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A review by ndizz87
Batman & Robin, Vol. 1: Batman Reborn by Grant Morrison
3.0
So this is my first book down for 2021 and I have to say, it was just okay. Immediately off the bat (no pun intended), I knew there was a giant chunk of information I was missing. This isn’t a stand alone story. It’s clearly bookended by other stories and I clearly came in not understanding any of the history up to the point we meet Dick Grayson as Batman and Damien Wayne as Robin. That already threw me for a loop. Batman is gone. Dick has to assume the mantle and leave his other persona, Nightwing, behind for now. The slim first volume doesn’t do a lot of catching the reader up on the events that take place before, so you have to work hard to try and piece together what the hell happened.
I had to do some research after breezing through to get that there was some big showdown with Darkseid and Batman “perished” during that altercation. We pick up immediately with Dick Grayson and Damien Wayne in their respective roles, but interestingly reversed. It’s now Robin who is the hard one, and Batman a more sympathetic person. It takes a second to pick up on, but it was kind of refreshing. Normally, Robin is the pure soul who is sticking up for Batman ideals and fresh-faced. Not with a Wayne in the role. I was shocked to see Robin is only 10 years old, but is certainly battle-hardened by his father and mother (Talia Al Ghul). Dick, on the other hand, is the perfect “Robin”, in a sense. Only he could assume the mantle of the Bat. However, his version is much more talkative, and more interested in upholding the philosophy and creed that Bruce had set forth. In a weird way, Robin is now Batman and Batman (a Wayne) is now a Robin.
We start out with Professor Pyg, who in my opinion, is one of the best of the newer villains. It’s a shame we don’t stick with him a little longer (although this is the first of four volumes so let’s hope he comes back). I loved the little dance scene that he does while Robin is tied up. He’s quickly caught by the police, but not before one of his new Dolltrons escapes after Robin fails to rescue her. I wanted to see more of the Circus Gang, but they are extremely short-lived. I thought there was a lot of promise there, but alas, they only appear briefly in the beginning.
The volume then launches into the main antagonist (from what I can deduce), Red Hood. He sets himself up as what Gotham truly needs: a vigilante that will kill. So now we have two previous iterations of Robin battling it out while a Wayne is in the current role. And let’s just say that new Robin’s mentality seems to align more with Red Hood than with Grayson. Red Hood, who now has a sidekick as well, Scarlet (the girl who escaped but was kind of a Dolltron - has a face sewed onto her real one), assassinates some high level mobsters. A fight ensues between the two duos which allows the Penguin (nice to see a familiar character) escape.
Their next encounter ends with a new assassin, the feared but flamboyant, Flamingo, who apparently eats people’s faces (as flamingos do). He rips Scarlet's sewed face and she seemingly leaves for good after that. Flamingo also puts five bullets into Damien, paralyzing him from the waste down. However, the Red Hood, in the final close, appears to have crushed him with a backhoe. Thankfully, Damien is the son of Talia, so I’m sure there is a lazarus pit somewhere closeby to help Damien walk again.
All in all, I’m intrigued but at the end of it, if I don’t pick up another volume, I won’t be upset. There wasn’t a whole lot of catching the reader up so there is a lot of information you have to work out yourself. I liked the exchanges and relationship between the new Batman and Robin, but I didn’t feel like I got enough of it. There were interesting new villains that were introduced and then set aside (hopefully for a return). I don’t know where they go next. It appears Scarlet has high-tailed it out of town, Red Hood is in jail, and Batman/Robin are in desperate need for some TLC. Time will tell if I will attempt to go farther into the rest of the volumes. As of today...meh. And that’s saying something of a Grant Morrison/Frank Quitely graphic novel. It’s no Batman: Year One, but it’s also not Gotham by Gaslight (thank the Lord for that!).
I had to do some research after breezing through to get that there was some big showdown with Darkseid and Batman “perished” during that altercation. We pick up immediately with Dick Grayson and Damien Wayne in their respective roles, but interestingly reversed. It’s now Robin who is the hard one, and Batman a more sympathetic person. It takes a second to pick up on, but it was kind of refreshing. Normally, Robin is the pure soul who is sticking up for Batman ideals and fresh-faced. Not with a Wayne in the role. I was shocked to see Robin is only 10 years old, but is certainly battle-hardened by his father and mother (Talia Al Ghul). Dick, on the other hand, is the perfect “Robin”, in a sense. Only he could assume the mantle of the Bat. However, his version is much more talkative, and more interested in upholding the philosophy and creed that Bruce had set forth. In a weird way, Robin is now Batman and Batman (a Wayne) is now a Robin.
We start out with Professor Pyg, who in my opinion, is one of the best of the newer villains. It’s a shame we don’t stick with him a little longer (although this is the first of four volumes so let’s hope he comes back). I loved the little dance scene that he does while Robin is tied up. He’s quickly caught by the police, but not before one of his new Dolltrons escapes after Robin fails to rescue her. I wanted to see more of the Circus Gang, but they are extremely short-lived. I thought there was a lot of promise there, but alas, they only appear briefly in the beginning.
The volume then launches into the main antagonist (from what I can deduce), Red Hood. He sets himself up as what Gotham truly needs: a vigilante that will kill. So now we have two previous iterations of Robin battling it out while a Wayne is in the current role. And let’s just say that new Robin’s mentality seems to align more with Red Hood than with Grayson. Red Hood, who now has a sidekick as well, Scarlet (the girl who escaped but was kind of a Dolltron - has a face sewed onto her real one), assassinates some high level mobsters. A fight ensues between the two duos which allows the Penguin (nice to see a familiar character) escape.
Their next encounter ends with a new assassin, the feared but flamboyant, Flamingo, who apparently eats people’s faces (as flamingos do). He rips Scarlet's sewed face and she seemingly leaves for good after that. Flamingo also puts five bullets into Damien, paralyzing him from the waste down. However, the Red Hood, in the final close, appears to have crushed him with a backhoe. Thankfully, Damien is the son of Talia, so I’m sure there is a lazarus pit somewhere closeby to help Damien walk again.
All in all, I’m intrigued but at the end of it, if I don’t pick up another volume, I won’t be upset. There wasn’t a whole lot of catching the reader up so there is a lot of information you have to work out yourself. I liked the exchanges and relationship between the new Batman and Robin, but I didn’t feel like I got enough of it. There were interesting new villains that were introduced and then set aside (hopefully for a return). I don’t know where they go next. It appears Scarlet has high-tailed it out of town, Red Hood is in jail, and Batman/Robin are in desperate need for some TLC. Time will tell if I will attempt to go farther into the rest of the volumes. As of today...meh. And that’s saying something of a Grant Morrison/Frank Quitely graphic novel. It’s no Batman: Year One, but it’s also not Gotham by Gaslight (thank the Lord for that!).