Batman and Robin relaunched this week with a team I’ve been curious to see for a while.  Part of the fun of the previous series, was the role reversal by having a lighter hearted Batman, and the grim Damian Robin.   So for the first time we have Bruce and Damian operating as Batman and Robin.  I’ve always felt this was a teaming DC had skipped past for the sake of their larger story, and given its interesting father and son dynamic, its something I’ve been curious to see approached for a while now.

First off, I’ve read some complaints online about the characterisation, and I must admit I can see what they were talking about. Peter Tomasi’s Damian definitely felt a bit off. More in line with the character’s early appearances, almost ignoring the maturing we saw during his partnership with Dick. That said, I did like how Tomasi is trying to move Bruce on as a character, and play up the fact that this is a father and son team (Bruce trying to lay down the law to Damian in a way that’s clearly going to encourage rebellion struck me very much as a parenting trap).  The idea that Bruce is trying to move beyond the death of his parents, tying in nicely with him now focusing on his own son, so I really liked what Peter Tomasi was doing there.

One book that was probably the first of my nice surprises this week was Paul Cornell’s Demon Knights.  Despite finding myself a bit lukewarm to last week’s Stormwatch, I really enjoyed this much more fantasy based series.  While featuring some familiar DC characters (notably for me Jason Blood and Etrigan), the setup is for a straight sword and sorcery tale rather than any superheroics.  The way all the Arthurian stuff worked into the story appealed to the side of me that’s long been a fan of that legend, so this was a real win for me as something a bit different in my comics pile.  Definitely onboard for the next issue.

The other surprise this week was the Mr Terrific book.  Having liked the character in the JSA I thought I’d give this a try, and it’s really intrigued me with a bit of mystery surrounding the appearance of his unborn son, and the fantastical nature to Holt’s accomplishments (his lab stored in a pocket dimension, that kind of thing). The thing most likely to generate discussion though, was the appearance of Karen Starr of Starrware. No sign that she’s actually Power Girl (although the dress she wears to a reception seems like a clear nod to the character), but I wonder if they’ll keep it quiet, and then reveal her as being from Earth-2 or something later on, once JSA is established.  All in all, for a book I hadn’t been sure about, I liked the take on the character, and the fact it wasn’t afraid to be a bit outlandish with some of his inventions, almost setting him up as a DCU equivalent to Reed Richards in some ways.

Superboy I found myself a little torn on. On one hand, I found it enjoyable and got into the story it was telling. That said, the character is a complete reboot, with little to tie him to the Conner/Kon-El I was a fan of before, which makes it a little trickier to get into for me.  The fact his origin is kept familiar (minus its Death of Superman trappings), along with the Kryptonian/Human hybrid angle was reassuring though, despite the changes to the voice of the character who comes across much more alien.  I was really happy to see his telekinesis used in the book (and I suspect he’s also telepathic, something new to his powerset).  Conner’s tactile telekinesis was often ignored by later writers, so its nice to see it a key part of Superboy’s powers once again.

I did like the cute knowing wink when they were talking about his human donor.  Assuming of course, Lex Luthor isn’t going to be a red herring with this version of the character (although the clone of Superman and Lex Luthor angle is probably too strong a concept to drop).

I’m definitely intrigued to stick with this for a bit and see where its going.

The one thing though, that’s beginning to irk me about this reboot more generally though, is that I wish DC hadn’t introduced this mysterious woman who’s appearing in all the issues either.  While its a fun thing to have her popping up in all the books, and makes for a game, trying to find her, I wish this was more of a clean slate.  It automatically ties events back to Flashpoint, and is clearly laying the seeds for the next big uber-crossover.  DC has done nothing but Crisis after Crisis for years now.  And after having finally pulled the trigger on the reboot, I’d really have hoped they’d have had the confidence to let all the books bed in without preparing another big crossover already.  As I say, I’d have rather things were left as a clean slate, without risking event fatigue in the middle of possible the biggest thing DC have done since the original Crisis.

The premise is pretty straight-forward.  For the first few story lines, Justice League is set some 5 years behind the rest of the new books (barring Action Comics, which is set earlier than Justice League), and will chart the emergence of the superheroes from myth into public life.  Focusing on Green Lantern and Batman for this first issue, we see how the authorities are suspicious, if not outright hostile, in a manner all too familiar to fans of Batman.  However, this time rather than just Batman, its all superheroes that they’re gunning for.  However, over the course of the next few story arcs, as Justice League catches up to the present day, we’ll see the League forming, and the public acceptance to superheroes growing, until we reach a more familiar DCU.  Presumably.

