Batman & Robin #12: Writer: Grant Morrison. Pencils: Andy Clark
Last Issue: 8 out of 10.
Review: We begin this issue with Damian Wayne trying to brain Batman with a shovel in the Wayne family graveyard. Why is Damian acting up more then usual? Because his mother had implanted some sort of chip in his spine that is allowing Deathstroke the Terminator to control Damian from Talia's lab. After Deathstroke taunts Bats through Damian, Bats figures out what was going and and manages to shock Damian, disrupting the signal and freeing Damian from Talia and Deathstroke's control. Meanwhile, those weirdos in the cemetery that were fighting Oberon Sexton and Damian last issue have managed to get there hands on a little box with a bat-symbol on it and they run away. Sexton tells Bats that he's going to return to his hotel, but that he'd like Bats to meet him there later. Next Bats and Robin head to Talia's base and confront her over what she had done to her son. Talia complains about the Bat-family corrupting her son and explains that she was only trying to force him to act properly. While Bats goes and confronts Deathstroke, Talia takes Damian and shows him a new child that she was growing, telling him that since he didn't want to be a proper son to her, she was going to simply grow a new Damian(oh GOD NO!!!). Talia offers Damian one final chance to stay by her side, but he turns her down, so she tells him that from this moment forward, he is an enemy of the Al Ghul family. Then this comic begins to bounce all over the place as we lose all sense of cohesion... The guy from the Black Glove(the one during Batman RIP)arrives in Gotham, Bats, Robin and Alfred explore the secret underground caverns of Wayne Manor and find an old Batman cowl, and Bats goes to meet up with Oberon Sexton, who reveals himself to be the Joker, mercifully ending this issue...
What I Thought: This was by far the worst issue of Batman and Robin that I've read yet, and that's REALLY saying something! This issue(and especially the dialogue)was so unbelievably bad that I actually found myself speed-reading through the second half of this comic just to get it over with... I honestly don't know what the hell Grant is thinking anymore. This comic was an incoherent mess. Oberon Sexton being the Joker made absolutely no sense, nor did the whole, “Wayne Manor is shaped like a giant Bat-signal!” reveal. The junk with Barbatos(whatever the hell THAT'S all about)and the return of the horrid Black Glove, just cemented this comic as the front runner for worst single issue of the year to me. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm sure all of you Grant Morrison apologists will try to tell me that Grant is a genius, and that this comic was brilliant, but to me this was just a bunch of random scenes that made little sense. Add that to the atrocious dialogue, and yeah, this was one BAD comic...
Score: 3 out of 10.
One Damian is enough, PLEASE don't create another one!!!
Lmao when I read that Another Damian may be coming I wanted to throw up. Man... as if that's not bad enough, the whole lame ass Slade appearance that just made him look weak, and Dick fighting a big Bat... so lame. It sucks because the last two issues were so interesting and this one was garbage.
ReplyDeleteGod help me, if I see two Damians running around, I may have to stop reading DC comics!!!
ReplyDeleteYeah, the parts with Slade really steamed me too, because they made no real sense. Why not use one of the hundreds of lame Batman/Nightwing villains that are running around instead of sullying the awesomeness that is Deathstroke here? And the giant bat and Barbatos... The less said the better...
I think the issue before this one may have been the only issue from this entire series that I could honestly say I enjoyed, so I should have known that this monstrosity was coming...
Agreed, now I'm back to wanting to drop Batman and Robin because it's been disappointing, I'll give it this Joker arc then I'm done.
ReplyDeleteI'm locked in until issue #24! Damn two year subscription...
ReplyDeleteOUCH! Damn buddy....why..why would you do that? Lol did you like Morrison's Batman RIP?
ReplyDeleteIDK... I guess I was caught up in all of the Batman and Robin hype... Plus since it was Dick taking over the Bat-mantle, I figured Grant would pick up his game... Yeah, not so much I guess there!
ReplyDeleteDamn bro, so you're stuck with that and Flash? I like Flash but I know ya hate Barry. Anything else you're stuck in?
ReplyDeleteWell, I'm only stuck with Flash until issue #6 I think, so if that doesn't really pick up, I'm done with that. I have SO many subscriptions from both Marvel and DC actually... Maybe I'll try to list 'em all later on.
