Comics! Batman and Robin #5

Batman and Robin #5

Peter J. Tomasi: writer
Patrick Gleason: penciller
Mick Gray: inker

The Comic
Insert my usual praise for this book. Its hitting all the high notes for me for a Batman title. Hell, for just a comic book in general.

The great part of this book is the focus on Damian. He is one messed up kid. He takes Morgan, the big bad, up on his offer to train under him instead of Batman. Bruce finds this out when he finds a note from Damian and Alfred notices a bunch of drawings done by Damian that show some twisted stuff.

Bruce finally realizes that he hasn't been listening to his son and so he goes out in search for him. This will be difficult, especially since Batman as well as the League of Assassins have trained Damian on how to be stealthy.

Meanwhile, we get an origin story for our main villain told to us via a message Bruce is dictating to Damian. It tells the story of how Morgan came to be, how he ties into Bruce's training, and how Bruce learned some sort of valuable lesson by asking Morgan and his father, Ducard, to train him. We then go back to Damian and Morgan where Morgan is telling Damian that they are going to take out an embassy that is the current location of a slave trader. And take them out they do!

Now this next scene could have been done a couple of ways. There could have been a two page spread that focused on a couple of panels that would provide room for plenty of exposition that gives us some insight into what the characters are thinking. However, these two have to be silent as can be. So we get to see how Damian and Morgan take down several men, skip over hurting a janitor, and pull a gun out on the person who you assume is doing the slave trading. Morgan than turns and hands the gun to Damian, telling Damian that he must now prove himself and kill the man. The sequence has a quick feel to it thanks to the art. The path they take from the parking lot where it is dimly lit until they get into the room that is fully lit up works wonderfully, and it makes me look forward to the next issue. I am predicting that Damian realizes that he doesn't want to kill, and turns on Morgan. The fight will be good for a bit before Damian gets his butt handed to him and that's when Batman comes along. My next hope after that would be a scene where Batman and Robin come together, and Bruce takes some time to hang out with Damian.

Then again, I hope I am wrong and something even better than that happens. I'm enjoying this ride and the breaking down of the character of Damian. Sure, he is arrogant, but there is more to him than just that aspect of his personality. Tomasi is doing an outstanding job getting into the thick of it and the artwork is living up to the high expectations that people put on it before the relaunch.

The Cover
I like this cover. It reflects the story perfectly but plays it a little safe. If you are casually seeing it on the shelf, I think it would make you do a double take because you would expect to see Batman there instead of Morgan. Beyond that, its a pretty standard superhero cover.Which actually makes me wonder why there isn't something better on the cover that could match the story on the inside of the book.

Grades
Words: 10/10
Pictures: 10/10
Recommend: Couldn't recommend it more.
Buy Next Issue: Sold!

Previous Issues
Batman and Robin #4
Three Issue Trial