Batman and Robin #9 – Joshua Williamson, Writer; Nikola Cizmesija, Simone Di Meo, Artists; Rex Lokus, Giovanni Niro, Colorist
Ray – 9/10
Ray: This title has done a very good job of balancing over-the-top superhero action with some surprisingly funny high-school adventure for Damian Wayne. Its one weak spot has been its main villain, Man-Bat, who has become a megalomaniacal mastermind who wants to turn the whole world into bats, it seems. Smarter and deadlier than ever before, but much more evil without a compelling explanation, he’s been one step ahead of Batman the whole time and has captured him. That leaves Batman’s fate in Damian’s hands, and Damian is convinced he knows who is working with Man-Bat—his old abusive trainer, Mistress Harsh, who he thinks is his ruthless headmistress Principal Stone. He’s convinced she’s under the bandages of the mysterious Shush, and along with his girlfriend Nika—aka Flatline—they’ve infiltrated Damian’s high school with a plan to expose her.
That plan? Get thrown into detention so they can get close to Stone alone and force her to expose herself, and their method is… a food fight. I find it hilarious that no one is questioning Nika’s very unique appearance—maybe that’s just how it goes in the DCU, where an alien could be on your block at any time. They successfully bait Harsh into exposing herself—complete with her team of ruthless soccer hooligans turned assassins—but the truth behind Shush’s identity turns out to be a lot more complicated than that, with a minor player in the series who showed an interest in Damian turning out to have a fascinating backstory and to be much more morally grey than we expected. This adds a whole lot of interesting new wrinkles, as Damian potentially has a new ally with ties to one of Batman’s most dangerous villains—and it’s all building towards an epic showdown with Man-Bat and his army next issue.
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GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
