Howdy all. Glad you could join me for another meeting of the Damian Wayne Book Club here at the ole RR. This week we have the continuing saga of Batman and Robin and Damian finally makes the choice that will define him for the rest of his life. Will he be an Al Gul or a Wayne? Let’s find out.
Spotlight Issue featuring Damian in another Universe.
I love the final showdown against Doctor Hurt. As much as I enjoy the following story with Batman Incorporated, this part right here is the most satisfying moment in the entire Morrison run to me.
Oh, and Damian comes at the Joker with a crowbar. I think that’s an even better moment than when Jason did it in Under the Hood.
Loved that moment. Joker totally deserved it and the JT fan in me applauded at the irony of it’s use. I was also glad it was Damian who meted out that justice because he and Jason do have similarities. This was my favorite part of Morrison’s run because I felt like he was saying emphatically that Joker had no power over Robin despite his having killed one in the past and that maybe it wasn’t Jason’s fault but instead Joker’s. As poorly as I think Morrison handles the character there was talk of him attempting to redeem Jason in some way.
I think it’s kinda a shame that we never got to see the Joker’s attempt to reinvent himself as a crime fighter, as he considered doing near the end of the story. That sounds like a delightfully weird potential story from Morrison, but I guess we had to make room for New 52 grimdark faceless Joker.
Now that could have been interesting and Morrison would have done well with it. I mean quite a few of Batman’s rogues have up and switched sides so why not. Joker’s character is such that a writer can literally reinvent him without invalidating previous writer’s work with the character.
So much good stuff here. I agree with @AlexanderKnox that this is definitely where Morrison’s Batman run peaked for me.
While Batman Vs Robin is tied with Revenge of the Red Hood in terms of worst art of the run, it’s got a great hook. It was not just a great fight sequence, but also a big character moment for Damian as he decides to fully embrace his father’s side. While I liked the kid as a sort of wild card within the Bat family, this moment fully made him worthy of the title in my eyes:
Now Batman & Robin Must Die…absolutely spectacular. It’s interesting, because Morrison has basically called it “Batman RIP as a comedy,” and it definitely fits. I mean, the villain is ultimately bested by a banana peel. Frasier Irving’s art is just amazing, I think he’s second only to Frank Quitely as best artist on this book, and that’s a close, CLOSE contest. He just gets the mood and vibe that Morrison is going for.
And like someone else said, Damian just cracking Joker with the crowbar…
ICONIC.
It’s like I said in a thread lately about Talia: Thicc Doctor Evil.
This book was the only bit of Morrison’s run on Batman that I honestly liked. None of the rest of it really clicked with me maybe because I had stopped reading comics for a decade by the time I picked it up again. I may have had a certain set of expectations in mind at the time that just weren’t met in his run. I dunno.
I absolutely loved that moment. I especially liked that Damian was hoping he’d be a worthy enemy. That really proved to me that he accepted his father and mentor’s teachings and that he meant to abide by them. This will be a sticking point for me later as we shall see when we get to one story in the N52 that sort of pissed me off because it seemed to throw this very development straight out the window.
That was very memorable. It still gets a chuckle from me whenever I see it.
