“The Most Dangerous Road Trip”
Artist: Howard Porter
Color Artist: Rain Beredo
Letterer: Steve Wands
Review by James Attias
The Batman & Robin 2024 Annual gives fans a sweet camping trip, complete with campfire, s’mores, and a deadly game of death! Quality time at its best.
Bat S’mores
With Batman and Robin in the midst of fighting both Shush, Man-Bat, and another secret foe, it’s nice that throughout this annual, they find the time to get away from the busy city for a father/son camping trip.
So, how do the World’s Greatest Detective and the world’s deadliest 14-year-old get away from it all? They go camping, of course! No super suits, just the essentials, marshmallows, sleeping bags, and Batarangs. What better way to fight off a human hunting ring and a former member of the Suicide Squad? (My only small gripe with the story was that it was quite similar to a Spider-Man story from about 3 years ago, but different enough that it didn’t harm the issue itself).
This issue’s very well-paced for a one-shot story, which makes for a nice change. A lot of the time annuals struggle to tell a contained story with the page limits they have; usually being it too few, so sometimes they feel like filler. This issue trots along nicely, some areas are sharp and to the point and it made for a super read.
Roulette’s Last Hunt
The art in this issue was different from what we see from the usual team in the monthly book. This is also common for an annual, but I feel it worked well with the tone of a hunt in the woods, as it was spookier visually than the usual creative team’s work.
Of course, by now, my lovely, loyal readers, you’ll know I like superheroes to look like superheroes, but I’ll let this one go as it worked. Moving forward, though, I don’t believe that noses should be that big! Batman and Robin are from Gotham, not Monty Python’s Conk City!
Conclusion
The Batman & Robin 2024 Annual is a fun self-contained issue that shows Batman and Robin don’t always have to hate each other and that they can be father and son… in their own, unique way.
Images Courtesy of DC Entertainment