We've reached the halfway point of
New 52: Year One, and it seems like a good time to go back and look
at some of the most outstanding series in total so far. So for the
next month, I am going to choose a book each week, read all six
issues, and jot down some general thoughts and reactions. This week:
Batman and Robin!
This may come as a
surprise to you but Batman and Robin is currently the best
Bat-book being published. Sure, Batman is quickly catching up
and Batwoman is extremely good, but Peter Tomasi and Patrick
Gleeson's father/son-themed epic is without a doubt the frontrunner
at the halfway point of New 52 Year One. If that is not provocative
enough, allow to tell you a little secret. Batman and Robin
is the ONLY Bat-book I will be writing about this month. Obviously,
I chose it over Batwoman this week and next week I plan to
pass over Batman for...another book. (I am sure you can guess
but, if not, you will just have to come back and find out which one
it is.)
The reality is
that of the twenty or so DCnU titles I am picking up, Batman and
Robin is the book that rings the truest. Sure, Animal Man
and Wonder Woman have deeply emotional storylines that also
deal with family, but Batman and Robin is on another level.
Part of this may be that the familial intrigue is at the very heart
of the book. The Bruce/Damien/Alfred dynamic drips with tension and
Gleeson does a fantastic job of translating Tomasi's scripts into
believably emotional faces. The entire series has been about the
relationship of fathers and sons. From the triangle of Bruce,
Ducard, and Morgan Ducard to Damien, Bruce, and Alfred the book has
been thematically about fathers, surrogate fathers, sons, and
surrogate sons. That most of these relational pairings and
motivations are believable is a real credit to Tomasi, and that
Damien comes off as a three dimensional character is nothing short of
a miracle. I remember a time, shortly after Damien was
reintroduced/created by Grant Morrison, when I was scared of other
authors attempting to write the character. Damien Wayne requires
nuance or he becomes Jason Todd 2.0: Rich Kid Edition. The fact that
we, the readers, can see his struggles and emotions writ large across
the comic book page is an impressive feat. It is my opinion that
Tomasi, who has written plenty of very good comics, is writing the
best series of his career.
However, as good
as Tomasi has been, Pat Gleason has been even better. While books
like Batwoman and the Flash have garnered accolades for
being the best looking books in the New 52, Gleason has quietly been
churning out page after page of stunning work. While JH Williams and
Francis Manapul, of Batwoman and Flash respectively,
have the advantages of both writing and drawing their books, Gleason
has used his considerable skill to transform the splashpages, action
sequences, and covers of Batman and Robin into visual
playgrounds filled with detail. Yet, as good as he has been at the
grand storytelling, he's been just as good at the small. Damien and
Alfred, in particular, have stood out for their humanity amidst the
craziness of comic book insanity.
Another thing that
Tomasi and Gleason deserve credit for is their creation of Morgan
Ducard, also known as NoBody. Thanks to Batman's already phenomenal
rogues gallery, it is terribly difficult to create a new villain that
promises to have any real staying power. I am not sure that NoBody
will suddenly become one of Bruce's most prolific adversaries, but
the last time I was so impressed by a new villainous creation was
Grant Morrison's Prometheus. (Of course, that doesn't bode well for
NoBody since no one but Morrison has been able to successfully use
Prometheus..but that's neither here nor there.)
Batman and
Robin is superhero comics done extremely well. It is not
groundbreaking but it is stellar. By issue twelve, Scott
Snyder's Batman may overtake it but, for now, Batman and
Robin is the best Bat-book on the market.
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