BATMAN AND ROBIN #0

[ DYNAMIC SALE ] 

Talia Al Ghul is a very complicated lady. She's quite pretty yet at the same time quite shady. Plus she doesn't were thongs. Because they stick to her tongs! Which is another name she calls her O'Grady, WINK-WINK! I best not tell you what these guys call it though. Writer: Peter J. Tomasi; Artist: Patrick Gleason; and Publisher: DC Comics in October 2012. It's not nice.

So what’s the STORY morning glory?

As soon as I read this issue of Batman and Robin -- entitled 'Someday Never Comes' -- straight away it reminded me of a kid I used to play with at play group. Well, when I say 'play', what I mean by this, is, avoid, hit, and run away from, before his hard-faced witch of a mother got her hands on me.

• Picture the scene if you will, your mother is an assassin, your father is a vigilante, and since birth you've been trained to rule the world.
• Boy-oh-oh! Life sure does sound very hard for Damien Wayne, doesn't it? As this poor little sod has been through a lot to be the little sod he is today.
• He's was dipped in the Lazarus pit before he could walk. His Mother, Talia Al Ghul, has tested him time and again to be more focused and stronger for his age. And finally, once his mother allows him to see his father -- Batman -- well, it comes as a quite surprise to them both I can tell you.

A beginning...

What is the most memorable SENTENCE OR CONVERSATION spoken in this issue?

Although it was one of the most repetitive and baroque expressions used in this yarn, I have to say that 'Happy Birthday, Damien. You Lose' does have a pithy catch phrase vibe about it.  Heck, I wished that I knew someone called Damien so I could say it to him again and again and again.

Damn. Why couldn't they have called him 'Justin'.

What was the BEST thing about this issue?

I liked the fact that this was the first time I've seen Damien's origin told from Damien's perspective. It was nice to see why he turned out the way he has, because in someway it justifies why he's such a mixed up little b*stard.  

What was the WORST thing about this issue?

I found that the 'passage of time' flicked by too quickly to actually hold any momentum within this tale. It was as if every page or so something new was happening, hindering the overall plot in both pace and substance.

Not drastically mind you. Minimally. And did not dent either my own enjoyment or the 'conceptual origin' all that much.

What was the most CREATIVE thing about this issue?

STORY: I don't think that I have seen a sword battle between a mother and her pre-school son before? That was very original I thought. Plus I did like the way that this issue lead into Damien's initial appearance on the Batman title. Class. 

ART: There were two artistic aspects about this book which stood out for me. The first one was an adorable image of a very young Damien draped in his fathers cowl -- that was very cute. And the second one was the continuous 'lost expression' on Damien's face through out the majority of this story. 

If you had to CAST TWO CHARACTERS in this comic book, who would they be and why?

TALIA: As Marion Cotillard did such a good job on 'The Dark Knight Rises', I'm sure that she could do the same thing raising up a small assassin with her bare hand. Hahahaahah!

DAMIEN: Do you think I would be either offending or complementing diminutive actor, Peter Dinklage, if I said he would be a nice fit to play this repressed youth? Well, I am insinuating that he looks young for his age, aren't I?

If this issue had a MOVIE TAG LINE, what would it be?

If You Thought You're Parents Were Bad, Just Have A Look At Damien's Mother. 

If this issue were a MOVIE, an OBJECT, or a piece of MUSIC, what would that be and why? 

To put it in simple terms this issue is about an overbearing Mother who demands too much from her young child. Correct daytime current affairs program?

Yeah. I thought so too.

FINAL thoughts...

It looks like Damien is going to be with us a lot longer than we all presumed, huh? At first I thought he'd be a clone or an answered question that would turn up from time to time, just for the sake of titivation. And then, when Batman died and Damien partnered up with Dick, my perspective changed slightly. Just slightly mind you. Again I thought he'd disappear once Batman returned from the grave.

But I was wrong, wasn't I? Wrong as the parental skills of Talia Al Ghul.

If truth be told I'm still not sure about the future of Damien, or if he will be a regular member of the Batman cast. However, the one thing I am sure about is that this little sod is starting to grow on me.  

Sh*t.

MARKS out of 10? 8.8