Choosing to focus this initial issue on Green Lantern and Batman made a lot of sense to me, and while its a decision that, along with the slow burn approach, has garnered some complaints online, for me it worked.  Green Lantern and Batman are two of DC’s hottest properties at the moment (at least within comics) however, ironically it means the two heroes ushering in this new universe are the two whose continuity seems to be most intact from what we can tell.  But while the slow burn approach may be getting criticised, its one that’s proven effective in the past where you’re reintroducing characters readers will already have some degree of familiarity with (most notably in Ultimate Spider-Man).

Geoff Johns also has a lot of fun here, playing off these two characters, building on the idea of Hal being the light to Batman’s darkness that he introduced back as far as Rebirth.  Here its magnified though, along with the difference in the two personalities.  Where Bruce is shown as driven and controlled, Hal’s cockiness is played up to the Nth degree.  Hal’s got the most powerful weapon in the universe on his finger, and he’s not been afraid to let that power go to his head.  Seeing himself as that powerful, he’s arrogant in the extreme, and I found it a fun take on the character, especially with the way it played up the ring’s strength in a way that we’ve not seen in the main Green Lantern title for a while now.  I suspect Geoff’s also planning for the way he’s going to take the character in the ongoing title, having now been stripped of the ring.  We see here a Hal that’s pretty much defining himself by his power, and even pre-reboot there was a character point about how long he’d had the ring on and had cut himself off from Earth.  This characterisation just seems to reinforce the idea that Hal’s going to struggle to reinvent himself stripped of his powers.

About the only thing that didn’t really work for me, was the introduction of Vic Stone, the soon-to-be Cyborg.  His scenes stuck out an awful lot amongst all the super heroics, and while established readers have the benefit of knowing what’s going to happen to him, I still found they slowed things down a bit too much.  However, that said, I’m also still unconvinced by the big push Cyborg is getting both here and in Flashpoint.  He’s very much a B-list character, and tying him into the formation of the Justice League in this way to me stinks of something similar to how Black Canary replaced Wonder Woman in an earlier iteration of the League’s foundation.  Its  a change that stuck out and niggled fans for years, and I can’t see Cyborg being crowbarred in fairing an awful lot better.  That said, he’s not replacing any of the A-listers like Dinah did.

So all in all, I have to say I found this a strong first issue.  While not flawless, the Batman and Green Lantern pairing was a strong one to launch things with, and I enjoyed Jim Lee’s art (apart from the weird redesign of Hal’s shoulders, which changed from panel-to-panel – but then I could rant about the over-designed new costumes quite a lot more, and some weird story-telling issues with a Parademon where some panels didn’t quite work).  The promise of Superman versus Batman does leave me, as an established reader, a bit cold for next issue, as its a conflict that’s pretty much cliché, however from the perspective of enticing new readers, I think its a strong cliffhanger to leave the book on.

Now, the Return of Bruce Wayne series really did suffer.  Its release schedule ended up all over the place, and it felt like every issue was a hodge podge of art.  I don’t really know what went on behind the scenes, but its a shame that this aspect of Grant Morrison’s run seemed to fall apart a bit.

But then we neared the final issue.  Bruce was returning back to the present, while over in Batman and Robin, Doctor Hurt (from the Batman RIP storyline) had resurfaced and was causing major problems for Dick and Damian, attempting to complete his satanic ritual, shooting Dick and attempting to open the box Bruce encountered during his time jumping.

The reveal though of the mysterious box’s contents were a fantastic punch-the-air moment.  At the height of Doctor Hurt’s success, the box is opened to reveal a simple note: “Gotcha”.  And then the scene shifts to show Bruce, back in his Batman costume, behind them ready to face Hurt.  Despite the delays that seemed to blight Bruce’s return, the brilliance of this moment shifted them into insignificance.

The conclusion to Return of Bruce Wayne was then a real treat, especially for those that had enjoyed Final Crisis, as everything is revealed that neatly pulls together Batman RIP, Final Crisis, the Return of Bruce Wayne and the entire Doctor Hurt saga.  Its a masterpiece of a comics run as far as I’m concerned, and one of the few that I’d love to own in its entirety in trade form just so I could read it all through properly and fully appreciate the detail.

