What’s up with the cliffhanger? Batman and Robin have been kidnapped and tied up and the supervillain is going to make them watch a movie at the drive-in.

It’s so out of place with the rest of the comic, I flipped the pages, wondering if there’d been some incredible misprint. Nope… they’re really just tied up and about to watch a movie.

It’s an okay issue otherwise. Gleason has some nice action sequences, but the lengthy talking scenes seem to bore him. Damian has some funny moments with Alfred and poor Ace the Bat-dog is still sadly unnamed.

Bruce–even as Batman–barely factors into this issue and it’s a problem. Tomasi doesn’t have the content for it just to be Damian’s issue. Damian’s problems with Bruce don’t make it compelling. The better written beginning is dramatically pointless once the second half’s events occur.

It’s sort of messy.

CREDITS

Knightmoves; 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.

So, this issue reveals Damien to be an inhuman psychopath. Wanting to kill bad guys and all, it’s accepted comic book morality, but Damien kills a little bat because he wants to look at it when it’s dead. He’s not coming back from that one. Maybe he’ll just grow up to be President or something.

But that scene raises a big question for Batman and Robin. What’s the point? If Tomasi is comfortable giving these broad, clear foreshadowing moments, why bother getting interested in it? Good guys don’t kill little animals.

Anyway, I’m also confused about this Morgan guy who knows Batman’s secret identity. Did Morrison bring in something akin to Batman Begins continuity with Ducard to Batman Inc.? I thought this issue was number two in a relaunch… nothing something I need to buy a trade to understand.

Good art from Gleason… but he occasionally has these bad moments.

CREDITS

Bad Blood; 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.

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.