Batman and Robin: Year One #8 – Mark Waid, Writer; Chris Samnee, Artist; Matheus Lopes, Colorist
Ray – 9.5/10
Ray: As Grimaldi tightens his grip on Gotham, Batman and Robin find themselves in uncharted territory – and some fraying threads start to show in their bond. Someone is targeting people around Gotham that they think might be Batman – and while saving a man and his daughter, Robin picks up the criminal’s gun to scare him. Batman reacts predictably badly, not knowing if Dick can be trusted to abide by his no-guns rule. It’s a disturbing enough event that Batman seeks out the help of Commissioner Gordon on parenting advice which is very funny – but there’s some deeper conversations to be had too. It turns out that the files of possible Batmen weren’t put together by criminals – but by the GCPD, and Batman isn’t sure if Gordon can be fully trusted, especially with his name on the list. It’s always interesting to see when this alliance is actually tested by the fact that they’re on opposite sides of the law.
The back half of the issue is where things get tense, as Dick comes home to find Bruce behaving…oddly. He puts his father figure to the test with some simple questions – and Bruce fails utterly. It’s not Bruce, it’s Clayface – and he’s infiltrated Wayne Manor to try to clean up the list. At the same time, Bruce and Alfred are being escorted home by a GCPD attache when the car is attacked by gunmen. This lets Alfred play the hero for a change, which was fun, but the action in this segment is some of the most intense of the series so far. Add in a completely vile villain in the sadistic Grimaldi, and the plot in this series is really picking up. Mark Waid has a great history of taking on a classic origin and finding new spins to put on it, and Chris Samnee is of course perfectly suited for a gritty noir story. I was skeptical that this could work as an ongoing, but I’m being proven wrong in a big way.
To find reviews of all the DC issues, visit DC This Week.
GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
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