Even the satellite tie-ins that turned up prior to the final issues, The Road Back, I found to be great reads.  Granted, I never picked up all of them (the Outsiders for instance held little interest to me), but I did buy the majority, and while they had the slight whiff of an editorial mandate to boost the interest and profit in Bruce’s return,  they were all really enjoyable books.

Featuring Bruce taking on a new identity, operating from the shadows while silently catching up with everything he’d missed while he was gone, evaluating Dick and Damian’s partnership, checking in on the new Batgirl (a character Bruce never had a brilliant relationship with, so his acceptance of her made for a nice scene) all while an underlying storyline of Vicki Vale’s attempts to expose the Bat-family’s identities ties everything together, these issues provided a great accompaniment to the main books.

The continuity with Grant Morrison’s books might’ve be a little shaky, but none-the-less it was a really enjoyable part of Bruce’s return and very well written, and these titles all showed off an aspect that’s a big part of Grant’s newly-returned Bruce Wayne.  He’s realised just how big a family he now has surrounding him.  How he’s not alone.  There’s a clear move away from the overly-brooding, anti-social Batman of the past, and while its been tried before (Bruce Wayne: Fugitive) there’s a real feeling that this time its going to stick.

And just when you think Grant Morrison would be saying “ok, I’ve told my giant Bat-epic, time to move on”, instead he’s thrown himself headlong into the next chapter of the Bat-family, launching Batman Incorporated, which features Bruce travelling the globe, training other heroes in his skills to take his war on crime global.  Its a really nice play on the usual part of Bruce’s backstory of him making a similar journey in the past to learn those skills.   Plus, much like with the return of Steve Rogers over at Marvel, it serves to make the status quo upon his return less predictable.  In the case of Captain America, Steve happily surrendered the role to Bucky who he’d seen as having earned it (Steve now heading the latest equivalent to S.H.I.E.L.D.).  In the case of Batman, this new direction has allowed DC to leave Dick and Damian as the Batman and Robin of Gotham, with Bruce pleased that his city is under their care.  Plus Grant is laying some elements for the future of the storyline, as its being hinted that during his time travel, Bruce has seen a specific threat that he’s quietly preparing for (so perhaps still that hint of the old secret-keeping Bruce is left after all).

All in all, I can’t praise this epic run more, and I really encourage people to check it out.  There’s various trades of the run available, starting with Batman and Son, that saw Talia Al Ghul reveal Damian’s existance to Bruce.

I’ve been waiting on this series patiently since Dan Jurgens left the Booster Gold book, and it didn’t disappoint.   Despite the Batman tie in, and Superman and Green Lantern being along for the ride, this feels like a natural extension of the Booster Gold book, as Jurgens also works in Daniel Carter as Supernova to the story, an element that will be lost on anyone who wasn’t following the Booster Gold book (although who he is is explained in the book).

This first issue worked well to me, both as a continuation of Dan Jurgens run, and as a Return of Bruce Wayne tie-in, with the action picking up not long after the Archivist (a disguised Bruce Wayne), left the group on the soon-to-be destroyed Vanishing Point.  Escaping into the past (not long after pirate issue  of the other mini-series) the group then has to figure out how to get back and stop Bruce.

I’ve always liked the idea behind this series.  Given that Rip Hunter and Booster Gold are now the DCU’s defenders of the time stream, it made a lot of sense to me that they’d be involved.  However, I guess it also means the list of people who know the truth about Booster is expanding, with Superman and Green Lantern joining the group.  Its not been specifically covered in either series, but I assume there must’ve been a moment off-screen when Rip and Booster discussed letting the others know.   I wonder if anyone else from the League is aware of Booster’s status, or if they’ve managed to keep it quiet and limited to just Supes and GL?  Of course, Superman finding out is fine.  Hal?  Well, Green Lantern does help shift the books these days

Of course, that’s all by the by.  The appearance of Supernova was a nice surprise in this series, which I’d assumed would just feature the characters already seen in Return of Bruce Wayne.   Supernova’s not been seen in a while in the Booster Gold book, so its nice to see the character still active, and his time travel abilities make him a natural way to try and rescue Booster and co.

There’s a big difference between this series and Booster Gold though.  In this series, things are being written from Rip Hunter’s perspective, which adds a fresh spin on things.  It allows more of an insight into his relationship with Booster, giving us the nice flashback to when he was a boy, being taken by his Dad (Booster) to see Dinosaurs in the past, but also serves to underline that he’s been trained in time travel and its complexities from a young age, and so is uniquely qualified to deal with the current situation, despite the presence of heavyweight heroes Superman and Green Lantern.

