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carleeiigh's review
4.0
Sort of all filler, but except for the actual Death of the Family tie-in (which is horrific and amazing), it shows a really sweet and soft side to both Damian and Bruce. And Alfred.
dominicangirl's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
rhganci's review against another edition
3.0
I detect a pattern here. In having looked at three of the Bat-family’s character books in the last week or so, and having observed that each of them bear the subtitle of Death of the Family, it would seem that DC’s directive to cash in on the immense popularity of the Batman brand has reached we budgeteers of the trade paperback-reading variety. Batman & Robin, Vol. 3: Death of the Family contains the book’s first annual, the two-issue story explaining how Robin ended up “at the table,” Batman #17, and an epilogue chapter that really only sort of relates to story at large. This trade back is a lean volume, and while the Annual provided a nice insight into the growing relationship between Bruce and Damian, the rest of the lean content seemed simply to take a long time to answer a simple question.
I think the issue with the Batman & Robin book on the whole is that it struggles to work alongside the large-crossover story structure that DC has chosen for Batman in the wake of the aforementioned popularity. As Batman is busy dealing with whatever principal threat has come to Gotham City, the Batman & Robin book inherits the task of telling readers “what Robin is up to.” As the book’s greatest strength is its development of the burgeoning father-son relationship between Bruce and Damian, especially through the first major arc dealing with Nobody, it seems backward to drop that development to accommodate the crossover structure and shoehorn Damian into his own “standalone” chapters. We readers are treated to a few great issues of father-son crimefighting at a time until DC’s need for every Batman arc to be a universe-wide crossover interrupts the development and sends Damian off by himself. This trade paperback is possessed of the same lurching narrative pace, and is all the weaker for it.
The artwork of Patrick Gleason and Mick Gray does not contribute in any way to that perceived weakness. Like the cover blurb tells you, some of the things that these artists do with the Joker and his face are truly, memorably disturbing in a way that Capullo, Benes, and Sampere sidestep in their own representations of the villain. His eyes seem emptier, and his long speeches meditate almost as well as they do under Snyder’s script. Whatever problems that this book’s story structure has under DC’s crossover-heavy plan for Batman, the artwork does not contribute to them–the book looks great, and certainly offers some looks at the characters that you can’t find anywhere else.
As with Batgirl, Bat-family completionists will need to know how Damian ends up taking his place in the final showdown between Batman and the Joker, and should take a couple of hours to read Vol. 3 before the next giant crossover, Zero Year, is published in trade in October. The content in this collection is as lean as any of those published under DC’s new distribution model, and as striking as the art can be, this book will likely not stand out as a must-read for most.
You can also read this review and a litany of other articles on books, games, movies, and television programs at our blog, The Unending Backlog:
http://unendingbacklog.wordpress.com/2014/08/17/review-batman-robin-vol-3-death-of-the-family-spoiler-free/
I think the issue with the Batman & Robin book on the whole is that it struggles to work alongside the large-crossover story structure that DC has chosen for Batman in the wake of the aforementioned popularity. As Batman is busy dealing with whatever principal threat has come to Gotham City, the Batman & Robin book inherits the task of telling readers “what Robin is up to.” As the book’s greatest strength is its development of the burgeoning father-son relationship between Bruce and Damian, especially through the first major arc dealing with Nobody, it seems backward to drop that development to accommodate the crossover structure and shoehorn Damian into his own “standalone” chapters. We readers are treated to a few great issues of father-son crimefighting at a time until DC’s need for every Batman arc to be a universe-wide crossover interrupts the development and sends Damian off by himself. This trade paperback is possessed of the same lurching narrative pace, and is all the weaker for it.
The artwork of Patrick Gleason and Mick Gray does not contribute in any way to that perceived weakness. Like the cover blurb tells you, some of the things that these artists do with the Joker and his face are truly, memorably disturbing in a way that Capullo, Benes, and Sampere sidestep in their own representations of the villain. His eyes seem emptier, and his long speeches meditate almost as well as they do under Snyder’s script. Whatever problems that this book’s story structure has under DC’s crossover-heavy plan for Batman, the artwork does not contribute to them–the book looks great, and certainly offers some looks at the characters that you can’t find anywhere else.
As with Batgirl, Bat-family completionists will need to know how Damian ends up taking his place in the final showdown between Batman and the Joker, and should take a couple of hours to read Vol. 3 before the next giant crossover, Zero Year, is published in trade in October. The content in this collection is as lean as any of those published under DC’s new distribution model, and as striking as the art can be, this book will likely not stand out as a must-read for most.
You can also read this review and a litany of other articles on books, games, movies, and television programs at our blog, The Unending Backlog:
http://unendingbacklog.wordpress.com/2014/08/17/review-batman-robin-vol-3-death-of-the-family-spoiler-free/
justkristykay's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
tomireads's review
dark
tense
fast-paced
5.0
I live for Bruce and Damian bonding moments and there were many in this book. ❤️ Highly recommended for the Bats fans.
19lindsey89's review
3.0
I really absolutely loved the Death of the Family story arc in the Batman comic book, but the writing isn't near as good when applied to the other members of the Bat family. The Joker's motivations get a little skewed so he is crazy, instead of crazy with purpose. This one was one of the better run-ins with the Joker, but it still fell short of where the story started.
emilyyjjean's review
4.0
This has a good chunk of the same story from the other Death of the Family versions, but I expected that.
I did love seeing.
I did love seeing
Spoiler
the caring side of Damian in the first half of the story. Where he makes the scavenger hunt for Bruce about the different spots that were important places to Bruce's parents. All the while, Damian is actually still at home playing "batman". It seems like a very likely father/son thingelektra_eris's review
5.0
Aww I'm starting to like Damien more. I mean he's still a little shit, but he's doing his best. The creepy dinner scene was good the first time I read it, but I just skipped it here since it's the same scene and I've read it like 3 times now.
bobby_cheeza's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
sherpawhale's review
4.0
I only read the latter part of this volume, but it was pretty powerful. It made me keen to go back to the beginning of this series.