[Renegade Robins: Damian Wayne] Week 2: "Pompous old man ..."

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pompous-old-man

Week two of the Damian Wayne Book Club here at Renegade Robins is here and do we have a doozie of a story for you all this week. It’s the first crossover storyline that Damian was involved with and he isn’t even wearing the RED, YELLOW AND GREEN of Robin yet, or at least not officially.

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I think we can all agree that Ra’s is insane, right?

Son of Batman News:

Current Comics:

  • The Djinn War continues over in Adam Glass’s Teen Titans # 40 out 3/18

  • Damian will also feature in March’s Robin 80th Anniversary 100 Page Super Spectacular #1 that comes out on 3/11 along with the other Robins through the years.

READINGS: (Nine issues)

Batman (1940) #670, Robin #168, Nightwing #138, Detective Comics #838, Batman #671, Robin #169, Nightwing # 139, Detective Comics #839-840

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

  1. Damian may be brave and well trained but even he has his limits. What did you think of the more vulnerable Damian we see here?

  2. What do you think of Dick Grayson’s reactions to Damian here?

  3. What was your favorite scene or scenes in these issues?

  4. What was your favorite Damian line in these issues?

And now for a poll…

Who does Ra’s most resemble in these issues?

  • Im-Ho-Tep (The Mummy)
  • Mumm-Ra (Thundercats)
  • Makoto Shishio (Rurouni Kenshin)

0 voters

AND THAT IS ALL I HAVE THIS WEEK FELLOW RENEGADE ROBIN MEMBERS.

NEXT MONTH:

  • FOLLOW [RR-JT] AND FIND OUT WHAT THE NEXT ADVENTURE FOR JASON TODD HOLDS AS HE ADVENTURES WITH THE TEEN TITANS.

  • AND IN TWO WEEKS ON [RR-DW]: A FIEND, A DEATH AND A BATTLE. DAMIAN FINDS SOMETHING ONLY TO LOOSE IT.

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We’re getting a whole lot of Damian written by people other than Morrison this week…

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Some who are better at it than others, from what I remember. Like, I don’t remember Milligan doing great with him, but I do know Paul Dini would later write him pretty well at least in books like Streets of Gotham.

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Yeah, some of the stories here were better than others but that’s pretty much what always happens with crossovers between books.

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Well, it will come as no surprise that my favorite issues were the ones by Grant Morrison. I enjoyed the Robin and Nightwing issues about equally. I didn’t care for Paul Dini’s contributions, though the artwork may have something to do with that.

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Yeah I didn’t care for the art much myself and I felt the story suffered as a result. That cover art though…that was some nice work.

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1. Damian may be brave and well trained but even he has his limits. What did you think of the more vulnerable Damian we see here?

Did not seem like Damian. Why was he scared to fight if that’s what he was raised to do with his cousin? Why did Talia fear him fighting if he competed The Year of Blood? Not Damian to me.

2. What do you think of Dick Grayson’s reactions to Damian here?

Kind of spot on, in my book.

3. What was your favorite scene or scenes in these issues?

mmmmmm. Ra’s trying to persuade Tim. Sensei fight scenes. The panel of Tim collecting some Lazarus Pit substance with Con, Spoiler, etc.

4. What was your favorite Damian line in these issues?

The only one that felt like Damian, "Simpleton. Your tactics are flawed. " [×]

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Damian is so hard for writers to characterize correctly even long after he’d become Robin and had been around awhile.

That line was also one of my favorites.

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It’s funny, while I was really into comics during this period, I don’t think I really paid attention to this crossover when it came out. Reading it now…it’s okay. I’ve read better events, but I’ve certainly read worse.

Damian may be brave and well trained but even he has his limits. What did you think of the more vulnerable Damian we see here?

He tries really hard to hide it, but it does seem like he was a little freaked out at the idea of his grandfather using him like that. It makes sense, and it introduces that character dynamic that’s still there in even modern stories, since I remember this also being used in the Prelude to the Wedding one-shot with Damian and Ra’s.

What do you think of Dick Grayson’s reactions to Damian here?

Ironic, considering where Dick and Damian go later in Morrison’s run. I think this story comes off pretty well for Nightwing, he sort of just jumps in, cracks jokes at the crazy situation, and kicks a lot of ass in the process.

Also, it was great to finally read the book where the more famous in-universe examples of Dick having the greatest ass in the DCU comes from.

What was your favorite scene or scenes in these issues?

I think my favorite is probably the last issue, with how Bruce dispatches Ra’s when he makes a play to stay in Gotham.

I also thought the fight both physically and aurally between Dick and Tim was compelling. Also, the rematch between Tim and Damian was fun.

What was your favorite Damian line in these issues?

Honestly, I don’t know if it’s because it’s been a day or two since I read it, or if he just doesn’t come off as that interesting in this event, but I can’t think of any specific line. I did like how he tried to help Alfred when he was in trouble – even here he shows off a little bit of character growth.

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Yeah, I wonder if it would have worked better if Grant were the only writer. I think it was simply too early for other writers to be building off of Morrison’s run.

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Huh! Spoilers!