Tag Damian Wayne

A Batman vs. Robin #4 Micro-Review – A Misleading Title

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***This is where we keep it nice and simple. Comic book reviews in 100 words or less. Straight, concise, and to the point.***

Batman vs Robin 4, cover, December 2022, Mahmud Asrar, Nathan FairbairnTITLE: Batman vs. Robin #4
AUTHOR: Mark Waid
ARTISTS: Mahmud Asrar, Scott Godlewski, Jordie Bellaire (Colorist), Steve Wands (Letterer)
RELEASED: December 20, 2022

By Rob Siebert
Fanboy Wonder

Those bat ears on the Helmet of Fate look ridiculous. Just my opinion. But I’m right.

We do get a little character-driven scrap between Bruce and Damian in this issue. But ultimately, Batman vs. Robin isn’t really about Batman and Robin. It’s a misleading title in that sense. The story is really about setting the table for next month’s Lazarus Planet event comic. I can’t say I’m swayed one way or another at this point. Just feeling misled.

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A Batman vs. Robin #3 Micro-Review – Damian and the Pig Man

Rob Siebert 1 Comment

***This is where we keep it nice and simple. Comic book reviews in 100 words or less. Straight, concise, and to the point.***

Batman vs Robin 3, cover, 2022, Mahmud Asrar, Nathan FairbairnTITLE: Batman vs. Robin #3
AUTHOR: Mark Waid
ARTISTS: Mahmud Asrar, Scott Godlewski, Jordie Bellaire (Colorist), Steve Wands (Letterer). Cover by Asrar & Nathan Fairbairn.

RELEASED: November 8, 2022

By Rob Siebert
Fanboy Wonder

This month Batman fights all his former Robins, who are under mind control, in a big gauntlet to get to Damian. That actually feels right for a Batman vs. Robin story, as opposed to much of what we’ve seen in this book so far.

Case in point, in this issue Robin talks to an anthropomorphic magic pig man for some reason. There’s a Seinfeld joke about pig men to be made here somewhere…

Google it, kids.

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A Batman vs. Robin #1 Micro-Review – Unprepared For Class

Rob Siebert Leave a comment

***This is where we keep it nice and simple. Comic book reviews in 100 words or less. Straight, concise, and to the point.***

Batman vs Robin 1, cover, 2022, Mahmud Asrar, Nathan FairbairnTITLE: Batman vs. Robin #1
AUTHOR: Mark Waid
ARTISTS: Mahmud Asrar, Jordie Bellaire (Colorist), Steve Wands (Letterer). Cover by Asrar & Nathan Fairbairn.
RELEASED: September 13, 2022

By Rob Siebert
Fanboy Wonder

I feel a little bit unprepared for class on this one, like finishing Joshua Williamson’s Robin series would have been helpful coming into Batman vs. Robin. But nonetheless, newcomers are in fairly good hands with Mark Waid.

Tim Hunter accompanies Damian in his fight against his father. The fight takes them to the Batcave, and Hunter uses a bunch of empty Batman and Robin costumes against the Dark Knight. I loved that.

So…is Alfred back now? Yes? Please?

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A Shadow War: Alpha #1 Micro-Review – Batman Said What?!?

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***This is where we keep it nice and simple. Comic book reviews in 100 words or less. Straight, concise, and to the point.***

Shadow War Alpha 1, cover, 2022, Jonboy MeyersTITLE: Shadow War: Alpha #1
AUTHOR: Joshua Williamson
ARTISTS: Viktor Bogdanovic, Daniel Henriques (Co-Inker), Mike Spicer (Colorist), Troy Peteri (Letterer). Cover by Jonboy Meyers.

RELEASED: March 30, 2022

By Rob Siebert
Fanboy Wonder

This issue was coming along just fine, until we came to a total clunker of a line that’s given to Batman.

Out of what feels like the clear blue sky, Batman tells Damian that he could have prevented Alfred’s murder had he been there. Damian, of course, was there, and was unable to stop it. Granted, father and son are in a heated exchange when this line comes out. But it still feels needlessly harsh, and shoehorned in as a cheap way to manufacture drama. Bad form.

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A Robin #12 Micro-Review – A Bogus Belt Buckle

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***This is where we keep it nice and simple. Comic book reviews in 100 words or less. Straight, concise, and to the point.***

Robin 12, cover, 2022, Victor BogdanovicTITLE: Robin #12
AUTHOR: Joshua Williamson
ARTISTS: Roger Cruz, Norm Rapmund (Inker), Luis Guerrero (Colorist), Troy Peteri (Letterer). Cover by Victor Bogdanovic.

RELEASED: March 22, 2022

By Rob Siebert
Fanboy Wonder

Look at Robin’s belt buckle. It’s stylized to look like a D. As in Damian. That’s lame. Like, really lame.

On the subject of the Robin costume, Damian fights an evil version of himself in this issue, who’s got alternate outfit that works well as a one-off. Honestly, sometimes I wish Damian’s gray suit was just a one-off. I miss the colors.

