By: Fabian Nicieza (writer), Cliff Richards (artist), Ian Hannin (colors), Janelle Siegel (assistant editor), Mike Marts (editor)
The Story: The Great Escape: Batman and Robin get an assist from Red Robin to track down a thief called Getaway.
What’s Good: This issue is the light, classic capes and thieves comic story, with a bit of substance to it. This is not the navigation of a disturbing psychological geography that you get in Batman and Robin, but a light-hearted story of three brothers growing up in the shadow of a lost father. While Red Robin is a freshly-minted adult, seeking to prove his potential, and Dick is the young, conflicted family leader slowly emerging from his father’s shadow, and Damian is the hot-headed enfant terrible trying to be taken with the lethal seriousness to which he is accustomed, this story is about Bruce Wayne. Nicieza pays deep homage to Batman’s less accomplished rogues gallery with some nice accompanying clipped art from long ago on the screens, and by having a pretty C-list villain who hasn’t shown his mask for ten years. Why? Nobody knows, but the reveal of the story shows the deep parallels between Dick and Damian in the Robin role, as well as illuminates a part of Bruce that neither I nor Damian have ever seen. Nicieza makes the story bring out a genuine and honest longing for the father among the characters. I also like that this is a self-contained, one-issue story that is worth buying. The Vicky Vale subplot was also fun to watch and the cliffhanger ending with her revelation has me looking forward to the next issue.
What’s Not So Good: There are a lot of things that Cliff Richards did right, but shiny suits and expressive faces don’t seem to be his forte. He does heroic physiques and action scenes and some urban background well, but the faces were often scratchy to the point of being blurry on the small panels, and texture-less on the bigger ones. I think Richards shows a lot of promise, but he’s going to have to practice for a while, or maybe the DC editorial team can pair him up with a more experienced inker.
Conclusion: I had fun with Batman #703 and left the book knowing more about Bruce, Damian and Dick than I did going in. Well done.
Grade: C+
-DS Arsenault
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