Comics! Batman & Red Robin #19

Batman and Red Robin #19

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

Solicitation and Preview

Review
Tomasi gave an interview before this book came out due to the premiere of Carrie Kelley in the New 52, her first time ever being introduced into the main Bat-titles. He was asked if it was his idea to bring her in. He alluded to the fact that an editor and him were talking, and then he dodged the question.

Editor driven issue/development aside, how does this story stack up? Well, it was surprising actually. Aside from Carrie Kelly, whose initials "C.K." give a different perspective to previous issues where a note from "C.K." was left on a book of Damian's, Frankenstein made an appearance here.

It makes sense to have him in the story, simply because Bruce being off the rails and wanting to re-animate his son would drive Bruce to the point of seeing how Frankenstein ticks. But Frankenstein isn't really a pushover here. In fact, he comes across as the most logical one between him and Batman, which was nicely executed by the creative team.

My hope with this issue was being able to see lots of screen time between Red Robin and Batman. Unfortunately, there isn't much of it here. When Red Robin arrives on the scene, Bruce is already pulling apart Frankenstein. In fact, both Carrie and Frankenstein get more screen time and more interesting plot points than Red Robin. Such a shame to see another opportunity to get to know Tim Drake in the New 52 world go to waste.

The question that I'm thinking of after finishing this book is how I want to look at Carrie Kelley in the New 52. Personally, a part of my wishes that she would be kept in The Dark Knight Returns world and just stay there. But I trust Tomasi. In just this one issue, I am getting a sense of character that doesn't feel generic like how Harper Row feels. In a way, I feel the same way about Carrie right now like I did about Damian when he first appeared on the scene. Interesting, and I'm not entirely turned off by the idea initially. Let's see how this plays out.

Grades
Words: 9/10 - a firm grasp on main characters involved, minus Red Robin, who remains a mystery.
Pictures: 9/10 - Gleason and Gray are awesome together.
General Feeling After Reading: Interested in a little more.
Buy Next Issue: I'm down. Should be interesting to see how Red Hood interacts in the story.