics, Tomasi served as a group editor and ushered in new eras for Batman, Green Lantern, and the JSA, along with a host of special projects like Kingdom Come.
He is also the author of the creator-owned titles House Of Penance with artist Ian Bertram; Light Brigade with artist Peter Snejbjerg; The Mighty with Keith Champagne and Chris Samnee; and the critically acclaimed epic graphic novel The Bridge: How The Roeblings Connected Brooklyn To New York, illustrated by Sara DuVall and published by Abrams ComicArts.
In 2018 New York Times best-selling author Tomasi received the Inkpot Award for achievement in comics.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 247 reviews
August 20, 2022
(B+) 77% | Good
Notes: It does the monster mash, dishing out freakshow foes as feral backdrop and foils to Robin’s baby-step domestication.
Notes: It does the monster mash, dishing out freakshow foes as feral backdrop and foils to Robin’s baby-step domestication.
July 31, 2013
The second volume of Peter Tomasi and Patrick Gleason's New 52 Batman and Robin should really be called Robin as its almost entirely made up of short stories about Damian Wayne. But it's these brief, ineffectual vignettes that also makes this not as good as the first volume (pretty much the story of the New 52 second volumes) though it has its share of good/bad moments.
The first chapter is the #0 issue where we see Damian being born/raised by Talia Al-Ghul, a story readers of Grant Morrison's Batman series will already be familiar with. It takes Damian up to meeting his dad, Batman, for the first time and helps new readers understand why Damian is the way he is by showing Talia's questionable parenting techniques.
The second chapter sees Damian fight a Talon who's trying to assassinate a high ranking military officer. It's not a bad comic but I already read this issue in the Night of Owls book - the repetition is a bit annoying as others who read that crossover book might find.
The longest story arc here sees a new villain show up called Terminus, eager to battle Batman. While Batman doesn't kill, he is incredibly heavy-handed in dealing with his foes and so has amassed a number of enemies, the majority being low-level thugs, who bear the marks of their encounter with him. This is a neat idea executed terribly because the "villains" were nobodies, henchmen essentially, who're now hilariously deformed but are in no way more dangerous as a result.
One guy literally has Batman's boot print on his face for life because Batman kicked him so hard! Another guy has a batarang embedded in his brain causing him to sometimes lose his train of thought! Another person has a batarang stuck in her ear - not sure why she can't take it out, but there we go (I suppose it makes a cool novelty ear-ring). These guys made me laugh they were so silly which makes taking them seriously in any way an impossibility - but darn it if Tomasi doesn't try!
Terminus on the other hand is some generic bad guy with tons of expensive tech and a weird, debilitating illness (terminal illness = Terminus. Writing!). It's barely worth going in to because he's so forgettable and dies after a couple issues anyway. Terminus' main aim is to discredit the bat symbol by burning it onto peoples' faces, on the sides of buildings, etc. Flawless plan, right? It does lead to a parody of the excellent Dark Knight movie poster though. Talking of superhero movies, Snyder/Capullo's Iron Batman suit makes an appearance in this book in a scene reminiscent of The Avengers movie finale which is just weird.
Meanwhile Damian has decided to arbitrarily fight the other Robins (Dick, Jason and Tim) to prove that he is the best Robin of all. This storyline bugged the hell out of me the most. First off, I've grown to hate superheroes fighting superheroes after years of melodramatic, go-nowhere stories revolving around this common conceit - what, there aren't enough villains to go around? And also, it's so pointless. They fight, pages pass, the end. It's never worthwhile and is completely tedious to "read". But supes vs. supes is basically all DC does these days, probably for the lame covers, so we get a healthy dose of it in this book. Secondly, Damian has done this before. When we're first introduced to the character in Grant Morrison's Batman and Son, he beats up Tim Drake pretty badly. Since then, he's become a far more rounded character. He's developed in that he's become less arrogant, less psychotic, more empathetic, and a sense of nobility has arisen in him - at least in the Grant Morrison books. Tomasi crassly undoes the years of character building Morrison has given the character by taking his behaviour back to the start, having him fight each of the Robins, just because that's something he thinks Damian would do. Which he would - years ago like in 2006/07, but today? He's a different person. Not that you'd know reading this book.
The volume ends weakly on a zombie-ish storyline where some nothing bad guy group called The Saturn Club is supposedly resurrecting the dead. This dreary storyline is the lead-in to Joker's return and the Death of the Family Event. But the worst part of this sequence is the fill-in artist, Tomas Giorello, who draws Damian looking like a twentysomething midget! Seriously, Damian's face goes from babyfat-inflected (he's 10 remember) and child-like, to having adult contours. The transition between Giorello's art and Gleason's is jarring as you see twentysomething Damian suddenly morph back into child-like Damian in between panels! Horrible artistic choice to have Giorello fill-in on this title, he simply can't draw kids believably.
There was stuff in this book I liked - none of the issues are badly written and Gleason's art continues to be surprisingly good. Not surprising in that he's normally a bad artist but because he's not a well-known name - when you think Bat-artist, you don't necessarily think Patrick Gleason, but he's doing great work on this series to receive that recognition. The Talon issue was good, and there were moments in all of the issues that were nice touches (Bruce and Damian can't have an ordinary father and son heart-to-heart; because they're Batman and Robin they have to have their serious talks in space! Brilliant).
That said, the father and son moment at the end was really forced and came out of nowhere. It's why the book is called Pearl and felt, not just overly sentimental, but also like a con, trying to convince the reader that there's a heart to this book when it really hasn't earned any emotional payoff from the preceding pages. Bruce and Damian have had some touching moments but this was definitely not one of them though it looked like it really wanted to be.
Generally though, there are no strong, challenging villains in the book to make reading this an exciting read. Everybody Damian (and it is largely Damian) encounters is someone he can easily deal with. Maybe that's why Tomasi shoe-horned the stupid Damian-fights-the-Robins storyline in, to give him a challenge? The stories here are too short which makes me wonder if Tomasi had been told about Damian's death so that any longer story arcs would have been nixed to make do with disposable, irrelevant set pieces.
