Faceman

B & R has been the best of the bat books since Damian's death. Most, including Snyder's usually great Batman, seem to be moving on to other things already (I mean, Clayface? C'mon). Tomasi has at least made an effort to show how badly it's tearing Bruce apart (not badly enough to stop running around dressed up like a bat, but at least he's dwelling on it a bit instead of just moving on). I also loved the dialogue between Alfred and Bruce, though I'm not sure how Alfred is still around since Bruce essentially blamed him for Damian's death and told him to take a hike in the last issue of Batman Inc. Continuity?

The battle and interaction between Bruce and Tim was great. The art, as always with this series, is amazing. Quickly becoming one of my most indispensable titles. Such a waste to kill off Damian. Bruce and Damian as father and son was just so great and Tomasi has done an incredible job cultivating the dynamic between them.

Still trying to wait until Morrison finishes Batman Inc. before I squawk about Damian's death too much, but at this point it's really looking like they killed off a very compelling character for no good reason. I mean, the adolescent son of Bruce Wayne and Talia Al'Ghul? That's gold.

It really cuts the legs out from under this whole title. "The New 52's Batman & Robin without Robin!" If Bruce doesn't take another Robin (WHICH HE OBVIOUSLY SHOULDN'T), the title makes no sense. If Bruce takes in another Robin he starts to look like a bit of a nut (even more than he normally does). *Bruce sits brooding in the Batcave. "I'm ready." he whispers to himself. Bruce reaches above his head and pulls a lever shaped like an R. The faint sound of a child screaming draws closer and closer until finally an 11 year old orphan comes tumbling down a slide into the Batcave. Bruce whips a red, yellow and green outfit at the boy, "Put that on!" he growls "We're on patrol tonight!" "Where the hell am I? Who are you? Why are you doing this?" stammers the child. "I'M THE GODDAM BATMAN! I'M SAVING YOU FROM THE STREETS! I'M THE GOOD GUY AND NOT INSANE!"*

Love Lemire and Sorrentino's work on Green Arrow, but here's a pro-tip Ollie: You need to pull out an arrow that has gone though your leg? Break off the freakin barbed arrowhead first, it will cause far less catastrophic damage coming back through man.

And I've been a bit sour on bat books the past few weeks but BANE.

@zeeguy91 said:

@zeeguy91: In a way, he's not directly responsible for this particular extremely dangerous situation that Damian found his way into. Bruce left his skinny, 60-70 yr. old butler in charge of ensuring that his 11 yr. old living weapon of a son didn't leave the house to fight crime the way he normally would on this particular night. Now Bruce (according to the last issue of Batman Inc.) is pissed at Alfred that Damian is dead. C'mon man, take some responsibility for the choices you've made in your life. Not sure 'keeping dangerous vigilantes alive and out of trouble' is exactly part of Alfie's job description. I don't know; this whole Damian death is really sticking in my craw and I'm trying not to bitch too much about it until I see how Batman Inc. is resolved by Morrison. At the moment I absolutely hate it, think it was an awful idea and think the follow-up has been really poorly executed on paper. Honestly feels, reading the 'Requiem' issues, that the writers of the bat-books found out about Damian dying when we did (I know this isn't true). The aftermath has made it seem like something that just happened instead of the life-altering event that it should be. Cry a few tears...ok, what was I doing...oh right...PENGUIN YOU CAD!

What I know is that that Bruce was so transformed by witnessing the death of his parents that he vowed to change his life and carry out this personal mission. How will witnessing the extremely violent death of his own son effect Bruce emotionally? Not enough to change a single thing about his life, or even seriously examine whether what he is doing is sane or helpful to himself or others. Oh wait, he was feeling down but, you know, "RESOLVE" guy. For me, it's getting harder and harder to accept that Bruce (who we're all supposed to admire and respect) could even open the door to the batcave after what has happened let alone put on that suit and go out on patrol every night like nothing has happened. Sure he seems sad about it in a couple of the 'Requiem' issues (Batman/B&R/Batman Inc.) but for the most part it's business as usual for Bruce and Batman. My suspension of disbelief for this character (who I have loved for more than 30 years) is getting dangerously close to the ground on this one.

As you can see I have a lot of thoughts on the subject.

Also, Batwing!

@jphugo15: completely agree. he got his son killed, can't wait to see how he gets Lucius' son killed. Gets to a point where you gotta say Bruce, you're kind of out of control here. Dude seems like he's got quite the hard on for this new bat suit, look at the smile on his face! Hey man, your son was disemboweled before your eyes a couple days ago, maybe time to re-evaluate this whole running around dressed like a bat thing.

YES. For starters, PG's new costume is really weak. Looks like it was designed by a focus group, bring back the old uniform. It was far more distinctive, and the chest hole doesn't have to be freaking massive. I only invested in the first 3 issues of World's Finest because the writing was so unengaging. Had to force myself to read it each month and found I kept moving it to the bottom of my stack if favour of other, more engaging reads. Funny, I bought the first 3 issues of the Huntress mini and got bored with it as well even though it looked beautiful. Guess I'm just not a Paul Heyman Levitz guy. I'd like to see the guys that write Supergirl get a crack at it. SG is one of my favorite new 52 titles. The Grey/Palmiotti team is really good too.

Morrison, you MAGNIFICANT BASTARD.

Now you know.

And knowing is half the battle.