Another aspect to this series I like, is the way its plugging one of the gaps in the Return of Bruce Wayne story.  Prior to Blackest Night, Bruce was assumed dead by all except Tim Drake.  After Blackest Night, Dick tried to revive the body of Bruce, only to suddenly discover the body was actually that of a clone created by Darkseid.  So far, so good.  However then things suddenly jumped.  Now, granted Tim had discovered the cave painting Bruce made at the end of Final Crisis, but suddenly all the characters knew that not only was Bruce alive, but also that he was trapped, bouncing around time as a result of the Omega Effect.  It was a bit jarring with no real explanation of how they all found this out.  This issue though suggests that it was Rip and Booster who filled everyone in (or at least, they recruited Superman and GL, who told everyone else).

Overall a great start.   Perhaps Superman and GL weren’t being completely written in character, but to be honest, its not them I’m reading this for.  And as a continuation of Dan Jurgens Booster Gold, this is ticking the right boxes for me.

The return of Terry McGuiness has been hotly rumoured for a while now.  DC had always said “No” for years, and then mysteriously swapped that to “wait and see” last year, which hinted something was in the works.

It’ll be interesting to see what direction they go with with the character.  Will it be true to the tone of the series, or will they take the opportunity to try and put a different spin on things?

It’ll also be interesting to see where it fits in with the continuity, as obviously JLU gave us the flashforward episode that served as a way to wrap up Batman Beyond, featuring a Bruce plagued by health problems, and an adult Terry discovering that Bruce was technically his biological father.  However my hope would be that the new miniseries gives us a more classic Batman Beyond setting (or perhaps even set a little while after the tv series to allow for some flexibility with the cast and the kinds of stories they could tell).

I can’t wait for this to come out.  I hope it does well and convinces DC to use Terry McGuiness a bit more.  In this days of the multiverse being back, there’s no real reason one of the 52 worlds couldn’t have Batman Beyond as its future.

I’ve not read all of Morrison’s previous run on Batman, but I’ve read enough of the trades, and RIP itself to appreciate exactly how good this issue is.   Here we start to see Morrison’s masterplan unfurling, bringing together various plot threads from throughout his run.   We also get some interesting tidbits on Bruce’s family history that sets up the Return of Bruce Wayne series itself to be very interesting, as the question of how involved Bruce actually was in his own family history is raised.

There’s also some tantalising hints about Doctor Hurt, who terrorised Bruce throughout Batman RIP and who claimed to be Thomas Wayne, as we learn that there was a black sheep in the Wayne family, also called Thomas Wayne, who claimed to have summoned a demon.  Again, this is something I strongly suspect will feature in the Return of Bruce Wayne mini-series.  I’d be surprised if a time-lost Bruce didn’t stumble across Thomas, perhaps setting in motion Doctor Hurt’s plan against him in RIP.

It was really nice to see Dick, Damian and Alfred all working together to try and unravel the mystery of Bruce’s disappearance, looking for clues Bruce may have left throughout history in Wayne Manor and the Batcave.  The only slightly strange note here is that everyone suddenly knows that Bruce is lost in time thanks to the Omega Effect.  Its not actually clear when anyone found this out.  Granted Tim found the cave painting Bruce left behind, but that’s still a heck of a logical jump.

Damian’s development also continues to be a real draw in the series.  Here we get to see that he’s actually developed a fondness for Grayson, and his new role as Robin, as he questions what will happen to him once Bruce is back as Batman.  Dick’s ill-timed joke about the situation only makes things worse, as he doesn’t realise how much impact taking Damian under his wing has actually had on the boy.  Things only getting worse when Damian realises he’s been programmed by Talia to kill Dick, as Talia’s patience with Damian’s stint as Robin is at an end.    You really feel for what Damian’s going through, and its a testament to what an interesting and enjoyable character Morrison’s created.

And throughout the book, with all this going on, we also have the mystery of Oberon Sexton.  Who Dick turned to for information about Doctor Hurt and the Black Hand, and who later turns up at Wayne Manor in time to keep Damian safe from a group about to attack.  Who he actually is is yet another mystery in this series.   This issue would certainly make me wonder if he’s actually Bruce (and if so, pairing him and Damian in the next issue should be interesting), but I also can’t help but wonder if that’s not a bit obvious for Grant Morrison.