I enjoyed parts of the book but found too much here that annoyed me to really say it's a great Batman book. If you're a Damian Wayne fan, you'll probably enjoy this but for those looking for a more substantial bat-book, I suggest checking out Snyder/Capullo and Morrison/Burnham's Batman books.
The first chapter is the #0 issue where we see Damian being born/raised by Talia Al-Ghul, a story readers of Grant Morrison's Batman series will already be familiar with. It takes Damian up to meeting his dad, Batman, for the first time and helps new readers understand why Damian is the way he is by showing Talia's questionable parenting techniques.
The second chapter sees Damian fight a Talon who's trying to assassinate a high ranking military officer. It's not a bad comic but I already read this issue in the Night of Owls book - the repetition is a bit annoying as others who read that crossover book might find.
The longest story arc here sees a new villain show up called Terminus, eager to battle Batman. While Batman doesn't kill, he is incredibly heavy-handed in dealing with his foes and so has amassed a number of enemies, the majority being low-level thugs, who bear the marks of their encounter with him. This is a neat idea executed terribly because the "villains" were nobodies, henchmen essentially, who're now hilariously deformed but are in no way more dangerous as a result.
One guy literally has Batman's boot print on his face for life because Batman kicked him so hard! Another guy has a batarang embedded in his brain causing him to sometimes lose his train of thought! Another person has a batarang stuck in her ear - not sure why she can't take it out, but there we go (I suppose it makes a cool novelty ear-ring). These guys made me laugh they were so silly which makes taking them seriously in any way an impossibility - but darn it if Tomasi doesn't try!
Terminus on the other hand is some generic bad guy with tons of expensive tech and a weird, debilitating illness (terminal illness = Terminus. Writing!). It's barely worth going in to because he's so forgettable and dies after a couple issues anyway. Terminus' main aim is to discredit the bat symbol by burning it onto peoples' faces, on the sides of buildings, etc. Flawless plan, right? It does lead to a parody of the excellent Dark Knight movie poster though. Talking of superhero movies, Snyder/Capullo's Iron Batman suit makes an appearance in this book in a scene reminiscent of The Avengers movie finale which is just weird.
Meanwhile Damian has decided to arbitrarily fight the other Robins (Dick, Jason and Tim) to prove that he is the best Robin of all. This storyline bugged the hell out of me the most. First off, I've grown to hate superheroes fighting superheroes after years of melodramatic, go-nowhere stories revolving around this common conceit - what, there aren't enough villains to go around? And also, it's so pointless. They fight, pages pass, the end. It's never worthwhile and is completely tedious to "read". But supes vs. supes is basically all DC does these days, probably for the lame covers, so we get a healthy dose of it in this book. Secondly, Damian has done this before. When we're first introduced to the character in Grant Morrison's Batman and Son, he beats up Tim Drake pretty badly. Since then, he's become a far more rounded character. He's developed in that he's become less arrogant, less psychotic, more empathetic, and a sense of nobility has arisen in him - at least in the Grant Morrison books. Tomasi crassly undoes the years of character building Morrison has given the character by taking his behaviour back to the start, having him fight each of the Robins, just because that's something he thinks Damian would do. Which he would - years ago like in 2006/07, but today? He's a different person. Not that you'd know reading this book.
The volume ends weakly on a zombie-ish storyline where some nothing bad guy group called The Saturn Club is supposedly resurrecting the dead. This dreary storyline is the lead-in to Joker's return and the Death of the Family Event. But the worst part of this sequence is the fill-in artist, Tomas Giorello, who draws Damian looking like a twentysomething midget! Seriously, Damian's face goes from babyfat-inflected (he's 10 remember) and child-like, to having adult contours. The transition between Giorello's art and Gleason's is jarring as you see twentysomething Damian suddenly morph back into child-like Damian in between panels! Horrible artistic choice to have Giorello fill-in on this title, he simply can't draw kids believably.
There was stuff in this book I liked - none of the issues are badly written and Gleason's art continues to be surprisingly good. Not surprising in that he's normally a bad artist but because he's not a well-known name - when you think Bat-artist, you don't necessarily think Patrick Gleason, but he's doing great work on this series to receive that recognition. The Talon issue was good, and there were moments in all of the issues that were nice touches (Bruce and Damian can't have an ordinary father and son heart-to-heart; because they're Batman and Robin they have to have their serious talks in space! Brilliant).
That said, the father and son moment at the end was really forced and came out of nowhere. It's why the book is called Pearl and felt, not just overly sentimental, but also like a con, trying to convince the reader that there's a heart to this book when it really hasn't earned any emotional payoff from the preceding pages. Bruce and Damian have had some touching moments but this was definitely not one of them though it looked like it really wanted to be.
Generally though, there are no strong, challenging villains in the book to make reading this an exciting read. Everybody Damian (and it is largely Damian) encounters is someone he can easily deal with. Maybe that's why Tomasi shoe-horned the stupid Damian-fights-the-Robins storyline in, to give him a challenge? The stories here are too short which makes me wonder if Tomasi had been told about Damian's death so that any longer story arcs would have been nixed to make do with disposable, irrelevant set pieces.
I enjoyed parts of the book but found too much here that annoyed me to really say it's a great Batman book. If you're a Damian Wayne fan, you'll probably enjoy this but for those looking for a more substantial bat-book, I suggest checking out Snyder/Capullo and Morrison/Burnham's Batman books.
March 12, 2015
This week with the Shallow Comic Readers Buddy read: Batman!
Like most people, I found that this volume was not quite up to par with the preceding one. It starts out strong with the Zero issue, and focuses on Damian's "origin" and his relationship with his mother before he was handed over to Bruce Wayne. It's very well told, the art is solid, and allows the reader to know a good bit more about Damian and why he is the way he is.
