As a Damian fan, mixed.
When DC announced this I was annoyed because I had hoped that Shadow War would be the end of this estrangement storyline. But I thought that with a name like this one it would at least have a strong focus on Bruce and Damian's relationship. I could write a lot about how it failed to give me that, but lets leave it at, no, Batman vs Robin is about a lot of things, but the relationship between Bruce and Damian is basically an afterthought.
Damian is a convenient plot device because his blood relation to our actual protagonist Batman and to the villains connects it all. And also for some reason Waid thought he could make Bruce act like a dick to Damian for an entire issue, but then not have to explain why Bruce is suddenly totally motivated to save Damian because...he's his son and we don't need to explore that relationship any deeper apparently.
I also wouldn't get too excited about Damian's abilities as a strategist in this. Yes, he's getting a bit of praise, but Bruce still has to win and show off how great he is, that he can still beat any challenge thrown at him even without his usual resources.
The way I see it the point of the story is less to show that Damian is a better strategist than his father, the point is more that Bruce is so brilliant that even when he's faced with someone that knows him as well as Damian (supposedly) does Bruce still comes out on top. Even when gifted powerful magical artifacts none of the possessed robins stood a chance against an injured Batman who was running out of gadgets.
It's a Batman story, not a Damian one. Maybe that will change with Damian being the pov character in Lazarus Planet and Bruce...not being in good enough shape after reaching Nezha and Damian next issue. But the first three issues of Batman vs Robin weren't a good Damian story. In fact the second issue was a complete waste of time if you read Damian's solo since you already know all the stuff Bruce finds out in this.
And it's expensive. They charge more because it's 48 pages per issue and also, they put a whole event between issue 4 and 5. Even if you only pay for Batman vs Robin 1-5 and Lazarus Planet Alpha and Omega, this will cost about 42 dollars I think.
Last edited by Astralabius; 12-14-2022 at 09:26 AM.
It's probably better to wait for the trade or to just look at peoples posts and reviews online to see what happens to Damian in this.
Oh, also, there is a reason why I think the panels people have shared online the most were the ones with Bruce and Alfred. Because that is like the only relationship in this Waid seemed really interested in.
But if I remember correctly you are not the biggest Alfred fan. With Alfred being the, let's call it emotional focus of the first three issues I don't think you will get much out of it.
Preview for Batman vs Robin 4 for anyone interested.
https://aiptcomics.com/2022/12/15/dc...an-vs-robin-4/
Did I miss something or was there no mention of Damian anywhere in the march solicitations?
Last edited by Fergus; 12-16-2022 at 04:23 PM.
I mean I would assume they want Lazarus Planet to at least actually start before they announce where Damian ends up after the last issue of Batman vs Robin.
"It's fun and it's cool, so that's all that matters. It's what comics are for, Duh."
Words to live by.
At least without present day main continuity content. The Robin appearing in the art for Tom Taylor's One Bad Day Ra's oneshot looks like Damian. No idea if he's going to have a major role in this or not though.
If I remember correctly we had a similar situation before they announced Damian's solo though, but that was also because Future State had taken over everything for two months and their original plan for Damian in that timeline had been scrapped.
Then we had the backup stories setting up Damian's solo for the next month and nothing else in main continuity I believe.
But what are they waiting for this time? It doubt it's going to be a robin solo, Tim already has that one and I doubt they are going to end it before issue 12 even if nobody likes it. Shouldn't Lazarus Planet/Batman vs Robin have enough space to set up where he goes next? It's used that way for everyone else. And they aren't setting anything up in march it seems.
Last edited by Astralabius; 12-16-2022 at 10:47 PM.