ReplyDeleteAh got ya, so just to make sure, if you have a Marvel or DC subscription to a comic, does it get shipped straight from them to you? And there has to be some sort of discount right?
ReplyDeleteYup, it gets shipped right from their sorting facility to my place in a plastic bag with cardboard bracketing the comic. Marvel tends to get their books delivered way faster then DC though, and yeah, there's def a sweet discount, although Marvel's discount is WAY better then DC's. For example, when you order three or more Marvel titles, I think each one is only like $20 a piece. Considering so many Marvel books are almost $4 now, you do the math, and buying a Marvel comic for 12 months from the CB shops you're paying almost $50, so yeah, you save like $30, which is an awesome savings. The only downside is if writers change, or if the comic really starts to suck, you're stuck with it until the subscription runs its course.
ReplyDeleteAh, thanks for the info, I was thinking of saving some cash by subscribing to Deadpool and ASM, I read the last issue of ASM and the art wasn't as bad as it was when I stopped following it late last year, plus the story was really interesting, with The Lizard.
ReplyDeleteSo you think subscribing is the way to go? As long as Way doesn't leave Deadpool and whoever's working on Spidey keeps up the good work?
When I bought monthlies, I had direct subscriptions from Marvel for most of the ongoing titles I read. Definitely the way to go, and I still have a direct subscription for Amazing Spider-Man.
ReplyDeleteI def gotta agree with Marc here JT, ordering a subscription is def the way to go. Here, check out Marvel's sub site here:
ReplyDeletehttp://subscriptions.marvel.com/home?&utm_source=home&utm_medium=baseline_link&utm_campaign=sub_bsln
I mean, you can see that you can save over 50% off of the cover price, which is a pretty sweet deal. The ONLY downside to ordering subscription titles is that you'll have to wait a few days from the release date to get your books. There's no real rhyme or reason to the way subscriptions come. Sometimes the books will come a day or two after the release date, other times it'll be a week or more(once I even got a comic the Saturday BEFORE it was released!). But if you don't mind a little bit of a wait, and you want to save money(as well as being assured that you won't miss an issue), a subscription is the way to go. With a sales pitch like that, how can ya say no? :D
Well thanks guys, after this sales pitch and the recommendations lately, I'm starting to think you work for Marvel :P Well it's settled, I'll be subscribing for Deadpool, ASM and possibly something else if I have the cash. Thanks again you two.
ReplyDeleteNo problemo JT. Now to call Marvel to get my cut...
ReplyDeleteLol I figured ya worked there :P That's alright because Bioware is sending my check as soon as you go get Mass Effect or Dragon Age 2 :P I may use that five bucks you spent on DSC for a Digorno :P Haha
ReplyDeleteHA! I'll trade you my job at Marvel for your job at Bioware! AND I'll throw in a Digorno on top of it! :P
ReplyDeleteLol you still send me free games from there and we got a deal, ya short haired blogger you :P Lol
ReplyDeleteDone AND done! BWA-HAHAHAHAH!!!
ReplyDeleteWooooo It's a deal! Now I am the Bendis..or...something. I'm the awful Joe Quesada. Bwahahah
ReplyDeleteHa! I love your utter confusion about working at Marvel. You're like, "Okay, now what?"
ReplyDeleteYeah... unless I can write for Deadpool and use my comedy skills I'm kinda lost... so yeah. Uh... any tips?
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of Marvel I read a ULtimate Spiderman arc with Deadpool and Spidey was dating Kitty Pryde. That caught me totally off guard!
Hmm, tips for working at Marvel... Well, the top tip is to always, ALWAYS agree with everything BENDIS says. Oh, and always say his name as BENDIS! He likes that.
ReplyDeleteWhich part, the fact that Spidey was dating Kitty Pryde, or the fact that Deadpool made his first Ultimate Universe appearance in Ultimate Spider-Man?
I thought the Peter/Kitty thing in Ultimate Spider-Man was really cute while it lasted (not a word I use a lot, but in this case it fits!). I didn't think the Deadpool arc was really that interesting though...Ultimate Deadpool just didn't really do it for me.
ReplyDeleteI meant the Peter/Kitty thing, I liked it a lot, and they were as Marc said, a cute couple, especially with her getting a Mask to fight crime with him. I also hated Ultimate Deadpool, that was just...yeah.
ReplyDelete