One of the reasons this comic is titled Son of Batman is to remind us that Robin isn’t far from Batman in his technique, heroics, and adventuring. Okay, maybe he’s a bit more adventuring, considering how much of a globetrotter he’s become in this series. We take a look at issue #13 to answer the question, is it good?
Robin: Son of Batman #13 (DC Comics)
So what’s it about? The official DC synopsis reads:
The series conclusion to Damian Wayne’s quest for atonement! In the wake of a victory, Damian, Maya and Goliath discover that there is still one enemy left to vanquish—the most terrible of all. Only together, and with the help of unlikely allies, will they be able to save humanity from destruction…but will they all survive this final battle?
Why does this book matter?
Something this series has that no other Batman title does is bring on questing and adventuring. Robin is entering dungeons, ancient caves, and tackling supernatural threats that put Uncharted to shame. Plus the character and his trusty bat bud Goliath are quite a dynamic pairing. I said all of this in my review of the first volume of the series. This issue brings the big climax to the threat revealed in that volume too.
Fine, you have my attention. What’s good about it?
Nice banter.
I’m not sure anyone else has noticed this, but Ray Fawkes is slowly collecting together young heroes that rival the Teen Titans. Call them the Titans of the 21st century! This issue has Robin, Maya, and Suren, the son of Den Darga, take on a major threat that normally an army would be required to vanquish! Along the way Fawkes kicks up the hero banter–especially the similarly rude nature of Robin and Suren–making for a nice trio story. The reason this story works is that, while the heroes primarily use their fists, they can take on any threat even if it’s magic based, because of their resolve.
Their resolve takes them to an ancient temple to fight some serious energy based magic. More is revealed of the enemy and the characters bond further. All in all it’s an interesting enough ride.
The art by Ramon Bachs is good with plenty of fun punch-heavy layouts that are easy to follow. The style sort of reminds me of Nelson Daniel’s as it’s detailed, but cartoony with a cel-shaded look. The colors by Mat Lopes, especially inside the temple, have a nice red glow conveying there’s some serious magic being thrown around.
Sure, sure, blame the kid who does magic.
It can’t be perfect can it?
Bachs does do something a bit irksome and that’s make Robin look very tiny. There are panels in this issue that make you wonder if Robin is a toddler he’s so darn small. At most he can’t be older than 7! It’s a bit weird and wasn’t always consistent.
There’s also a plot development near the end that didn’t work mostly because Damian recently died and came back to life. To see that element used again made me roll my eyes, mostly because there’s no way you kill him off again so soon. For a big climactic twist it didn’t really work.
Is It Good?
If you want superhero adventure this is the comic for you.
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