Then we get into the problem of Damian trying to set himself as being better than the Robins who came before. He mixes it up with Red Robin, who is pretty much a limp rag, and Red Hood, who is always an interesting character, and Damian bests both of them, psychologically if not physically. By the time the Court of Owls obligatory tie-in shows up, Robin has been the star of most of the book. Not too surprising, as Batman has a zillion other titles he appears in. Still, it would have been nice to have more Batman AND Robin than what we get. Yes, Batman was tied up with the Court and all, but still.
The book goes downhill a bit from there, when the Bat-family finds themselves fighting a dying villain called Terminus, who has recruited some bad guys who have lost to Batman previously, in an attempt to show Batman what it's like to lose by destroying Gotham. Meh. The heavies were a bit interesting, but the way Batman saves the day was straight out of the Silver Age, and just didn't fit in at all.
The last arc had something to do with either zombies or a cult of cannibals -- I wasn't sure which. This group is somehow tied into the Joker, but we never really figure out why. And then, the last couple of pages, from which the title of the book is derived, seems forced, and the object of the pearl is not explained, at all, and I was flipping back all the way to Volume one to see if I had missed something. Maybe I have.
Tomasi does give us a few really precious moments between Damian and Bruce, but not enough. I really want more of that dynamic, as it's pretty unique at DC these days.
Patrick Gleason's art is astounding, as always. He really nails Damian and does a pretty good job with the rest of the Bat boys as well. The fill in artist, on the other hand, reminds me of those comics where 21st century Neal Adams goes back and inks his pencils from the 60s and 70s. It doesn't work, looks choppy, and I hope the guy never does this book again. It was plain terrible. He may be a competent artist, and who am I to judge, but he obviously has no idea how to draw a ten year old boy.
Probably a 2.75 stars book, rounded up to three. Come on, Tomasi, I know you can do better than this.
Like most people, I found that this volume was not quite up to par with the preceding one. It starts out strong with the Zero issue, and focuses on Damian's "origin" and his relationship with his mother before he was handed over to Bruce Wayne. It's very well told, the art is solid, and allows the reader to know a good bit more about Damian and why he is the way he is.
Then we get into the problem of Damian trying to set himself as being better than the Robins who came before. He mixes it up with Red Robin, who is pretty much a limp rag, and Red Hood, who is always an interesting character, and Damian bests both of them, psychologically if not physically. By the time the Court of Owls obligatory tie-in shows up, Robin has been the star of most of the book. Not too surprising, as Batman has a zillion other titles he appears in. Still, it would have been nice to have more Batman AND Robin than what we get. Yes, Batman was tied up with the Court and all, but still.
The book goes downhill a bit from there, when the Bat-family finds themselves fighting a dying villain called Terminus, who has recruited some bad guys who have lost to Batman previously, in an attempt to show Batman what it's like to lose by destroying Gotham. Meh. The heavies were a bit interesting, but the way Batman saves the day was straight out of the Silver Age, and just didn't fit in at all.
The last arc had something to do with either zombies or a cult of cannibals -- I wasn't sure which. This group is somehow tied into the Joker, but we never really figure out why. And then, the last couple of pages, from which the title of the book is derived, seems forced, and the object of the pearl is not explained, at all, and I was flipping back all the way to Volume one to see if I had missed something. Maybe I have.
Tomasi does give us a few really precious moments between Damian and Bruce, but not enough. I really want more of that dynamic, as it's pretty unique at DC these days.
Patrick Gleason's art is astounding, as always. He really nails Damian and does a pretty good job with the rest of the Bat boys as well. The fill in artist, on the other hand, reminds me of those comics where 21st century Neal Adams goes back and inks his pencils from the 60s and 70s. It doesn't work, looks choppy, and I hope the guy never does this book again. It was plain terrible. He may be a competent artist, and who am I to judge, but he obviously has no idea how to draw a ten year old boy.
Probably a 2.75 stars book, rounded up to three. Come on, Tomasi, I know you can do better than this.
November 9, 2025
2025 Review - Liked it even more than first time. The bad guy here is still forgettable but Damien's growth is so damn good here, as is his moments with bruce and the other Robins. Peter Tomasi just gets Damien so well, he really is his best writer IMO.
2017 Review - Really enjoyable, just disjointed.
We start off with Damien's origins. It's similar to Morrison's take except get a little bit more of a inside look at Damien's views. I also really dug the fact you see Damien always thought his father special yet never shows him that when he meets him.
The whole new bad guy, I even forgot his name, is forgettable. He's basically dying and wants Batman to suffer. Nothing new here. What helps these issues is Damien making his mark on the other Robin's from the past. We always knew damien was on the same level as most Robins, more ruthless anyway, but it was nice to see all their personalities clash. I especially like Nightwing and his interaction because of their past it hits home the most.
The ending I guess is like a tie in to death of the family, but it's kind of boring. I liked Damien being smart and using tactics like his father but the end kind of felt forced tbh. I didn't feel the emotional draw.
Overall the art is still top notch, and I enjoy Damien's growth and character interaction, we just didn't have a great villain like last volume.
2017 Review - Really enjoyable, just disjointed.
We start off with Damien's origins. It's similar to Morrison's take except get a little bit more of a inside look at Damien's views. I also really dug the fact you see Damien always thought his father special yet never shows him that when he meets him.
The whole new bad guy, I even forgot his name, is forgettable. He's basically dying and wants Batman to suffer. Nothing new here. What helps these issues is Damien making his mark on the other Robin's from the past. We always knew damien was on the same level as most Robins, more ruthless anyway, but it was nice to see all their personalities clash. I especially like Nightwing and his interaction because of their past it hits home the most.
The ending I guess is like a tie in to death of the family, but it's kind of boring. I liked Damien being smart and using tactics like his father but the end kind of felt forced tbh. I didn't feel the emotional draw.
