Robin is dead. In one of the stupidest moves by a writer since Spider-Man’s One More Day, Grant Morrison, Mr. Shake-things-up himself, has killed Damian Wayne. Morrison’s first foray into ruining Batman was “killing” the Dark Knight in the abysmal Final Crisis. Now, after years of continued mediocrity, Morrison is mercifully leaving Batman alone and making sure he applies a dick move to do it.
So, as I said, Robin is on the slab. As Morrison doesn’t care at all about his fellow writers, it falls upon them to weave Robin’s death into their story. First up is Batman. Writer Scott Snyder has just wrapped up his powerful Joker story and he must waste an issue acknowledging that Robin is dead and Batman is pissed.
As always, Snyder handles this throwaway issue with his usual style and grace. Not surprisingly, Snyder turns to his character Harper, a poor girl with a gay brother who saved Batman’s life several issues ago. Since then, Bruce Wayne has helped get Harper and her brother out of the slums and Harper has been harboring ideas of becoming her own nighttime crime stopper. In Batman #18, Harper has been tracking her hero and she doesn’t like what she sees.
Batman is unhinged. He never seems to sleep and his break neck pace is allowing for average muggers and thugs to get the drop on the Dark Knight. At one point, a common criminal uses steroid hyped dogs to try and finish Batman. Just when it looks like a stupid mistake might end it all, Harper shows up and saves the day. Interestingly, Batman’s reaction is to kick her through a wall and then scream about how she’s a joke and her little quest is over. While Batman’s reaction post-Damian isn’t surprising, it was a nice touch for Snyder to have Batman actually knock Harper down.
As you would expect, Harper isn’t fazed and decides to visit Bruce Wayne with an idea to honor Robin. There’s a quiet exchange between Harper and Batman on a rooftop just as her message appears. It’s obvious that Harper is going to be a recurring character. Will she be the new Robin? Let’s hope not. Personally, I think it’s time to retire the whole Robin character.
Let Tim Drake be his own hero. If Harper sticks around let her do her own thing. Two Robins dead? At some point, this amassing of dead children would turn public opinion against Batman. Plus, this is the second Wayne family member who suddenly vanished. Snyder uses his gifts to make Batman #18 a really good read and he even manages to deepen Harper’s character. I feel for him having to suffer through writing around Morrison, but that’s how DC is running things. Morrison writes this ridiculous story and then leaves everybody else to pick up his pieces. The ego involved here is staggering.
Batman #18 uses two very different artists to tell this tale. The first is Andy Kubert, whose work is glorious. Everything Kubert touches has that same tough edging and raw vision as his father’s did. This is the perfect marriage of old school comic training and the ideals of the new world of comic art. Strong lines, powerful shading and all within panels that seem to move on their own. Kubert puts his pen to the paper and amazing things happen. Sandra Hope really draws out the strength of Kubert’s pencils with her spot on inks and colorist Brad Anderson knows exactly where to apply darker shades and lighter ones. This is a cohesive unit I hope to see work together again.
Alex Maleev handles the last eight pages of Batman #18 and does a great job. His work is a perfect counter to Kubert’s aggressive style. Maleev uses lighter pen strokes and smaller forms to tell his tale. It’s a more human approach, one that helps illuminate the latter part of Batman #18. Kubert’s work, while stunning, wouldn’t accessorize well with the more melancholy themes of the last pages. Maleev’s thinner lines and more realistic human forms make the end touching, which it needed to be. Nathan Fairbairn’s colors are perfect. It’s not easy to work with the thin pencils of an artist like Maleev, but Fairbairn manages to work within those parameters to create beautiful pages.
Batman #18 is a strong issue, despite it being more a necessity of Grant Morrison’s ego than anything involving Scott Snyder’s epic run.
(4 Story, 4 Art)
