“Batman & Robin #2”
Writer: Joshua Williamson
Artist: Simone Di Meo
Letterer: Steve Wands
Review by James Attias
We’re back to bring your son to crime fighting! Or is it bring your Bat Dad to school? Either way, the dynamic duo’s back! In Batman & Robin #2. Let’s pounce in!
Training, Healing, Schooling
This issue continues on from the last pages of book one. Batman’s been gassed and the bats of Gotham are turning rabid but only seem to be attacking him. Who’s the mastermind behind these many animal-related attacks?
If you’ve been reading the coming soon pages, you’ll know who one of our main antagonists is (not to mention taking a glance at the front cover of this book). If you don’t, I’ll word this so perfectly and spoiler-free it will make you want to read this issue… I got this.
So, as per her predecessor, she seems to have this entire caper planned out, as well as manipulating a lot of hired help. In other areas of the book, we’re also treated to a plethora of red herrings and possible faces that would fit well behind the mask. At this point, I have my suspicions, but I’ll keep those to myself… or maybe Twitter as well, for now. Tantalized yet? What we know so far is, this is personal. She has a puppet master and a plan regarding cross-species genetics. What comes next is anybody’s guess.
Many Faces
The art style in this issue isn’t my favorite, but it works perfectly in keeping our masked villain’s identity. If the art was too detailed it would be too obvious. Also, can I just say how much I appreciate the look of black lipstick on every woman in this issue? Including two teachers!!! If my teachers at school wore black lipstick they would have still looked like Oswald Cobblepot, but any other school, wow!
The writing from Josh Williamson is an absolute triumph. I’m calling it now, if this story pans out the way I hope it does then this might be one of my favorite stories of the last 10 years. Fingers crossed.
Conclusion
Batman & Robin #2 takes the pop from the first issue and adds gas to the fire. This series is awesome, as is the ending of the book itself. Tune in next month for my next review, same Bat-time, same Bat-website!
Images Courtesy of DC Entertainment
