Book Review: Batman and Robin Vol. 1 by G. Morrison et al.

Batman and Robin Volume 1: Batman Reborn written by Grant Morrison and art by Frank Quitely and Philip Tan

Bruce Wayne is gone so Dick Grayson steps up as Batman. Robin's shoes are filled by Damian Wayne, son of Bruce and Talia al Ghul. Damian was raised by his mom, who was part of her father's (Ra's al Ghul) terrorist organization. So he has fighting skills but a more brutal, less moral attitude than previous Robins. They face up against a sinister physician called Professor Pyg, who is transforming people through drugs, lobotomies, and weird masks into drone-like slaves. Pyg is part of a larger organization, the Circus of the Strange, that causes a lot of trouble for the new dynamic duo. But not as much trouble as Jason Todd (another former Robin), who returns to Gotham as Red Hood. Todd's plan is to be a next-level Batman, fighting crime by killing the criminals.

I did a little reading around before starting this since I wanted to try out the Grant Morrison run on Batman. He had a few story arcs before this, but from what I read, this was a fine jumping on point and a little lighter in tone than previous material. Well, the previous stuff must have been very dark. Pyg's M.O. is grim and unsettling, leaving a lot of people horribly scarred and mentally unbalanced. Damian is hot-headed and vicious, not the sort of Robin you would ever imagine if your first exposer to Batman was the 1960s TV show. The plots were okay and the art is nice, but the overall tone was too bleak and miserable for me.

Not recommended.