After the “big” reveal last month regarding the goalie, Zach’s, parentage, Batman and Robin are keeping a close eye on him. What nefarious schemes is this soccer-playing villain hatching? Let’s see!
Well, that was anticlimactic. What I had assumed was the start of an ongoing subplot wraps up in rather dull fashion (Spoilers Ahead). I already made my opinion clear on the possibility of Mr. Zsasz having a son and to all those readers out there who feel the same way, the good news is, it was all a fake out. Turns out Zsasz actually killed Zach’s parents and the kid’s traumatized mind concocted a story about Zsasz being his father and killing his true parents to save him from them. Okay. Sure. I guess on Earth-468 Bruce Wayne probably thinks Joe Chill is his dad.
Anyway, the first half of the comic focuses on Zach freeing Zsasz and the fight with Batman and Robin that follows. It’s pretty standard stuff. In the end, the situation is all taken care of but Damian has decided that Zach must have been trained by someone and, of course, who else could that be but his Principal and soccer coach, who may or may not be Shush and Mistress Harsh. She is a woman of many names. Things get rather frustrating as Damian walks right up to her on the soccer field and accuses her. I don’t understand what Williamson is trying to do with her character anymore. When Damian makes his claims she acts like she doesn’t know what he’s talking about and it drives home how absurd this plot line is. A crazy teacher from Damian’s past posing as a principal (starting years before Damian enrolled in the school, by the way) and teaching a mentally unstable kid how to break his not-dad out of the slammer… all as a way to get at Damian for unknown reasons? Oh, and she’s probably Shush because Damian has a feeling. It’s all so shoddy. If Principal Stone does turn out to be Mistress Harsh, her goals are impenetrable and if she isn’t, Damian just looks like a huge idiot. Well, at least a bigger idiot than this scene inadvertently makes him out to be with his lack of self control or care about protecting his secret identity. He’s yelling about Mistress Harsh and Shush out in the open at school with a strangely silent Bruce Wayne right behind him. Add to that the fact that he has no proof and is hoping an “I know who you really are!” will suffice, and, yeah, he looks kinda stupid.
As far as other highlights go, I suppose the best part of this issue was the father-son chat between Bruce and Damian. It’s a little sickly sweet as Damian shows Bruce his manga and gets heaps of praise for his unfinished sketches but at the end of the day, it’s still enjoyable to see these characters bonding. I do, however, take some issue with the manga Damian is creating because it stars himself, which seems odd to me. As a fourteen or fifteen year old, I don’t think many kids are writing themselves into stories like this to begin with but then there’s the fact that Damian is already a superhero. Why would he feel the need to create a wish fulfillment version of himself like this? Is his life not exciting enough? I don’t know, it isn’t a big deal but Williamson’s greatest strength on this title is writing Damian and this is just one element that doesn’t quite line up for me.
There’s not much I can say about the art that I didn’t last month. Nikola Čižmešija continues to be a strong artist with a great eye for dynamic action. If I was in charge of this title, he would be the permanent artist. Alas, I am not and Simone Di Meo is returning next month. As you can probably guess, that is not a homecoming I’m looking forward to.
Oh, and Man-Bat has a cult following him now. Do with that what you will.
Recommended if…
- You want to see Bruce and Damian bond
- Seeing last issue’s new plot point immediately resolved does something for you
- You’re here for the art
Overall
This series is not terrible but it’s not good either. At this point, I don’t see that changing. Every issue does a few things right and a few things wrong and it just depends on which side of the scale outweighs the other each month to determine whether I’m left feeling frustrated or just bored. Today, we have the latter.
Score: 5.5/10
DISCLAIMER: DC Comics provided Batman News with a copy of this comic for the purposes of this review
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