In my last article, the Blackest Night Batman #1 preview, I spoke of some panels taken from the upcoming comic due to come out this August 12th and posted by IGN. Personally, I found these panels teased out to us to be quite powerful. The artwork by Ardian Syaf is a different approach than we saw by Ivan Reis in Blackest Night #1. Perhaps a bit simpler but no less evocative. Where would our Dark Knight be than standing in the rain in the middle of a cemetery over a broken grave?

Of course this is no ordinary grave. It is the grave of Thomas and Martha Wayne and next to it the grave of Bruce Wayne himself. I was impressed by the emotion instilled into this scene by Peter Tomasi. The compassion felt by the Dick Grayson Batman is quite palpable. Naturally, Damian cracks wise on how it’s not the way most kids meet their grandparents. But, unruffled and undeterred, Dick continues to salvage the desecrated site and when he tries to enlist Damian’s help we find the new Robin not quite up to it. Dick continues his sorrowful task alone.

This speaks a great deal of the new Dick Grayson Batman. Dick does not shy away from the public eye as Batman and he was visibly upset over his altercation with Damian in Batman and Robin #2. One could only imagine how Bruce Wayne himself would act if he came upon the shattered resting place of his murdered parents. Suffice it to say it wouldn’t have been pretty.

I’m looking forward to this comic in full. It promises to ask many questions and hopefully answer a few. Not the least of which is the fate of Bruce Wayne’s skull and why it is useful to Black Hand. It will also be cool to see Deadman go up against his doppelganger Black Lantern self. That should be a hoot. I’ll be back with a review of Blackest Night: Batman #1 by the end of the week. I hope you all get a chance to read it along with me. Till then…

Posted by Dark Knight Dave