I’m a little bored. Peter J. Tomasi’s take on Batman and Robin is to make it Batman and Son with Bruce trying to teach Damian a bunch of life lessons.
Only Bruce, stunted in an adolescent fantasy life, is probably not the guy to be giving advice. Tomasi can’t figure how to write the two of them together.
At one point, Damian says it was easier to admire Bruce before he’d returned from the dead. Bad move–Tomasi shouldn’t be reminding the reader when the book was (past tense) an essential read.
The rest of the story is okay. It’s unclear why Bruce is changing his life outlook, except because it’s a new number one, but it’s passable. The issue opens on the Russian Batman franchise, which is so dumb, whenever Tomasi isn’t on that level, the issue works.
The art from Patrick Gleason and Mick Gray is unspectacularly good.
CREDITS
Born to Kill; writer, Peter J. Tomasi; penciller, Patrick Gleason; inker, Mick Gray; colorist, John Kalisz; letterer, Pat Brosseau; editors, Harvey Richards, Katie Kubert and Mike Marts; publisher, DC Comics.
What you said. While completely passable for an average issue of Batman, there was little new or different here. Gleason’s take on Batman’s cowl throughout the issue is really strange, adding detail where there was none before, and reshaping it into a strange looking headgear. The complete lack of chemistry between the two is rough as Damian & Dick had a much more interesting schtick between them than do Bruce & Damian. Endless, torturous pain seems to be the theme here.