Batman and Robin: Death Of The Family is an exceptionally good book featuring the wonderful dynamic between Bruce Wayne and his son – Damian Wayne. The book has a lot of good moments between the two and focuses on their core dynamic of how Damian wants to become just like his father and has pushed past everything that Talia has shoved at him to become the true son that Batman would like. However, once the Death Of The Family storyline kicks in, the book pretty much drags and falls off its course.
Batman and Robin: Death Of The Family starts out with a unique and fun storyline showcasing Damian’s need to prove himself to his father; he really is the only heir to the Batman mantle. In doing so, Damian falsely sets up a wild goose chase for Bruce that spans across the entire world. On the other hand, this goose chase isn’t meaningless; it showcases some very important locations that have to do with Bruce and his past. These first few chapters are the best part of the book; the great character and family building between Bruce, Damian and even Alfred. This makes reading Batman Inc: Gotham’s Most Wanted (read my review here) even harder; knowing that Damian Wayne is dead and no longer in comics. Tomasi crafts an excellent adventure where Damian is dressing up in a small-sized Batman costume fighting off thugs and criminals while Bruce is off travelling the world on Damian’s “scavenger hunt”. That’s what I usually like about Peter J. Tomasi’s Batman & Robin; it’s fun and enjoyable and doesn’t take itself too seriously except for when it ties into an event. The beginning of this book is so magnificently fun to read, especially certain scenes when Gordon calls for Batman on the GCPD but Damian in a batsuit shows up instead. The beginning of Batman And Robin: Death Of The Family is a great read.
However, Death Of The Family’s tie-in just…kicks in. We start with an issue featuring Damian holstered in the Batcave reviewing evidence, trying to find out what happened to Alfred Pennyworth. A new reader who hasn’t known anything about Death Of The Family would be ultimately confused by this; there’s no transition into the story. Not only is it off-putting but it’s also the pinpoint of where the book just goes downhill; the next two or three issues is Damian Wayne facing off against The Joker, but it’s normally just piles of dialogue and exposition to get one simple point across. Sure, there are some great moments here or there, but ultimately Damian faces off against a hypnotized thug dressed up as Batman who Damian has to kill to win. In the end, however, The Joker just kills the Batman fake because Damian won’t, then a drugged out Damian is pulled to the “dinner table” where the final issue of Death Of The Family occurs (which we see next). Don’t get me wrong, Peter Tomasi’s writing is great, but there’s just some books where he relies way too much on exposition and piles of dialogue as filler – such as his Villain’s Month titles & Arkham War. In summary, once the Death Of The Family stuff kicks in, the book becomes a chore to read through, if it wasn’t for Damian and the progression of his character, I would’ve stopped reading.
That’s not to say that there aren’t redeeming qualities to this book. In other words, it starts off great but then the worthless Death Of The Family tie-ins bring the book’s score severely down. The artwork by Patrick Gleason and Mick Gray is superb in most of the book and it’s wonderful to look at. It’s a fantastic mix of cartoon and realism. Also, the book has some great supplemental content at the end as well; scripts, variant covers and more reading recommendations. It’s a great book to own purely to continue your collection, but other than that I find it hard to justify the twenty-five dollar cover price. To summarize, Batman and Robin: Death Of The Family starts off as a fun, comedic story showcasing the Bruce and Damian dynamic which then goes downhill by tying into Snyder’s Death Of The Family.
Buy Batman and Robin Vol 3: Death Of The Family on Amazon.