Batman & Robin Year One tells the story of the first year of crime fighting between the Dynamic Duo. I gave the first issue a 9.5/10, and you can check out my review here. It was an excellent start to the series, and this issue continues that trend of excellence in comic books.
SPOILERS for Batman & Robin Year One #2 below.
This issue starts with a compelling situation that is usually not considered in stories about Batman and Robin when Robin is still a child: Child Protective Services. The first two pages are set in Gotham’s CPS office where employees are betting on how long it will take for Bruce Wayne to abandon Dick Grayson and when they’ll be able to put him in a home with people who actually care. Bruce Wayne’s reputation as a play boy is working against him in this scene as the CPS employees have no confidence in his ability to raise a child. It’s an angle that is rarely presented in comics and actualizes Bruce’s fears about being a father.
In the next scene, we see Bruce, Alfred, and Dick in the batcave performing a training exercise that Robin isn’t taking too seriously. His objective is to stop the gunman, Alfred, as quickly as possible, but he’s doing flips around the room, just dodging rubber bullets instead. This is the first time in this series that we see Bruce be demanding of Dick, something that the last issue lacked.
Then, CPS shows up and Bruce must convince the agent that he is fit to house an orphan. Bruce shows off his wealth, his ever present butler, and uses his own traumatic past to show he can relate to Dick. The visit seems to be going great, and Bruce seems to even be flirting a little, until the two of them walk into a room to find Dick swinging on chandeliers. The CPS worker leaves, but promises to keep a very close eye on the two of them, something that will likely interrupt their activities as Batman and Robin. Again, it’s a great angle that adds another dynamic to the complexity of the duo.
Then, we see more of Two-Face and the new villain, General Grimaldi. This issue seems to hint that Grimaldi, while he brings his crippled, elderly father everywhere, does not actually like his father. It’s brief and subtle, but the hint is there. Two-Face tries to make moves that’ll end with him being Grimaldi’s number two man, but Grimaldi isn’t particularly interested in the information Dent has to offer. The information comes from the file that was stolen from Gordon leading me to think Dent may have dirt on the commissioner. Still, Grimaldi simply doesn’t care.
The next three pages are the best in the comic. We see the bat-boat/sub emerge from water in another cave as Robin asks how many batcaves there are. Bruce says there is only one which confuses Robin as they just left the batcave. Batman tells Robin, me, and all the other Batman comics to come before this one that we’re thinking too small. On Earth-0, the Earth this story takes place on, the batcave is actually a series of connected, unexplored caves below nearly the entire city of Gotham. In this story, the batcave is not just under Wayne Manor, but all of Gotham City. This allows Bruce to create exits and entrances to the batcave in condemned buildings that Wayne Enterprises purchases. It’s a perfect reimagining of the batcave as a useful tunnel system that allows Batman to move throughout the city without someone tracking the batmobile.
Finally, we get some action. The Maronis are planning an arson job, and Batman and Robin are on the case, but things do not go as planned. Tommy Marretti, a long time worker for the Maronis, lights his flamethrower inside the truck transporting the Maroni goons and lights everyone on fire, including himself. Now, Robin has a chance to be a hero. Batman and Robin save several people from a blazing building, but then Robin goes in again against Batman’s orders. Inside the building, Robin is able to save two children using his flame proof cape then theatrically presents his feat to Batman and other passersby. Lastly, Batman questions a charred survivor of Tommy Marretti’s assault and testifies that Tommy melted like wax when he torched everyone.
Like issue one, issue two of Batman & Robin Year One is a phenomenal read. It introduces the interesting angle of CPS visiting Bruce and Dick, gives us a little more information about the villain, shows us Robin becoming a hero, and foreshadows a new villain with a possible wax theme. My only complaint with it is the same as the first: there are no consequences, natural or enforced by Batman, for Robin’s recklessness. I imagine this is on the way, but it seems like it should have been introduced already. Regardless, Mark Waid writes an excellent story and Chris Samnee’s art complements it with synchronicity. Overall, I give this comic an amazing 9.5/10.