The late, lamented Robin may not be so late after all.
The natural question after DC and Grant Morrison killed off Damian Wayne, the latest Robin, was who would replace him: Carrie Kelley? Harper Row? Tim Drake? Hell, Dick Grayson? Someone new?
I asked Nightwing writer Kyle Higgins recently about it and he predictably played it coy: “Uhhhhh, … yeah, I don’t know … I don’t know if there is gonna be Robin. You should ask Pete Tomasi or Scott Snyder.”
Snyder? That makes sense. He’s got the keys to the kingdom right now.
But Tomasi …
Tomasi has been the writer of the Batman and Robin title since the launch of the New 52 (and a little before), one of the more solid books in DC’s Batcave of titles. Early on, I didn’t think much of Tomasi’s characterization of Damian but just as Robin headed toward his doom, something clicked.
Anyway, when Damian died brutally in the pages of Grant Morrison’s Batman Inc. #8 earlier this year, a lot of us wondered what would become of the Batman and Robin title. Interestingly, DC kept it around, making it a de facto “Batman and …” title.
The first arc featured Batman teamed with various members of the Batfamily as he progressed through the classic stages of death. It was great work, the best of Tomasi’s run. Now, we’re in the middle of a fairly routine Batman and Two-Face pairing.
Then, I saw this little nugget in the March 2014 solicitations released this month:
“Batman is ready to settle the score with Ra’s al Ghul, who stole Robin’s body out of the grave! As the Dark Knight travels to the island where Damian was born, he’s set on a collision course with Aquaman!”
Well there it is, isn’t it?
At the end of Batman Incorporated #13, we saw that Robin’s and Talia’s graves were empty and that Ra’s al Ghul was all evil scientist, standing before a bunch of tubes filled with young-uns, bellowing, “Sons of Batman. Rise!” Morrison made it clear with this cliffhanger coda to his years-long run that the Batman story is a never-ending one.
Robin’s is of course, as well. Especially when you have a world populated by those Ra’s Ex Machinas, the Lazarus Pits.
Now when will this happen? I’ll wager one year from now, when Detective #38 comes out. Which of course will be the eve of Robin’s 75th anniversary.
Of course, I could be completely wrong. But what’s the point of having your own website if you can’t indulge in a little educated speculation once in a while?
—
From the Batcomputer: Speaking of Bruce Wayne’s prodigal son, we get Damian: Son of Batman #3 tomorrow (remember Tuesday is New Comic Book Day this week). This bizarro series by Andy Kubert is the craziest Bat-title since Neal Adams’ Batman: Odyssey. There’s also: Batman: The Dark Knight #26, with a Chris Burnham cover; Batwoman #26, as new writer Marc Andreyko really gets going; and Catwoman #26, co-starring the Joker’s Daughter. There’s more, as always, but these are the highlights.
December 30, 2013
Looks like there’s going to be some crazy shake-ups in the Batverse coming up soon…I wouldn’t be surprised if they did resurrect Damian again! But will he fight at Batman’s side as Robin or will he fight against Batman for the League? Interesting stuff for sure!
December 31, 2013
Jason needs to get his resentment back and resurrect Damian himself with the lazarus pit in spite of Bruce, and have his own sidekick.
March 24, 2020
I like that Alex Ross reference with Damian. 🙂