As you can tell, there’s a heck of a lot going on in this single issue.  Its a real testament to the writing that none of this comes across as rushed, and all starts to tie together the last few years of Batman books so beautifully.  I’ve got high expectations for the rest of this story now, and I can’t wait for the Return of Bruce Wayne, even if I do think that DC could get another year out of Dick and Damian as Batman and Robin easily.  And that’s all down to the quality of the story being told here.

As usual, it looks like the GLC title is firing on all cylanders.  Peter Tomasi, in a similar way to Geoff Johns in GL #44, takes the opportunity to pick up an event from Blackest Night #1 and expand on it (in the case of GL, Hal and Barry at Bruce’s grave, whereas here its Kyle and Guy heading back to Oa).

Its the perfect moment to open the title with.  The fact that Guy and Kyle had run into the rings while on their way to Oa was a little rushed in Blackest Night #1, so this expands on it nicely, while providing a perfect opportunity for some nice character moments between Guy and Kyle.  Its nice to see Kyle’s relationship with Jade crop up in such a big way as it was a big part of the later end of Kyle’s run, and with Jade’s impending return as a Black Lantern.

Its also nice to see the Daxam hasn’t been shoved to the side as was feared by the events of last issue.  There’s big trouble brewing in having the Daxamites with those powers.

Also written by Peter Tomasi, Blackest Night: Batman follows on from events after GL #44 with Dick and Damien turning up at the cemetary to survey the damage to the Waynes’ graves.

However we also get Deadman included in this book, and it provides a potential tidbit on the Black Lanterns, as Boston  finds his own body being reanimated by a black ring.  Unable to possess and regain control over the body he heads off to seek help (presumably from Batman, but maybe its Bruce he’s looking for?).

With J’onn and Ralph both displaying their personalities as Black Lanterns, there had been the question of whether or not their souls were  bound to the bodies or if the Black Lanterns were merely acting like their previous selves.  This book would confirm the later.  Its not actually J’onn attacking Hal and Barry, its just his body reanimated and acting like J’onn.  A significant difference.

I wonder if this means we could get an appearance from Ralph and Sue: Ghost Detectives to see their reactions to their bodies killing the Hawks?

The combination of characters in this book is definitely fun.  Peter Tomasi wrote probably the best Nightwing stories in years, and while Dick and Boston may seem like an odd pairing, there’s a lot of shared history there, with Boston working in the same circus as the Graysons had years ago, and even styling his costume on theirs.  The shared circus background is almost certainly something Peter Tomasi’s going to play with.

For those that don’t know, its markedly different to their previously weeklies, which took the form of normal comics.  This time, they’ve launched something in broadsheet form, printed on newspaper (and nicely folded up to regular comic size for the benefit of the shelves).

Its a bold experiment.  We get stories from some of DC’s best creators using a wide range of characters, from the obvious Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash and Green Lantern, to Adam Strange, Catwoman and Kamandi.  However each week, we only get a single page of the story in each case.  It sounds really odd, but it actually worked very well, barring possibly the Wonder Woman story which tried to be too dense I think.

But for me, what really made this work was the style of story.  There was a very retro feel to the whole thing, in both the stories and the art style.  Completely moving away from the mainline DC comics, these are standalone stories, taking the iconic characters unencumbered by multiverses and the like.   There’s a distinct silver age, or newspaper strip feel to the whole project, and I loved it.

After Countdown, DC really needed to rethink what people would look for in a weekly comic, and I think they may have nailed it.  It’ll be interesting to see how the format holds up over the next 12 week.s

We see the fallout from some of the events in the first issue.  I quite enjoyed the rooftop scene between Gordon and the new Batman and Robin, with Gordon admitting its not Batman, but that he does find him familiar.   Although personally I find this a bit frustrating when you take into account the events this saga is compared to, namely Knightfall and Prodigal.

There we saw a widening gulf between Batman and Gordon, as Gordon was increasingly put out by the new Batmen turning up with no explanation, and their continued attempts to treat him like an idiot and pretend they were the originals.   While, what happens here isn’t as severe (Dick makes no real effort to claim to be the original Batman), I’d still like to see Dick show Gordon some respect and quietly have a word with him in private, explaining that the original Batman died, but he’s Nightwing and he’s taken on the role.   A little bit of honesty would go a long way with Gordon, given the characters long history together.

