A review by rhganci
Batman and Robin Vol. 2: Pearl (the New 52) by Peter J. Tomasi
3.0
As much as I like Damian Wayne as a character, both as the Son of Batman and a different kind of Robin, I would not have matched him up with zombies. I would prefer that zombies just stay out of Gotham City. And while this volume has a few terrific moments, as a whole it labors a bit in terms of structure and sequential art, making it really just a fanciful Halloween sort of fun that kills time while the rest of the Bat-family prepares to welcome back the Joker.
The zero issue is really the best part of this collection, as it provides an efficient backstory for Damian's journey to become Robin (who is really the central character in the BATMAN & ROBIN book). It takes the muddled mess of Morrison's work a half-decade ago and smooths it out into something that really communicates the degree of struggle that Damian faced, and Tomasi is very clear in making that the object of Damian's journey. It offers a passable explanation as to how a 10 year-old can be more awesome than everybody but Batman, and even though a lot of the rest of the book ignores that, I feel like it's a point that has to be made. Nightwing, Red Robin, and Red Hood make some welcome cameos, and as a whole, the character development works okay. Gleason's art doesn't miss a beat, and while some of the sequences are hard to follow--such as the fight with Terminus and the deus ex Batarmor--the book generally looks great when Gleason and Gray are in control of the graphics.
The story, unfortunately, is where this one really tails off from the rest of the Batfamily lot. The army of Terminus makes to play for a huge conclusion, but as character development is prized over plot development, it never really reaches a dramatic climax that would sell its resolution that hard. After that three-issue arc comes the two-issue zombie story which is the most forgettable Batman story I've read in the New 52. It sort of recycles some of the best aspects of V1, but does it with zombies, then attempts to shoehorn the Saturn Society plotline into the Joker's return, which doesn't quite work. What does work is the relationship between Bruce and Damian, and if Tomasi and Gleason get one think accomplished in this volume, is that the deepen a Batman and Robin bond that we've not seen before. It's a true father and son bond that offers a great deal of emotional weight going into DEATH OF THE FAMILY, and it is in that work that PEARL stops short of becoming a poor book, and instead seems to be a nice piece of character development sharing duty with an unimpressive story.
The zero issue is really the best part of this collection, as it provides an efficient backstory for Damian's journey to become Robin (who is really the central character in the BATMAN & ROBIN book). It takes the muddled mess of Morrison's work a half-decade ago and smooths it out into something that really communicates the degree of struggle that Damian faced, and Tomasi is very clear in making that the object of Damian's journey. It offers a passable explanation as to how a 10 year-old can be more awesome than everybody but Batman, and even though a lot of the rest of the book ignores that, I feel like it's a point that has to be made. Nightwing, Red Robin, and Red Hood make some welcome cameos, and as a whole, the character development works okay. Gleason's art doesn't miss a beat, and while some of the sequences are hard to follow--such as the fight with Terminus and the deus ex Batarmor--the book generally looks great when Gleason and Gray are in control of the graphics.
The story, unfortunately, is where this one really tails off from the rest of the Batfamily lot. The army of Terminus makes to play for a huge conclusion, but as character development is prized over plot development, it never really reaches a dramatic climax that would sell its resolution that hard. After that three-issue arc comes the two-issue zombie story which is the most forgettable Batman story I've read in the New 52. It sort of recycles some of the best aspects of V1, but does it with zombies, then attempts to shoehorn the Saturn Society plotline into the Joker's return, which doesn't quite work. What does work is the relationship between Bruce and Damian, and if Tomasi and Gleason get one think accomplished in this volume, is that the deepen a Batman and Robin bond that we've not seen before. It's a true father and son bond that offers a great deal of emotional weight going into DEATH OF THE FAMILY, and it is in that work that PEARL stops short of becoming a poor book, and instead seems to be a nice piece of character development sharing duty with an unimpressive story.