Batman & Robin #14 Discussion/Spoilers

[Rakzo]

I don't need a Damian solo book, this title delivers all that.

Damian's portrayal keeps being great, Tomasi certainly has an affection for the character and it's pretty obvious he's basing the interaction between Bruce and Damian on his relationship with his own son, it's really well done.

The Death of the Family event was touched but it was'nt a huge part of it and I'm glad for that.

Plus, we finally see why Damian was spending so much time on the sewers for the last few issues which resolves into one of the most heartwarming last pages of this title. Good stuff.

[Retro315]

The art team thing was pretty jarring and made for some bad comics karma. I like Gleason's art fine, but the assist came from a guy whose style is just not even close to similar (looked a lot like classic 70s era Batman, actually, which would actually be quite nice to see on a full issue that wasn't sharing pages with the highly animated, clean Gleason stuff).

Damian was novel. The last page was amazing. Frankly, any time Batman hugs somebody it's amazing.

Actual villainy and plot? So the guy in the red hood is Joker, right? Scamming, distracting and pranking as build-up for his main plot. Using his mastery of the art of disguise (although a guy in a red hood named after a god who tried to eat his own children is a bit on-the-nose).

At any rate, these last couple issues of B&R (excepting the Zero Issue) haven't exactly been streamlined, concise, rollicking storylines. NoBody might have lasted three issues too long but at least it had its own thing going on, beholden to none.

Character voices were pretty spot on, though. It's nice to read a voice that feels similar to other books, and Tomasi's Bruce & Damian feel like extensions of Morrison's, while still having plenty of his voice. And if the Saturnian was Joker, that dialogue felt more Jokery as well. Of all the Joker appearances this week, I actually felt like this and Suicide Squad nailed his voice the best. (Suicide Squad actually had me chuckling.)

[coveredinbees]

lol zombiez "Come with me if you want to live!"
That was nice with the pearl. Damian searching the sewers is great.

I never like artist shifts in the middle of an issue, but Tomas Giorello is a bit horror movie, so he fit well. As always, I loved Gleason.

[nosocialize100]

Why would you ever waste a sexy woman by eating her?

[nosocialize100]

The laughing teeth were sort of odd in this issue no? Seemed like they just needed a reason to have a Joker cover. Pretty misleading. Nice moment for Damian and Bruce at the end though.

[schnecharl]

That was nice with the pearl. Damian searching the sewers is great.

[adkal]

Did we just lose 18 months?

[thwhtGuardian]

Not a bad issue, I felt the last one was stronger and the art change was jarring but that conclusion was really fun.

[RedDeadRobin]

Great issue. But I probably missed something - where did the pearl come from?

[adkal]

The sewer - it's what Damien has been down there looking for.

[FHIZ]

Great issue. But I probably missed something - where did the pearl come from?

Through out Batman and Robin (and I think it was shown in Batman #5 too) Damian has been searching through the sewer with what looks to be a metal detector at random points. It's a callback to the first issue where Bruce speaks to Damian about his parents passing in the sewer. More specifically, he found it last issue right before being attacked.

[Conway]

The eyeball looking back out of the Joker teeth works well with the first scene of Batman #14 (great art too). In fact it works better than the monologue in that vat scene does. The "zombies" were tough to read through sometimes but it was an impactful issue.

[Namtab]

The art team thing was pretty jarring and made for some bad comics karma. I like Gleason's art fine, but the assist came from a guy whose style is just not even close to similar (looked a lot like classic 70s era Batman, actually, which would actually be quite nice to see on a full issue that wasn't sharing pages with the highly animated, clean Gleason stuff).

Damian was novel. The last page was amazing. Frankly, any time Batman hugs somebody it's amazing.

My only issue with this, uh, issue, was the change in art. I love Gleason's style and the only person I could see him sharing art duties with, without it being jarring, would possibly be Mahnke. But even then, I'd rather it be all Gleason, or someone else, entirely.

Even with everything going on with Morrison and Snyder, THIS, is still my fav New 52 Batbook.

[antsomarching]

What was the situation with the artist? Does he have a big workload or something? I just started reading this title with issue #13.

[Bookem Danno]

Did we just lose 18 months?

This question has me very curious? What is the significance or inconsistancy?

Another question: Pearls are calcium, right? The metal detector wouldn't work on one, right? Did he detect the metal bracelet strap and only manage to grasp a pearl or somesuch while with Spotty?

Clearly Bats must have reloaded syringes between panels, right?

The art efforts were better in #13. And the New52 dropped the ball not changing Damian to AT LEAST 13 yrs old! It is still so painful every time I read the 10 yr old thing. I hated that he did not AT LEAST activate his GPS button AFTER he decided to spring into action. And the whole choreographed fight on the train was not clear enough to enjoy beyond the win. Batman is effectively becoming an advocate for "spare the rod and spoil the child".

The issue was just average.

Preview.