By Grant Morrison (writer), Frank Quitely (pencils, inks) Alex Sinclair (colors)
The Story: Following the events of Battle for the Cowl, Dick Grayson and Damian Wayne reunite the dynamic duo in the new Batman and Robin. Meanwhile, a new crew of mysterious and freaky villains, led by a sadistic criminal known as the Pyg invades Gotham as the new dynamic duo try to come to terms with each other and their respective roles.
What’s Good: There is a lot to love for this new Batman epic. It’s exciting to see a completely new and novel incarnation of such a well tread concept, as Morrsion perfectly states it in the comic: Batman and Robin are “together again for the first time.”
The new, flying Batmobile is a perfect fit for the crazy, bouncy, and fun themes that comprise this comic. Like all of Grant Morrison and Frank Quietly projects, this effort has a near perfect symmetric prose and beautiful and haunting images. Morrison’s creation of the weird and campy threat of Pyg and his crew blends perfectly with the Quitely’s illustrated words, such as “Splsh” and “Bwasksssss.” As in All Star Superman, Morrison leaves the heavy lifting to Quietly, while executing minimal dialogue and extremely well-scripted scenes.
Surprisingly, Damian was my favorite element of this read. In the past, his character irritated me like he was a demonic Jar-Jar Binks. But here, his characterization is very strong and rich with depth. His interactions with Dick and Alfred were really interesting and subtle. I look forward to seeing his character develop.
Its kinda like beating a dead horse over here at WCBR (see here), but Quietly’s work is basically astounding. The character designs are beautiful. The perspectives are things of wonderment. It really is good to have Quitely and Morrison, together again. I see Eisner Awards in the near future.
As for Morrison, by concocting and executing this light and accessible tale on top of some of the most complex comic book stories (R.I.P and Final Crisis) he’s ever told, he has cemented himself as an expert storyteller with possibly the widest range of any writer around. Those of you who were let down by his most recent projects will be delighted here, and those who enjoyed those projects will be equally, if not more, pleased with this comic.
It should also be pointed out that Alex Sinclair works the palette masterfully here. The choice of tone and color are flawless. Just flip through the comic casually and you’ll see what I mean.
What’s Not So Good: Truthfully, there is nothing to complain about in this comic, especially when taking into account that it is the first issue in a series. That being said, I did feel that Dick’s character was a little flat and boring, but honestly, I always felt that way so I can’t blame Morrison for keeping this particular streak alive.
Conclusion: It may not be Bruce, but Batman is back! After the roller coaster of deconstructing one of (if not) the most famous characters of all time, it’s nice to be back to some old-fashioned, action-packed stories featuring the Caped Crusader and the Boy Wonder– and not Batman of Zur-En-Arrh. You won’t need Wikipedia to get through this comic, you won’t have to download .cbz files of Batman from the Silver Age to know what Morrison’s talking about, and you definitely won’t have to worry about thinking of dropping a Morrisson book! Between the great art and great writing, Batman and Robin is poised to be the read of the year.
Grade: A
-Rob G. and Raymond Hilario
Filed under: DC Comics, Reviews Tagged: | Alex Sinclair, Batman, Batman, Batman and Robin, Batman and Robin # 1 - Review, Batman and Robin #1, Batman R.I.P., Comic Book Reviews, DC Comic review, DC Comics, Frank Quitely, Gotham, Grant Morrison, Pyg, Robin, Weekly Comic Book Review
