The second part of this “Revenge of the Red Hood” storyline, is again a strong performance from Grant Morrison and Philip Tan. Batman and Robin #5 is another action-packed story, and another reason why Grant Morrison is the man to be writing Batman write now.
Issue #5 opens up with the Red Hood and Scarlet again quarreling with Batman and Robin. I think that Morrison does a really solid job when writing the dialogue between the two dynamic duos. I also feel that Morrison’s characterization of Jason Todd is the best interpretation that we have seen since his return from the dead. He makes Jason feel like such a hopeless and cold character. Morrison also continues his well executed investigation into Dick and Damian’s relationship. This to me is what makes the book so good. Throughout Batman Reborn, Morrison has been the best at writing the relationships between these characters and that continues in this issue. The introduction of the Flamingo was also very well done. Anytime Jason Todd takes a shot to the head, it’s always enjoyable. The biggest problem with this issue is that because it is so action-packed, we do not get very many of those emotional scenes between Dick and Damian. I my mind, this doesn’t take much away from the issue though. I also hope that “The Gravedigger” character becomes much more prominent in the next issue. I also still feel that this current story arc isn’t grabbing me like the first arc. My main reasoning is that while Morrison’s version of Jason Todd is an enjoyable one, I still don’t care very much about the character. The Red Hood isn’t nearly as interesting to me as Professor Pyg was in the first story arc. The issue also leaves Batman and Robin in a rather problematic predicament that I think Morrison will play off of in the upcoming issue.
I feel that Philip Tan’s art is greatly under appreciated. I think Tan is a terrific artistic who is being criticized because he is not Frank Quitely. It is not fair to compare Tan to Quitely, Quitely is a master at his’ craft and is in a league of his own. I just think that people should get over the fact that Philip Tan is the one on this book right now and take his’ art for what it’s worth. While I do think that Tan shows some inconsistencies in his’ pencils, the art is still quite good. I think the bigger problem here is not Philip Tan, but Jonathan Glapion. Glapion is the inker on the book and I feel that at times the inks get rather sloppy. Nonetheless, the art is still well done.
At the end of the day, I still consider this to be the best book to come out this week, and the best Batman title to come out every month. This book is just consistently well written, well drawn, and just a lot of fun. Keep picking up Batman and Robin.
Batman and Robin #5:
Reviewed by Zfactor
