Ah, let me count the ways in which Damian Wayne has captured my heart. Too many. “War of the Robins” first appears to be an attempt to dole out some fan-service to all Batman fans, both the old and naïve. However, it’s so much more. As the cover would make you believe, the Robins have a set idea on who was the best Robin. But as Bruce puts it, and as most hardcore Bat-fans would agree, there’s no “Robin” that was the best. They may have worn the same suit but they honored the costume in different ways. And different doesn’t mean any one of them was the best. Of course, boys will be boys and they’ll still argue it to the death anyways. Except for Nightwing, who doesn’t really care because at least he can say he was the best Batman out of all the former Robins.
Although all the boy Robins are present, even the snarky Jason Todd, the story still focuses on the current Robin, little Master Wayne. It’s not about Damian single-handedly kicking the crap out of all the Robins and taking place as winner of the day but rather he’s still struggling to even to be recognized as Robin. Damian may come off as extremely arrogant at times (I think we all know he has good reason to) but he’s still a boy. One would think being the actual son of the Batman would make scoring a Robin suit an easy catch. It isn’t. Damian still feels the need to prove himself not only to his dad but also his “big brothers.” While Dick has a large amount of patience for Damian, the other two are skeptical. Tim seems to straight-up hate Damian. My point is, when Damian threatens to “attack” each of them in a task, I don’t really think he wants to “win.” In a little boy’s mind, if you can beat someone at something, they’ll feel weak and respect you. He doesn’t want to be the best Robin. He just wants them to acknowledge he’s Robin now and love him. Aww. Breaking my heart.
Batman and Robin#10 was not what I was expecting from a first glance. It exceeded my expectations. While an actual war would have been an interesting read, I find Damian’s little exploits even better. I love watching him grow as a character. Especially one that I hated when he was first introduced and now I want to pinch his little cheeks. Someone pointed out that for a family picture, Cassandra, Barbara, and Stephanie weren’t present. Cassandra and Stephanie haven’t showed up since Flashpoint. And Barbara was probably off somewhere swinging from roofs after being magically, freakishly healed busy. Batgirl is an important part of the Bat-Family but she isn’t part of the adoptive family the boys have built. Bruce is a father to those 3 Robins, adoptive or natural. Alfred is a father to Bruce and second father to the boys. Babs has her own, real family. It only makes sense for that for a Wayne family portrait, it’d be those 5(6, counting Titus). Hell, I think Jason should have showed up just to make it a party.
I’m looking forward to the new Terminus storyline (so tired of owls) and any tricks Damian has for the other boys. The only downside I can think of is not being more clued into what’s about to happen but that’s why we have a running series right?
9/10!
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