Overall the art is still top notch, and I enjoy Damien's growth and character interaction, we just didn't have a great villain like last volume.
August 30, 2016
"Damian, I'm proud of you."
Now that I've read this twice, I can definitively say this is another great volume in The Damian Show, featuring Batman. We learn more backstory on Damian and his intense training, fighting his mother Talia Al Ghul on each of his birthdays. And there is more tenderness and humor to balance out the heavy.
Firstly, Patrick Gleason and Mick Gray are amazing. I want to frame their artwork. Secondly, there's a lot packed into this volume with various villains and even some great Robin in-fighting. But most importantly Damian and Bruce have their back and forth and make more father-son progress. (Hug it out, bitch.) Damian finally understands Bruce's insistence on following his instructions: remorse for Jason. And Damian brings something back from that night in Crime Alley that Bruce thought he lost forever.
May 31, 2019
I don't know what it is but this run just doesn't have the same appeal the Morrison run did to me (I know, I can't believe I'm saying that either). Perhaps it's because Bruce is a lot more distrustful and less understanding towards Damian than Dick was towards his brother. Even in this book, Dick is the only one that truly understands Damian.
This does emphasize the chip on Damian's shoulder: this is a kid that has been forced to prove himself his entire life. His mother wouldn't even tell him who his father was until he could best her in battle. He's been fighting an uphill battle since the day he was born. He deserved so much better.
Here's Bruce, in all his emotional constipation, trying to work alongside a kid he seems to trust even less than he trusted Jason. So, while that's a somewhat interesting dynamic, I preferred the one with Dick a lot more.
This does emphasize the chip on Damian's shoulder: this is a kid that has been forced to prove himself his entire life. His mother wouldn't even tell him who his father was until he could best her in battle. He's been fighting an uphill battle since the day he was born. He deserved so much better.
Here's Bruce, in all his emotional constipation, trying to work alongside a kid he seems to trust even less than he trusted Jason. So, while that's a somewhat interesting dynamic, I preferred the one with Dick a lot more.
November 10, 2021
Talk about a severe downgrade in a run after a fantastic opening salvo.
This volume starts off with Damians origin retold and him fighting off a talon assassin and that was okay him saving people and all that and then him challenging different Robins to prove he is the superior and its fun and has some real arrogant moments that will make you hate him but its well done and finally that moment where the new villain Terminus attacks and its a good moment for Batman to suit up like Iron man and save the day and a zombie-ish storyline which was super weird and the villain organizing it..was expected.
It has its moments and feels disjointed with no proper villain or a clear direction and feels like a silver age-ish volume but then again it has some cool moments for Bruce and Damian both but yeah the moment in the end came out of nowhere but was nice and the fill in artists were horrible though I liked what Pat did in the opening issues. Its a good volume and continues to expand on Damian and his role with the bat-family and all that.
This volume starts off with Damians origin retold and him fighting off a talon assassin and that was okay him saving people and all that and then him challenging different Robins to prove he is the superior and its fun and has some real arrogant moments that will make you hate him but its well done and finally that moment where the new villain Terminus attacks and its a good moment for Batman to suit up like Iron man and save the day and a zombie-ish storyline which was super weird and the villain organizing it..was expected.
It has its moments and feels disjointed with no proper villain or a clear direction and feels like a silver age-ish volume but then again it has some cool moments for Bruce and Damian both but yeah the moment in the end came out of nowhere but was nice and the fill in artists were horrible though I liked what Pat did in the opening issues. Its a good volume and continues to expand on Damian and his role with the bat-family and all that.
April 6, 2018
There were a handful of reasons I liked this volume just a little more than its predecessor -
1. The Damian origin / solo mission double-shot that opens the book.
2. The dialogue during the 'family' portrait sitting scene at the manor, with the Robins bickering (sounding like biological brothers) and Wayne's brief heartwarming insistence on Alfred's inclusion.
3. The augmentation suit - watch out, evil-doers !
4. The past and present Robins kicking ass as a team on the streets of Gotham - there is one almost full-page group illustration that is worthy of a T-shirt graphic or desktop wallpaper.
5. That ending, which brings things full circle to explain the title.
1. The Damian origin / solo mission double-shot that opens the book.
2. The dialogue during the 'family' portrait sitting scene at the manor, with the Robins bickering (sounding like biological brothers) and Wayne's brief heartwarming insistence on Alfred's inclusion.
3. The augmentation suit - watch out, evil-doers !
4. The past and present Robins kicking ass as a team on the streets of Gotham - there is one almost full-page group illustration that is worthy of a T-shirt graphic or desktop wallpaper.
5. That ending, which brings things full circle to explain the title.
September 8, 2015
Another strong volume in this series. Between this series and Snyder's I'm really coming around to Batman!
March 23, 2016
Well... Damian is a little shit, but we already knew that, didn't we? Arggggg, and I love him. Ridiculous freaking piece of moody, childish, turn-at-the-flick-of-a-switch, insane, miscreant child that he is. I wasn't sure if he was going to be able to redeem himself there, but he managed it. I don't think - well actually I know - Bruce even thought he was gong to.
I am a little pissed that Damian completely got away with everything that happened with the past Robins. Have I mentioned he's a child about pretty much, um, I don't know, everything? Is it bad that I'm secretly hoping they'll band together and take him out once, just to prove that they can, and that he is in fact capable of losing? That's probably wrong, isn't it? Meh, very little shame here. The kid brings that bit out of you.
The writing is absolutely electric. I can hear their voices saying it all in my head, exactly how it's written. I adore it when every single word spoken fits each individual character to a tee. Even the noises (the crunches, the snores) were on point. The art is, of course, stunning. Patrick Gleason, Mick Gray - you are some of my artistic heroes. The sight of his face set me on edge towards the end there. Batman said it right in these very pages - he's petulant. Perfect word for him. But as I said earlier, I can't help loving him right along with wanting to sock him in the face... Of course I wouldn't actually do that because he'd probably cripple me. Also, no upper body strength. Whatever.
