Same old, same old
Bruce Wayne is back as the one and only Batman. Damian Wayne is Robin. They're the new dynamic duo in Gotham. However, Batman Inc. in Russia is having trouble with nobody.
The Good:
- Nobody: The new villain looks very menacing. And he's apparently a killer that can turn invisible. How cool is that then?
- Banter: Batman and Robin are very different. Damian is very cold and distanced, while Batman is strangely emotional. This is definitely a side of the characters worth exploring.
- Intro: Batman was very nicely explained, his whole motivation and his origin. Even for an old reader, it felt new and fresh. And they didnt' even have to show Martha and Thomas Wayne.
- And: The book really is Batman and Robin. They're together, it's their adventure and they do it together.
The Bad
- Past: I can't help but think that I need to have read something about the characters in the past. Damian even references Dick and Jason. If you're one of these fabled New Readers, you will be totally confused and wondering who it is they're talking about. Hell, even I had trouble with it. Mainly because...
- Tim: So Tim isn't a Robin and never has been? I can live iwth that, but then why were the others Robins and what happened between Jason and Damian? These are not questions I should be asking. Because I don't care how they fix continuity snafus that shouldn't even be there because the reboot was supposed to erase them all.
- Adventure: I liked the sense of adventure that Justice League brought. Everything seemed to be new and exciting. This feels like the same old stuff that we've seen a hundred times before.
- Batkov Manski: Who's this Russian Batman? Wasn't Batman Inc. supposed to be a thing of the past now? So the Batman Inc Batmen are just throwaway characters that are there to get stories going now? Come on, you can do better than that.
The Verdict:
If you're a new reader: Don't buy it just yet. You won't understand the characters' dynamic and what they're talking about.
If you^re a long-time reader: Buy it if you feel like a bit of stuff that might as well have happened before the reboot.
