1118 ( )

Evil Batman child is scary in a fun way. Feel a bit bad for Tim (our Robin in this book) but it was nice to read the beginning of Damien. ( )

I started this really looking forward to it, and somehow the author just dropped the ball on the plot towards the end. Now, in the interest of disclosure, I am not a comics fanboy or expert, more like a casual reader. But I have to agree with some of the commenters here that Morrison simply lost control of the plot somewhere along the way. The thing is that the premise of this graphic novel is simply great; the potential for a great story was there. Somehow, after the Interlude segment with the Joker, Morrison simply loses it. There is no other way to say it. The story simply becomes a fairly chaotic mess. The whole deal with the 3 Batman ghosts? I am not quite sure where he was supposed to go with it. It just seemed to meander from one story to the other with no connection.

Now, some readers here have wondered about that Interlude segment, the Joker story. I kind of took like the intermission in an opera, only with a different story. I actually liked that interlude. I think it could have made a decent story on its own. I found it to be reminiscent of Morrison's Arkham Asylum in terms of the feel and look as well as the way the story was told. And I loved Arkham Asylum (I did review it here positively). So go figure.

The end of the story, or the last chapter offers an interesting possibility for Batman's son, but there is no continuity to get from where Morrison started to that ending. Overall, not the best Batman work, at least when it comes to everything after the interlude. The book starts strong and then falls down. A pity, for as I said, they had a great story premise that I think they could have done better with it. ( )

This is the first arc of Grant Morrison's Batman epic. While in London for some R&R and womanizing, Bruce Wayne/Batman is introduced to Damian, his supposed son with Talia Al Ghul. (You saw her in Dark Knight Rises. She has a longer lifespan in the comics.) Damian has been raised and trained by the League of Assassins, which makes him an 8-year-old, homicidal menace, and he wants to be the next Robin. Damian shows this intention by sending the current Robin (Tim Drake) to the infirmary. Next thing you know, Batman is back in London to chase down his baby-mama and being attacked by ninja man-bats on a submarine. A torpedo nearly kills Talia, but Damian pushes her out the way, but it blows teh submarine to pieces. Last thing we see is a forlorn Batman overlooking a fiery wreck. Did Damian and Talia survive. We don't know. Onto the Black Glove. ( )

Excellent story introducing the son of Batman, Damian Wayne. I resisted reading this for a long time, since, to a longtime Batman reader, the premise sounded a bit... well...sensational and dumb. But I was pleasantly surprised. The first half has a real '70s-era Batman vibe, complete with the return of the Man-Bat (or should I say men-bats?). Unfortunately, once the Batman and Son storyline wraps, they throw in a few books that feel like they should belong in another volume. Oh well. ( )