Batman and Robin #2

This is the first page of Batman and Robin #2. So Talia is Robin's mom. I don't know who that is. It feels like I should know who that is. If it's a new Catwoman, I know nothing of her.

I think it's just my obsession with Catwoman that makes he think Batman could only have a child with her! One thing you could tell from the previous issue is that Robin was raised by someone with a different set of moral and ethical beliefs than a mainstream 'good' person.

And, once again, I find the conversations between Alfred and Batman to be some of the finest dialogue. I imagine even Alfred's idea of what it means to be a father is quite a bit skewed seeing as the child he's basically raised is a costumed vigilante.

Batman: "I need to fix this kid!"
Alfred: "It's your job to take him out on the street every night fighting criminally insane psychopaths and putting him at risk of injury or death, not to fix him, Master Batman."


Robin's early years.

Why did Robin need to be grown in a glass bubble? Did Talia pull some Snake Ninja trick with her vagina where she caught up Wayne's sperm so she didn't have to gain any pregnancy weight?

And I hope this bit is explored a lot further as well when Batman says, "I built this...life to wage a war, Alfred, not to have kids exposed to all this insanity on a regular basis. But somehow I keep failing in that regard. In a strange way, I'm no better than Talia."

So why have a Robin in the first place?



Oh, sure. Maybe Batman needs a Robin. That kind of makes sense. It keeps Batman grounded in reality. Keeps him at arm's length from his death wish because while protecting a sidekick, he's also protecting himself. But Robin only needs Batman because Batman created Robin and now Robin needs someone to protect him! Here's one of the Sidekick Types I wrote about in my Roller Playing Game, Places & Predators (Copyright ME, Forever):

"The Opposite: This Sidekick provides balance to whatever attitude The Hero has decided to use. If The Hero has decided to go for the vengeful, full of angst and depression savior of the downtrodden, The Opposite Sidekick will end up being a really happy go lucky, perky and cute teenage girl who is into pink ponies and unicorns (or a young boy in green bikini briefs and a yellow half-cape, if you prefer something more feminine). This Sidekick helps out in every situation by keeping The Hero from making any mistakes because he is concentrating so hard on Roller Playing his attitude correctly. The Opposite Sidekick can always just Roller Play the exact opposite way The Hero is and then they’ll be able to solve almost any problem because they can see the whole balanced picture (except maybe the middle)."

Of course, that's the way the old Robin has always been. This Robin throws a new twist into the mix. This Robin is a crazy, amoral killing machine! And he doesn't seem to care as much as Tim or Dick cared about making Batman proud. This Robin is all about the action and excitement. Batman doesn't have to worry about physically protecting this Robin. Batman has to worry about ethically protecting him.


Aww, father/son bonding!

So Batman and Robin bust some guys and leave them hanging. And then nobody shows up to make sure this comic tops the list of the gore thrillers.



Maybe all the blood is just to balance out the fact that you're reading a comic book with FRICKIN' ROBIN IN IT! Or it's just to say, "Hey, look old time DC reader, this isn't the Robin you knew and never loved!"

I should probably slow down while reading this comic! I've already missed two places where I thought about commenting, didn't, and then read further and wished that I did! The first one was this picture that would have gone with the Father/Son Bonding pic:



I would have said something snarky about fatherly praise. But now I don't have to because Alfred did it for me:



Then, Robin was training and destroying the training robots with his swords.


How much money is Bruce Wayne blowing on Robin's rage?

That's something like what I would have said. But I can't know for sure since I didn't actually say it when I wanted to say it. But the thought about how much money it was costing even Bruce Wayne crossed my mind when they show Robin just destroying robots like this.

So the Batcave says: Approximately 1.1 million dollars in damage/replacement costs this week.

And Batman: I'm a billionaire, Damian, not a trillionaire.

I really like these moments because it shows Peter Tomasi is paying attention to what he's writing. He's not just throwing away panels so he can get to the panel where he gets to draw the half naked woman in the bunny ears. He is crafting the story. I just want Peter Tomasi to know this is very much appreciated by this reader.

And then Alfred witnesses Robin acting like a serial killer.







See?! This is a good way to handle Robin! This Robin needs a Batman whether or not Batman existed. This Robin was not created by Batman. But this Robin needs to be shaped by Batman.

The comic ends with Morgan turning up to confront Batman about his Batman Inc project (I guess?). I'm not familiar with Morgan but Bruce thought he was dead. Morgan admits to being Nobody. Morgan also killed Ravil. This all sounds like Batman Begins Bruce Wayne in Tibet learning from a killer cult type stuff that is all vaguely familiar but I don't quite remember.

But it's the New 52! So I don't need to remember! They have to end up explaining it all at some point because they have to assume we're all new readers! Maybe!

I hope!