“Batman & Robin #3”
Artist: Simone Di Meo
Letterer: Steve Wands
Review by James Attias
After a few issues of keeping it quiet, our villain has a name. “Shush” has been spoken out loud and Batman & Robin #3 brings us deeper into her shadowy plan.
Animal Madness
If you read my last review here’s what we know: Our new antagonist is called Shush, she has ties to Hush (Tommy Elliot), and so far she’s been calm, dangerous and calculated. We also know she’s been working with quite a few animal related villains, like The Terrible Trio, White Rabbit, not to mention a chemical agent that involved Bats. Lastly, what we know is… Damian doesn’t want to go to school.
Like all boys his age, who are a bit different (understatement of the year) school is something we’d be much less enthusiastic about, I myself would much rather be fighting villains, flirting with femme fatale’s and driving some of the fastest vehicles on the planet.
As Bruce and Alfred (via flashback) both tell young Damian, there are a lot of things you can learn in a school that you can’t learn from a Demon Grandfather/Mother and a gaggle of Ninjas.
So far the plot of this story is still a little bit unclear. What is the grand master plan? Who’s pulling the strings? What’s the endgame? With few answers given I’m still really enjoying this title. I really hope that the payoff is worth the set up.
Hush Lite
So if this story is framing itself as the new Batman: Hush , it has massive, MASSIVE… I’m talking Solomon Grundy sized shoes to fill. The writing; so far Joshua Williamson’s been great, he knows Damian Wayne and he knows how to tug at your teenage emotions. The art has been good too, but how do you compete with Jim Lee’s masterpiece? The colors are a little bit bland as it feels like there’s pink and dark blue… and that’s it. I mean, this is Gotham City! I want the skyline to pop, pow, smash… if you get my reference. I’m enjoying the mystery, so if the pay off’s good, and the art picks up a bit, this is sure to be a smash hit.
Conclusion
Batman & Robin #3 keeps a fun story going, but now that we’re 3 issues in I want the plot to progress and questions to start getting answered.
Images Courtesy of DC Entertainment