Roger Cruz isn’t the first to draw Damian with an older, slightly taller look. Is this becoming the norm? If so, that’s not bad. I’d just like to see it more consistently rendered across the DCU.

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A Superman: Son of Kal-El #9 Micro-Review – Not Ready For a Pedestal

Rob Siebert Leave a comment

***This is where we keep it nice and simple. Comic book reviews in 100 words or less. Straight, concise, and to the point.***

Superman Son of Kal-El 9, cover, 2022, Bruno RedondoTITLE: Superman: Son of Kal-El #9
AUTHOR: Tom Taylor
ARTISTS: Bruno Redondo, Wade Von Grawbadger (Co-Inker), Adriano Lucas (Colorist), Wes Abbott (Letterer)

RELEASED: March 8, 2022

By Rob Siebert
Fanboy Wonder

Bruno Redondo and Adriano Lucas always do great work. So it’s nice to see them get this guest spot on Superman.

I’ve got mixed feelings about this story’s portrayal of Jon Kent and Dick Grayson as a new World’s Finest team of sorts. I prefer Jon with Damian Wayne.

I do like the respect Jon has for Dick, though. Taylor writes some nice chummy chemistry between them. The team does work. I’m just not ready to put them on a pedestal.

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A Robin #10 Micro-Review – Riding on a Plateau

Rob Siebert Leave a comment

***This is where we keep it nice and simple. Comic book reviews in 100 words or less. Straight, concise, and to the point.***

Robin 10, cover, 2022, Simone di MeoTITLE: Robin #10
AUTHOR: Joshua Williamson
ARTISTS: Roger Cruz, Norm Rapmund (Inker), Luis Guerrero (Colorist), Troy Peteri (Letterer). Cover by Simone di Meo.

RELEASED: January 25, 2022

For my money, Robin has plateaued for the time being. It’s not bad at all. But since we’ve gotten into this stuff with Ra’s al Ghul’s mother, things have stalled.

That being said, I can appreciate what Joshua Williamson has done as far as developing the “Mother of the Demon,” and how she ties into the origin of Ra’s, the Lazarus Pit, etc. It’s good writing. It’s just not the most compelling stuff in the world.

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A Robin #9 Micro-Review – An Overachiever

Rob Siebert Leave a comment

***This is where we keep it nice and simple. Comic book reviews in 100 words or less. Straight, concise, and to the point.***

TITLE: Robin #9
AUTHOR: Joshua Williamson
ARTISTS: Roger Cruz, Norm Rapmund (Inker), Luis Guerrero (Colorist), Troy Peteri (Letterer). Cover by Simone di Meo.

RELEASED: December 28, 2021

This issue overachieves, in my opinion. The fight against the big “Lazarus Demon” is better than I thought it would be. Damian has a nice rah-rah moment with the other tournament fighters. There’s even big callback to Batman: Year One. Tough to ask for more, right?

Alfred is clearly cast as a paternal figure for Damian in these issues, which I have mixed feelings about. They lay it on a little thick in this issue in particular.

I’m still missing the classic red, green, and yellow Robin colors. When does the gray suit go away?

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A Superman: Son of Kal-El #6 Micro-Review – Gratuitous Bat Appearances

Rob Siebert Leave a comment

***This is where we keep it nice and simple. Comic book reviews in 100 words or less. Straight, concise, and to the point.***

TITLE: Superman: Son of Kal-El #6
AUTHOR: Tom Taylor
ARTISTS: John Timms, Hi-Fi (Colors), Dave Sharpe (Letterer)

RELEASED: January 4, 2022

We get two gratuitous appearances from Batman characters in this issue. The first from Batman himself, the second from Damian Wayne/Robin. It looks like John Timms, intentionally or not, aged Damian up in his artwork. I call foul on that, as Damian is supposed to be in his early to mid teens, while Jon is supposed to be in his…what? Late teens? Early 20s?

Making Jay Nakamura a metahuman gives he and Jon a different kind of romantic dynamic than Clark Kent and Lois Lane. In principle, that’s a good thing. But we’ll see how it works in practice.

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A Robin 2021 Annual Micro-Review – Robin in Love…or Not?

Rob Siebert Leave a comment

***This is where we keep it nice and simple. Comic book reviews in 100 words or less. Straight, concise, and to the point.***

Robin 2021 Annual, Jorge CoronaTITLE: Robin Annual 2021
AUTHOR: Joshua Williamson
ARTISTS: Roger Cruz, Victor Olazaba (Inker), Luis Guerrero (Colorist), Troy Peteri (Letterer). Cover by Jorge Corona & Guerrero.

RELEASED: November 30, 2021

A very well written and drawn, but mostly missable annual that dives into the backstory of some of our supporting characters.

See how it says “Robin in love?!” on the cover? I was hoping this issue would dive head-first into that. Has Damian ever had a love interest? I don’t think he has…

Williamson continues to give Connor Hawke more care and page time than he’s had in decades. Apparently his time with the Justice League is once again canon? I dunno. It’s DC. Check back next week and it might be out of continuity again.

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