I love this series, is what I'm trying to say, and I will certainly pick up the next one as soon as possible because right not I'm just binge-reading Batman and I regret nothing. I will on Thursday because I've got a unit test, but for now, I regret nothing.
March 25, 2025
3.5 stars
This had some fantastic character moments that are sadly collected in a very disjointed trade. I forgot about new 52 and the talons tie-ins, plus death of the family. The joker is a threat at the end of this volume though he never really makes an appearance, still this volume suffers a lot from it.
I'll review this later, but I'm really enjoying Damian's portrayal, the fact that we got to see him interact with each of the Robins, plus issue zero is great storytelling. Showing us how Damian was always interested and fascinated by his father. The very last scene where is revealed why this volume is called Pearl had me felling all the emotions. It's a complicated relationship between Bruce and Damian, yet I enjoy the conflict so much, I'm surprised at how much I'm enjoying Tomasi's writing of these two.
This had some fantastic character moments that are sadly collected in a very disjointed trade. I forgot about new 52 and the talons tie-ins, plus death of the family. The joker is a threat at the end of this volume though he never really makes an appearance, still this volume suffers a lot from it.
I'll review this later, but I'm really enjoying Damian's portrayal, the fact that we got to see him interact with each of the Robins, plus issue zero is great storytelling. Showing us how Damian was always interested and fascinated by his father. The very last scene where is revealed why this volume is called Pearl had me felling all the emotions. It's a complicated relationship between Bruce and Damian, yet I enjoy the conflict so much, I'm surprised at how much I'm enjoying Tomasi's writing of these two.
July 7, 2018
I loved Damians back story, I loved the interactions between the older previous robins but the villain Terminus was so lame that it really hindered the story. The first volume was much better.
February 17, 2017
Okay, that augmentation suit was awesome! :p
Batman and Robin keep on kicking ass in this issue...
Only strange to see Batman stepping out of the shadows though... Saw it happen just once before in one of the crisises.. Not his style, but he still delivers!
At first I didn't like Gleason's art, at all.. but it grew on me... Lot's of interesting details in it... But still not the best in the business according to me..
Overall view: very happy with this one. Let's hope they can keep up the pace...
Batman and Robin keep on kicking ass in this issue...
Only strange to see Batman stepping out of the shadows though... Saw it happen just once before in one of the crisises.. Not his style, but he still delivers!
At first I didn't like Gleason's art, at all.. but it grew on me... Lot's of interesting details in it... But still not the best in the business according to me..
Overall view: very happy with this one. Let's hope they can keep up the pace...
January 12, 2019
It's all about Damian trying to prove himself to the Bat Family.
Very nice artwork.
OVERALL GRADE: B minus to B.
Very nice artwork.
OVERALL GRADE: B minus to B.
May 12, 2014
There's some repetition here, due to the Night of the Owls storyline, so one of these stories I've already read (Damian has to save a dude from one of the Talons - decent story, but already read this - had I paid for the book I'd have been irked). The #0 story tells how Damian wanted to know his father, but wasn't able to until he could defeat his mother in combat on his birthday (took him until his 10th) which takes up to the first meeting of Father and Son.
Now the rest of this kicks off, with a bunch of thugs who've been maimed by Batman (similar to the Henchman who tells Batman how badly he hurt him in Batman:The Dark Knight Vol. 3) they range from a dude with a Bootprint on his face to a guy with a Batarang in his brain that scrambles his thoughts, and seems to be some kind of comic relief? They're all lead by Terminus, a Terminally Ill baddie who only lives because of the Iron Maiden suit he wears, and his goal is to show how Batman is the real problem in Gotham.
There's a spread that looks to be inspired totally by The Dark Knight Rises (Flaming Bat Symbol on skyscrapers), which is nifty, but Batman just gets in his Iron Man-ish suit and takes Terminus out.
Damian decides he's going to prove he's the best Robin, and informs the others (Tim, Jason, Dick) that he's going to take each of them out one by one. This seems kind of silly, with Tim being the biggest douche of the bunch. I was pretty happy to see Jason Todd, as I like the Red Hood persona, and now that he's just fringe of the Bat-Family it's pretty cool. He seems to be on the best terms with Dick, who at least, doesn't embarrass himself with all this Robin mumbo-jumbo. On the whole it seems to be that Tomasi doesn't think Damian had any reason to have grown at all since we first saw him years ago, and that's kind of dumb because I really liked him with his Dick/Damian Bats/Robin duo, and I do like him with Bruce as well and watching their relationship grow.
**There is one VERY cool panel of the 4 Robins staring upwards while Bruce is being Bat-manly, and I think Patrick Gleason's art shines here.**
The last story is about some group of cannibals using an Eclipse to descend on Gotham (seriously, is there ever one calm day there? I think Detroit and New Orleans have better luck). The less said about that one the better. Ties into the return of the Joker, but not enough to really be important. Plus there's the forced ending of emotional bonding between father and son, which we already saw in less contrived ways throughout the book.
For a book called BATMAN AND ROBIN...there was a lot more Robin(s)... than Batman.
Non-essential, but cool artwork, and again some awesome covers. If you like the Robins all together, then this is a good choice. Not much important goes on here though; I think this, like Batman: The Dark Knight, are the B-Team books this round.
Now the rest of this kicks off, with a bunch of thugs who've been maimed by Batman (similar to the Henchman who tells Batman how badly he hurt him in Batman:The Dark Knight Vol. 3) they range from a dude with a Bootprint on his face to a guy with a Batarang in his brain that scrambles his thoughts, and seems to be some kind of comic relief? They're all lead by Terminus, a Terminally Ill baddie who only lives because of the Iron Maiden suit he wears, and his goal is to show how Batman is the real problem in Gotham.