This leads into a great scene with Robin.  The Circus gang attack the police station, looking for Mr Toad.  Batman and Robin get separated when Robin goes after one of them alone.  Dick tries to order Damian back, but Damian won’t listen.   Dick’s outnumbered, but manages to break free with the help of GCPD, and heads off to help Damian.   However here we get a neat twist on the “Robin is in over his head and Batman bails him out scenario”.  When Dick catches up, Damian is in the process of beating the hell out of the gang member, before Dick manages to get him to stop.

Its great, because it underlines just how dangerous Damian can be.  There’s a great scene where Dick is talking to Alfred and really questioning everything he’s done, trying to both take over as Batman and taking Damian under his wing.  Certainly Damian doesn’t respect him, seeing Dick as a poor copy of his father, an attitude that hits deeply with Dick, who really agrees with Damian, and felt happier when he was Nightwing.

The Dick/Damian relationship was always the main draw of this title for me, and Morrison’s letting it play out beautifully.  Exactly how the GCPD are going to react to what Robin did will be interesting, and partly why I think it’d be nice to have a quiet scene between Dick and Gordon.

This is a great first issue.  As I’ve said before, I’m very enthusiastic for the idea of Dick as Batman with Damian as Robin, and this issue bares it out.  Its fast paced and funny, while simultaneously introducing a new villain who seems suitably freaky and twisted.  

The wildness of the opening chase and the new flying Batmobile is not something that would’ve really worked with Bruce still in the cowl I suspect, and it plays nicely with the lighter feel Dick brings to Batman.   We then move on to see Dick and Alfred shutting down the Batcave, as they move to their new base at Wayne Tower (presumably the same one Bruce used during the 70s?).  I quite like the idea that they’re going to be based out of an alternative cave, as Dick already mentions that while he’s okay with being the new Batman, he still feels like he’s wearing a shroud to an extent, and from that perspective it makes sense that he’d feel more comfortably operating out of a new base of operations.

We see some nice scenes between Dick, Alfred and Damian which nicely sets up the way these characters play off of each other, and I’m looking forward to seeing them expand these relationships.   Damian still comes across as quite grudging towards the Bat-family, seeing himself as Bruce’s true heir, however you do get the feeling that its a front.  And certainly Dick and Alfred are shown offering olive branches to Damian, be it Dick taking him under his wing as Robin, or something simple like Alfred complimenting Damian’s work on the new Batmobile.  I look forward to seeing Damian mature over the next 12 months under their guidance.   

And this is something I’ll be interested to see once Bruce comes back.  Will Damian remain as Robin to his Batman?  Seeing them interact in this way would certainly be interesting, especially as by then Damian will be more used to how Dick does things.

I guess the only complaint I could make is one that I basically levelled at Battle for the Cowl the other week, in that while Damian is the new Robin, and here Dick makes mention of offering Tim his old job back, we’ve still not actually seen what prompted Tim to hand the identity over to Damian.   I’m really hoping we get a scene addressing this in the upcoming Red Robin series as its currently a bit of an oversight.  I’m not really levelling this at Batman and Robin though, since in fairness this series is aiming to be accessible and so obviously doesn’t want to get weighed down with such things.  Its just an ongoing niggle with me.

Aside from this, while introducing our heroes’ new status quo, Morrison also starts to introduce a new set of villains, clearly with circus connections (playing to the obvious history of Dick as a character – its odd how many evil circus people he encounters compared to everyone else ).  Their leader is Pyg, and his introduction is nicely contrasted with the big, bold scenes of Batman and Robin, wherein we see him catch up to someone trying to run out on him.  Pyg certainly comes across as twisted and sadistic enough to be an interesting addition to the new Batman’s rogue’s gallery.  Whereas the intro scenes of Batman and Robin are huge fun, Pyg is instantly portrayed as brutal, torturing his captive with the promise of doing the same to his daughter and I found this contrast quite effective.

This is a great first issue.  Very different in tone from what we had with Bruce as Batman, and in that regard I think this will hopefully be a shot  in the arm for the franchise, which at times got dragged down by writers making Bruce overly grim.   How the other writers approach Dick’s Batman should be interesting and I hope they manage to capture his voice well, and we don’t end up with the problems the Nightwing title had after Chuck Dixon left.  DC’s been upfront about the fact Bruce will be back in 12 months, so in the meantime I hope all the writers capitalise on the chance to do something different with Batman, rather than try and turn Dick into Bruce-lite.