A review by fandom4ever
Batman: Prodigal by Bret Blevins, Chuck Dixon, Doug Moench, John Cleary, M.D. Bright, Lee Weeks, Alan Grant, Graham Nolan, Mike Gustovich, Ron Wagner, Phil Jimenez, Tom Grummett
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Batman: Prodigal is the follow-up story to Batman: Knightfall, taking place shortly after Bruce’s defeat of Jean Paul Valley. Having taken back the mantle of Batman, Bruce once again hands off the cowl, but this time he makes the correct choice in Dick Grayson; former Robin, current Nightwing.
I was really excited to read this story-arc, ready to see how Dick would handle the mantle of Batman but while the overall story was good, it wasn’t great. For starters, we don’t even get to see Bruce ask Dick to take over for him, it’s kind of jarring how it goes from Nightwing and Robin stopping burglars to Dick donning the cowl and Bruce leaving. I did really enjoy the fact that Dick’s first job as Batman involved going against Two-Face, the one villain he crossed paths with in his beginning days as Robin and forever felt he failed against. And while he does get to work through that past trauma, I expected more depth from it. Many of his thoughts across the different issues, just seemed to repeat or reiterate the same lines over and over. Perhaps I’m asking too much from a comic and wanting it to be more like a book but I don’t think so, I’ve read plenty of comics that are able to satisfactorily convey emotional depth.
Then except for some instances as Batman and the way Dick interacts with Robin/Tim, I almost felt like if you didn’t know Dick was the one wearing the cowl, you would just think it was Bruce and an average day in Gotham. And that’s not a good thing. Bruce and Dick are completely different people who approach crime-fighting and life in completely different ways. Dick’s Batman should come across differently especially since it’s his first time trying to be Batman, I would think more of his caring and humorous self would show through.
There is a really good part in the last issue where Dick confronts Bruce about the whole Jean Paul incident and indeed the way they split on not so good terms. It’s a great instance of showing that Dick won’t take Bruce’s brushing off of everyone and will make him own up to his decisions.
Overall, even with my disappointment in truly seeing how Dick feels about taking on the Batman mantle, Prodigy is worth a read after completing Knightfall in comic or book form.
I was really excited to read this story-arc, ready to see how Dick would handle the mantle of Batman but while the overall story was good, it wasn’t great. For starters, we don’t even get to see Bruce ask Dick to take over for him, it’s kind of jarring how it goes from Nightwing and Robin stopping burglars to Dick donning the cowl and Bruce leaving. I did really enjoy the fact that Dick’s first job as Batman involved going against Two-Face, the one villain he crossed paths with in his beginning days as Robin and forever felt he failed against. And while he does get to work through that past trauma, I expected more depth from it. Many of his thoughts across the different issues, just seemed to repeat or reiterate the same lines over and over. Perhaps I’m asking too much from a comic and wanting it to be more like a book but I don’t think so, I’ve read plenty of comics that are able to satisfactorily convey emotional depth.
Then except for some instances as Batman and the way Dick interacts with Robin/Tim, I almost felt like if you didn’t know Dick was the one wearing the cowl, you would just think it was Bruce and an average day in Gotham. And that’s not a good thing. Bruce and Dick are completely different people who approach crime-fighting and life in completely different ways. Dick’s Batman should come across differently especially since it’s his first time trying to be Batman, I would think more of his caring and humorous self would show through.
There is a really good part in the last issue where Dick confronts Bruce about the whole Jean Paul incident and indeed the way they split on not so good terms. It’s a great instance of showing that Dick won’t take Bruce’s brushing off of everyone and will make him own up to his decisions.
Overall, even with my disappointment in truly seeing how Dick feels about taking on the Batman mantle, Prodigy is worth a read after completing Knightfall in comic or book form.