There's a spread that looks to be inspired totally by The Dark Knight Rises (Flaming Bat Symbol on skyscrapers), which is nifty, but Batman just gets in his Iron Man-ish suit and takes Terminus out.
Damian decides he's going to prove he's the best Robin, and informs the others (Tim, Jason, Dick) that he's going to take each of them out one by one. This seems kind of silly, with Tim being the biggest douche of the bunch. I was pretty happy to see Jason Todd, as I like the Red Hood persona, and now that he's just fringe of the Bat-Family it's pretty cool. He seems to be on the best terms with Dick, who at least, doesn't embarrass himself with all this Robin mumbo-jumbo. On the whole it seems to be that Tomasi doesn't think Damian had any reason to have grown at all since we first saw him years ago, and that's kind of dumb because I really liked him with his Dick/Damian Bats/Robin duo, and I do like him with Bruce as well and watching their relationship grow.
**There is one VERY cool panel of the 4 Robins staring upwards while Bruce is being Bat-manly, and I think Patrick Gleason's art shines here.**
The last story is about some group of cannibals using an Eclipse to descend on Gotham (seriously, is there ever one calm day there? I think Detroit and New Orleans have better luck). The less said about that one the better. Ties into the return of the Joker, but not enough to really be important. Plus there's the forced ending of emotional bonding between father and son, which we already saw in less contrived ways throughout the book.
For a book called BATMAN AND ROBIN...there was a lot more Robin(s)... than Batman.
Non-essential, but cool artwork, and again some awesome covers. If you like the Robins all together, then this is a good choice. Not much important goes on here though; I think this, like Batman: The Dark Knight, are the B-Team books this round.
October 11, 2015
When I first read this I really enjoyed it. Second time round, not so much.
After the first volume of Tomasi's run on Batman and Robin I was very optimistic. The previous book was full of heart and had a great story. This however, was a bunch of short stories that were completely forgettable.
The first story is Damian's origins, something which has already been told in Grant Morrison's run back in 2007, but hey it wasn't bad so I'll let that slide.
The second, and my personal least favourite, is Damian going after all the previous Robins. Why you ask? Well, because apparently Damian hasn't grown as a character and still acts like a stupid little brat. I hated this story so much. Not only for the fact that Tim Drake is also portrayed as a moody little bitch who gets bummed the hell out by a 10 year old. But the fact he bested Jason Todd was the icing on the cake though. How the hell could he be taken down so easily? I understand Damian was trained by the League of Assassins, but Jason use to be a complete badass who nobody f@$ked with. Well not according to Mr Tomasi. At least Dick had the sense to just bum him out with a sweet burn.
The longest arc in this book is a terrible story about an awful villain called Terminus. Who is out to discredit Batman cause of some dumb reason I can't be bothered to remember. He gathers a bunch of loser henchman who have been maimed by the Bat to get back at him. Who cares. It was boring anyway.
The last story is a zombie type piece. Once again pretty forgettable. This was going on during the Jokers 'Death of the Family' story arc in the main Batman title, so it really just felt like it was filler. Either way it was so flat I didn't remember anything about this story, which pretty much tells you all you need to know about the quality.
I'm so disgusted in myself for previously giving this 5 stars. Such a huge fall from grace after the great first instalment. Tomasi is usually better than this, but I won't be rushing out to get the next volume.
After the first volume of Tomasi's run on Batman and Robin I was very optimistic. The previous book was full of heart and had a great story. This however, was a bunch of short stories that were completely forgettable.
The first story is Damian's origins, something which has already been told in Grant Morrison's run back in 2007, but hey it wasn't bad so I'll let that slide.
The second, and my personal least favourite, is Damian going after all the previous Robins. Why you ask? Well, because apparently Damian hasn't grown as a character and still acts like a stupid little brat. I hated this story so much. Not only for the fact that Tim Drake is also portrayed as a moody little bitch who gets bummed the hell out by a 10 year old. But the fact he bested Jason Todd was the icing on the cake though. How the hell could he be taken down so easily? I understand Damian was trained by the League of Assassins, but Jason use to be a complete badass who nobody f@$ked with. Well not according to Mr Tomasi. At least Dick had the sense to just bum him out with a sweet burn.
The longest arc in this book is a terrible story about an awful villain called Terminus. Who is out to discredit Batman cause of some dumb reason I can't be bothered to remember. He gathers a bunch of loser henchman who have been maimed by the Bat to get back at him. Who cares. It was boring anyway.
The last story is a zombie type piece. Once again pretty forgettable. This was going on during the Jokers 'Death of the Family' story arc in the main Batman title, so it really just felt like it was filler. Either way it was so flat I didn't remember anything about this story, which pretty much tells you all you need to know about the quality.
I'm so disgusted in myself for previously giving this 5 stars. Such a huge fall from grace after the great first instalment. Tomasi is usually better than this, but I won't be rushing out to get the next volume.
November 25, 2015
There was a severe lack of coherence in this volume. The plot just jumped all over the place.
January 1, 2018
This review MAY contain spoilers. Read at your own risk.
I really enjoyed this volume. I liked Damian much more in this volume. At least towards the end. He was way more respectful and he and Bruce even shared a tender father/son moment at the end. It was quite endearing. I liked the undertone of Damian trying to prove himself to the other Robins. He challenges them and has to come out on top. I really liked what Dick told him in the end. And I am glad that he was the one to do it.
I didn't particularly like the villain in this volume, whose name I can't even remember. He was very forgettable and had no clear motive other than to watch Batman suffer as the villain dies of a particularly grotesque condition of rotting/melting skin/organs. I think a little backstory on the villain would have been helpful. It would have at least made me feel something for the villain. I walked away from this book not caring about him in the least.
On this same note, I would have liked to know more about the strange zombie cult. There could have been so much more done with it. All we find out is that the Joker has something to do with it.
