Batman Incorporated #8

This would be a pretty hard book to review without spoilers. 

So for the sake of warning: SPOILERS


Still with me? Okay. I'm going to be honest, this book was hard to read, not because of the quality, but because of the overwhelming dread I experienced watching Damian Wayne in his finest hour and eventual fall. Morrison really knows how to tug at your heartstrings. There's a nice little throwback to when Damian and Nightwing were partnered up as Batman and Robin, a bit of a "once more unto the breach" if you will as they charge into battle together. Having the cover for the book emblazoned with "R.I.P." makes that scene so much harder to read. We know what’s about to happen, we know Damian Wayne won’t be coming out of this alive, and seeing him kicking total ass before he goes down just makes the whole thing heart breaking. 

 Burnham’s panel construction is absolutely next level with this issue and really sells the emotional beats of Morrison’s story. The fight scenes have an immense amount of energy to them and are extremely evocative of Damian’s determination  Even the final page before his death blow is dealt, we see the stubbornness that has defined Damian since his introduction 7 years ago. And when the scene dreaded scene hits, Burnham’s panels become broken glass, surrounding the panel depicting Damian’s death and showing Batman as he rushes to his son.

What makes reading this issue so hard is that Damian Wayne was my Robin. I may have grown up watching the Batman TV show and Teen Titans, but the first Robin I was exposed to when I started collecting floppies of Batman was Damian Wayne.  Since I was just a kid in middle school, Damian has been my Robin, and he’s been a damn good one to boot. The character who was once a snot-nosed kid and a thorn in Batman’s side became one of the most fleshed out and loveable additions to the Bat Mythos. But now he’s gone.


Damian Wayne is dead, long live Damian Wayne.