Back in 2009, when Bruce Wayne was believed to be dead, Dick Grayson took on the mantle of Batman and officially instated Bruce's son Damian as the new Robin. As the new dynamic duo, they brought a new approach to the iconic partnership, with a more lighthearted Batman and a serious no nonsense Robin. When Bruce came back, he and Dick shared the role for about a year. After that, the New 52 reboot began, with Dick becoming Nightwing again leaving Bruce the sole Batman. This whole situation may have happened just a short time ago, but the reboot made it feel much longer, especially when a lot of DC's continuity had been in question and only passing references were made to Dick's time as Batman. Besides that, Dick and Damian only had a few team-up stories since then. But recently, the two had a full arc with many call backs to their time as partners that reminded me what made them such a great team.
Prior to this arc, Dick had set up operation in Bludhaven to forge his own path, much like he did in the pre-Flashpoint continuity but this is being treated like the first time. There, he met a woman named Shawn Tsang, a former teenage art-based supervillain named Defacer that Dick had encountered before when he was Robin. Since then, Shawn has reformed and become a counselor for a support group of low-grade supervillains wanting to go straight. The two worked together to stop a plot to frame members of the group for murder, discovering each other's identities, and entering into a relationship. In an issue between these two arcs, we got to see their relationship grow over a period of time, and I really liked them together. Dick is feeling read good about his life at this point...so let's see how this arc throws a wrench in things for him.
Damian's arrival in this story is motivated by a conversation he finds on Chirper (DC's version of Twitter) of users praising Nightwing about how he's becoming the Batman of Bludhaven, that he's the best Robin and would likely become the next Batman. When his fellow Titans agree that Dick's the right choice to be succeed Batman, Damian breaks his phone in anger (he's rich so he'll get a new one no problem) and heads off to Bludhaven in an attempt to prove himself to Nightwing. As Damian confronts Dick while he's on patrol, Dick receives a voicemail from Shawn, saying that she's late and asks Dick to bring her a pregnancy test. Dick rushes off to do just that and tells Damian that they'll continue their conversation later. When Dick arrives, he finds Shawn missing, one of her paintings defaced with the word "daddy" and coordinates written down in a Robin Hood book that Dick gave her as a gift. Damian arrives soon after and helps Dick get his head together, spotting the pregnancy test, inviting himself to go along to make sure Dick, in his fragile state of mind, has someone watching his back. They head off in a flying Batmobile stolen by Damian, which in the first of many callbacks, was the one they used during their time as Batman and Robin.
While I basically just surmised the first issue of the arc, I won't be doing that for the rest, as I just wanted to explain the basic set-up so I can talk about the elements I really enjoyed about the arc.
To get to the point, the mastermind behind this story is Dr. Simon Hurt, one of the main villains from Grant Morrison's long run on the Batman books, who Dick and Damian faced before; his backstory is complicated to say the least, and you should just check out his Wikipedia page. His main goal in this story is to unlock Dick's true potential, by taking away the person he cares about most, the first target being Shawn before he decides on Damian. To do so, he hires Professor Pyg, the first villain Dick and Damian faced as Batman and Robin. To surmise him, he's crazier than the Joker, wears a pig mask, is basically a twisted plastic surgeon who uses people for his art, creating brainwashed henchmen called Dollotrons, and let's say he's a perfectionist when it comes to his work. In my opinion though, Pyg still talks crazy in this story, but he doesn't sound as crazy as he did in the past. In this story, he creates a enhanced Dollotron of Nightwing, brainwashing a nobody into becoming a dark and twisted version called Deathwing, even having Dick's memories. Deathwing is the one who kidnaps Shawn. It's also worth mentioning that Pyg also attempted to create a Robin Dollotron of Damian, but the programming didn't take full effect, so the boy, Dinesh Babar, has memories of his life and Damian's. That said, he actually aids Dick and Damian in their mission.
As I said before, Dick and Damian had one of the best dynamics as partners. But since their time together as Batman and Robin, a lot has changed. Dick has moved to his own city, found someone special, and could potentially be a father. Damian seems a little insecure lately, mostly about how he seems to be being pushed out of the bat side of things of the DCU. From a reader standpoint, it's kind of true. Since the Rebirth era started, Damian has barely had any appearances in the Batman titles. The main titles he stars in currently are "Teen Titans", acting as team leader, and "Super Sons", a book where he works with Superman's son Jon, the new Superboy. Meta reasoning aside, in this story, Damian feels like Dick is abandoning and replacing him, in that he's becoming a Batman in his own right and that he may be having his own child. While Damian sees himself as Bruce's true heir, he also sees himself as Dick's heir as well, given the Robin legacy and the partnership they had. I've always seen their relationship as a brotherly one, but I know there are some cases in life where a big brother can also act in a fatherly mentor role. This is where the true heart of the story lies, in the two reconnecting and working through their issues. The Dollotron copies of the two really help with this. Deathwing is part of the plan to bring out the darkness in Dick and Damian's there to keep him from crossing the line. Dinesh even has a moment while Dick and Damian are arguing where, accessing Damian's memories, he reminds the two of what a great team they were and that they need each other. By the end of the story, the two seem to be able, or at least begin to, work past their differences, as they head off to a bank robbery, with Damian stating "Pity these miscreants. The heir to the mantle of the Batman and the original Robin come for them. We are still the greatest." It kind of reminded me of this flashforward moment from "Batman R.I.P." teasing the two in the roles before it actually happens:
So what ends up happening with Shawn and the pregnancy? Well, she takes the test and it's negative. Afterwards, she asks Dick for some space, which essentially means they're done. I know this was the expected route, but I was hoping it wouldn't happen. Having Dick become a father would have been an interesting development for the character. While the New 52 reboot took some characters backwards, you can say Rebirth is trying to move them forward again. But in this case, Dick's character remains the same as it did at the beginning of this story, even if he did have some introspection on potentially being a father, as well as his own thoughts about his role in Damian's life. And like I said before, I really liked Dick and Shawn together. When Shawn is freed and Damian is kidnapped afterwards, they even work together to get him back, talking briefly about the possibility of being parents on the way. It made it seem like they would stay together, which is why I'm surprised they ended it, even if the test was negative. I guess maybe she was hoping she was pregnant, giving her a little bit of hope for her future, but the negative result probably helped the trauma she faced truly set in, as she has brief flashback of being held captive by Pyg and his Dollotrons. This is still a recent issue, so maybe she and Dick will get back together later, but at this point, she feels like just another random love interest there for just the story.
In terms of a bigger picture though, there's actually a bit of tease for the upcoming DC event, "Metal". There's a special knife in the story used by Deathwing and Hurt that when inflicted on someone, the victim experiences visions of the multiverse, seeing endless possible versions of themselves. It's a good tease and made even more ominous with even Hurt, crazy as he is, saying "It's coming here, Grayson. Don't you see what I'm saying?! I am evil incarnate and I am afraid!" Other than the aspects of the multiverse and a special kind of material that the knife in this story was made of, I don't know what to expect from the "Metal" event or how it will tie into the overall Rebirth mystery, but I'm really looking forward to it.
Overall, if you were a fan of Dick and Damian's time as Batman and Robin, this story is definitely worth checking out, bringing a bit of nostalgia as well as a look into the potential possibilities for the characters and their relationships moving forward.
RATING: 8/10
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