Overall, this was a very enjoyable volume. I definitely recommend for Robin fans or fans of the duo!
More reviews on my blog: Novel Nerd Faction
I really enjoyed this volume. I liked Damian much more in this volume. At least towards the end. He was way more respectful and he and Bruce even shared a tender father/son moment at the end. It was quite endearing. I liked the undertone of Damian trying to prove himself to the other Robins. He challenges them and has to come out on top. I really liked what Dick told him in the end. And I am glad that he was the one to do it.
I didn't particularly like the villain in this volume, whose name I can't even remember. He was very forgettable and had no clear motive other than to watch Batman suffer as the villain dies of a particularly grotesque condition of rotting/melting skin/organs. I think a little backstory on the villain would have been helpful. It would have at least made me feel something for the villain. I walked away from this book not caring about him in the least.
On this same note, I would have liked to know more about the strange zombie cult. There could have been so much more done with it. All we find out is that the Joker has something to do with it.
Overall, this was a very enjoyable volume. I definitely recommend for Robin fans or fans of the duo!
More reviews on my blog: Novel Nerd Faction
May 27, 2017
These are rather odd stories of Bruce and Damian Wayne as Batman and Robin in The New 52
September 23, 2017
Pretty good, decent characterization and art, but all kinda disjointed stories. Batman and Robin's dynamic is the most interesting part.
June 19, 2013
You really need to read this one.
Some of the biggest buzz around Batman comics in 2013 was generated when Robin died again. The last time this happened was in 1988 when the second Robin, Jason Todd, was killed by the Joker in "A Death in the Family." Famously (or infamously), Jason's fate was left in the hands of the fans, who were given a chance to vote on whether or not he should die. They chose to let him. In the 2013 equivalent, the victim was Damian Wayne, son of Batman and Talia Head, daughter of Ra's al Ghul. This time it was the call of creator Grant Morrison.
Yet some of Damian's best stories were told by Peter J. Tomasi and Patrick Gleason. This collection is kicked off with the very best of their efforts, originally published in Batman and Robin #0. It's effectively the origin of Damian. Though there have been plenty of stories that have explored this already (and Morrison was inspired by an earlier one told in Son of the Demon), Tomasi and Gleason center theirs on the dynamic between mother and son, and the formative development of Damian himself.
Talia promises to tell her son who his father is when Damian is capable of besting her in combat on his birthday. He achieves this by the age of ten. Tomasi's brilliant innovation is to introduce the psychological dynamic between Alexander the Great and his mother Olympias (beautifully depicted in Oliver Stone's masterpiece Alexander). Comics have used Alexander as inspiration before (notably Alan Moore's Ozymandias in Watchmen), but Tomasi may have achieved the highest mark here. It's not even particularly emphasized, which part of what makes it so great.
In fact, the whole collection is filled with this kind of storytelling. Perhaps taking a further cue from Morrison, especially his earliest Batman Incorporated tales, most of what Batman and Robin experience is adventure so jam-packed that it's as much up to the reader to extrapolate the fullest meaning as what's actually there in the rich Gleason images.
What you're left with is a Batman and Robin who exist almost in spite of the villains they face. One of the stories, featuring a villain named Terminus with henchmen who have each been branded by past encounters with the Dynamic Duo, is so blatantly about this that it's hard not to come to this conclusion. A lot of it reflects not just on their relationship but on recent episodes from just before the issues in the collection, but it's easy to read these without becoming lost.
Since everyone at DC already knew Damian's imminent fate, this collection is an epitaph in advance. The pearl of the title is one Robin retrieves from some cannibal thugs in the last story, belonging to the famous necklace Bruce Wayne's mother wore the night she and her husband were murdered, but it might as well refer to Damian himself.
Subtle and explosive at the same time, just like Damian "Robin" Wayne himself, this is a collection you'll want to treasure for years to come.
Some of the biggest buzz around Batman comics in 2013 was generated when Robin died again. The last time this happened was in 1988 when the second Robin, Jason Todd, was killed by the Joker in "A Death in the Family." Famously (or infamously), Jason's fate was left in the hands of the fans, who were given a chance to vote on whether or not he should die. They chose to let him. In the 2013 equivalent, the victim was Damian Wayne, son of Batman and Talia Head, daughter of Ra's al Ghul. This time it was the call of creator Grant Morrison.
Yet some of Damian's best stories were told by Peter J. Tomasi and Patrick Gleason. This collection is kicked off with the very best of their efforts, originally published in Batman and Robin #0. It's effectively the origin of Damian. Though there have been plenty of stories that have explored this already (and Morrison was inspired by an earlier one told in Son of the Demon), Tomasi and Gleason center theirs on the dynamic between mother and son, and the formative development of Damian himself.
Talia promises to tell her son who his father is when Damian is capable of besting her in combat on his birthday. He achieves this by the age of ten. Tomasi's brilliant innovation is to introduce the psychological dynamic between Alexander the Great and his mother Olympias (beautifully depicted in Oliver Stone's masterpiece Alexander). Comics have used Alexander as inspiration before (notably Alan Moore's Ozymandias in Watchmen), but Tomasi may have achieved the highest mark here. It's not even particularly emphasized, which part of what makes it so great.
In fact, the whole collection is filled with this kind of storytelling. Perhaps taking a further cue from Morrison, especially his earliest Batman Incorporated tales, most of what Batman and Robin experience is adventure so jam-packed that it's as much up to the reader to extrapolate the fullest meaning as what's actually there in the rich Gleason images.
What you're left with is a Batman and Robin who exist almost in spite of the villains they face. One of the stories, featuring a villain named Terminus with henchmen who have each been branded by past encounters with the Dynamic Duo, is so blatantly about this that it's hard not to come to this conclusion. A lot of it reflects not just on their relationship but on recent episodes from just before the issues in the collection, but it's easy to read these without becoming lost.
Since everyone at DC already knew Damian's imminent fate, this collection is an epitaph in advance. The pearl of the title is one Robin retrieves from some cannibal thugs in the last story, belonging to the famous necklace Bruce Wayne's mother wore the night she and her husband were murdered, but it might as well refer to Damian himself.
Subtle and explosive at the same time, just like Damian "Robin" Wayne himself, this is a collection you'll want to treasure for years to come.
March 12, 2016
Another solid venture with just a couple small missteps.
The first issue in this volume shows some of Damian's upbringing with his mother Talia, and just what she put him through. Pretty amazing and sad at the same time.
The second issue was a crossover with the Court of Owls storyline. It wasn't bad, but seemed to mess up the flow of the regular story thread.
The next few issues started off really well: Damian starts trying to prove to the other Robins that he's the best but then that all ends rather abruptly and was a let down to me. I thought there would be a bigger climax but alas.
The last storyline was similar to the first volume in that it's back to that relationship between Bruce and Damian. There are some real father/son moments here, which I can attest to, and even some exact words I've said, so it hit home. The very last page is pretty emotional and shocking but in a good way and ended this volume on a high note.
It's time to talk about the art: it's average at best. A couple times it stands out a little more with me thinking "that's a nice panel" but then other times faces look weird or occasionally I'll have to look again to see just what action happened across panels. This volume had one or two fill-ins who were the same (serviceable) but different in style. The story is still totally worth it to me so I'm overlooking the art right now.
The first issue in this volume shows some of Damian's upbringing with his mother Talia, and just what she put him through. Pretty amazing and sad at the same time.
The second issue was a crossover with the Court of Owls storyline. It wasn't bad, but seemed to mess up the flow of the regular story thread.
The next few issues started off really well: Damian starts trying to prove to the other Robins that he's the best but then that all ends rather abruptly and was a let down to me. I thought there would be a bigger climax but alas.
The last storyline was similar to the first volume in that it's back to that relationship between Bruce and Damian. There are some real father/son moments here, which I can attest to, and even some exact words I've said, so it hit home. The very last page is pretty emotional and shocking but in a good way and ended this volume on a high note.
It's time to talk about the art: it's average at best. A couple times it stands out a little more with me thinking "that's a nice panel" but then other times faces look weird or occasionally I'll have to look again to see just what action happened across panels. This volume had one or two fill-ins who were the same (serviceable) but different in style. The story is still totally worth it to me so I'm overlooking the art right now.
September 1, 2022
This volume has a Night of the Owl crossover starring Robin (Damian Wayne) which was one of the better issues in that crossover. It also had a group of villains scarred and deformed by Batman joining together to come after Batman and Robin. Then we get to see the early years of Damian's childhood. It wraps up with a zombie story with the Joker making an "off-screen" cameo. Overall a good volume with nice art.
Batman and Robin fans should enjoy this one, especially fans of Damian Wayne.
Batman and Robin fans should enjoy this one, especially fans of Damian Wayne.
August 8, 2015
Damian can be described with one word: annoying. But I'm starting to like him; I guess he's kinda growing on me. I'm really liking this series a lot :) It was so cool how it had all the robins together! And Zombies!!! :o
December 1, 2015
A strong volume with good characterization though with a wider focus this time. We see some background on Damian as his mother has him trained and his interaction with the other Robins.
December 18, 2024
Damian Wayne might be the best character created in the 2000s. I love him, his personality, and how he plays against Bruce and crew. Here, the overall story isn't the greatest as we're in-between two major stories. The main thing here is Damian. His interactions with all the previous Robin's was pitch perfect. I loved it. He and Bruce trying to make their relationship work is great. Patrick Gleason's art is great here and his Damian is "my version" of him. Overall, I'm fully on board for this book and Damian's continued adventures.
January 3, 2019
I just see Tomasi riffing on Morrison's "Batman and son" concept, and coming close.
(Missed it by thaaat much.)
Lamely conceived villains like Terminus and the "Eat to live" zombies get two issues each, and that's a blessing, but there's a lot of exposition left to the reader's imagination. Confusing overall.
Volume three is already on deck, but I feel like I'm just checking the boxes.
(Missed it by thaaat much.)
Lamely conceived villains like Terminus and the "Eat to live" zombies get two issues each, and that's a blessing, but there's a lot of exposition left to the reader's imagination. Confusing overall.
Volume three is already on deck, but I feel like I'm just checking the boxes.
May 8, 2018
4,5
J'adore la dynamique entre Batman et Robin... et entre Robin et les anciens Robins... to ça est juste trop chou. Tout l'aspect personnage est vraiment bien géré dans cette série. Pas fan des zombies de la fin par contre, je n'ai pas tout compris (mais je suppose qu'on en saura plus dans le 3e volume)
J'adore la dynamique entre Batman et Robin... et entre Robin et les anciens Robins... to ça est juste trop chou. Tout l'aspect personnage est vraiment bien géré dans cette série. Pas fan des zombies de la fin par contre, je n'ai pas tout compris (mais je suppose qu'on en saura plus dans le 3e volume)
December 29, 2020
The Court of Owls tie-in sucked really badly and I feel like a broken fucking record about this now but honestly - the events derail everything good in every other title. It’s just ridiculous. Why bother having standalone titles if it’s going to make the other stories suck so much and limit the other good stories that could be told? Ugh
There’s some cool stuff happening here though other than the same old gripe I have about almost any old comic.
There’s some cool stuff happening here though other than the same old gripe I have about almost any old comic.
August 5, 2021
An improvement upon the first entry! Still insistent on bulldozing the reader’s innate intelligence, but more fun and more focused on the trials of my favorite ten-year-old psychotic. Mental health takes a front seat in this series, too, in ways absent from most Batman sagas.
Not quite a 4-star…but getting close. On to the next!
Not quite a 4-star…but getting close. On to the next!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 247 reviews