In Batman and Robin #5, Bruce and Damian continue their trek to search for the whereabouts of Shush. First stop, Gotham Academy.
Title: Batman & Robin #5
Writer: Josh Williamson
Artists: Nikola Čižmešija
Color Artist: Rex Lokus
Letterer: Steve Wands
Cover Artist: Simone Di Meo
Variant Cover Artists: Jorge Molina and Kael Ngu, Pete Woods, Nikola Čižmešija
Release Date: January 9, 2024
This comic book review contains spoilers.
Bruce Wayne hosts a pancake breakfast at Gotham City High School. Damian Wayne is unimpressed. They flash back to the previous evening when the Dynamic Duo chased Orca through Gotham Harbor. She professes fear of this newer, more dangerous version of Man-Bat. She flees, and Batman indicates an intent to further investigate Shush, whom Damian is certain is both his principal and his former trainer, Mistress Harsh.
Damian reflects on his week in high school. Flash forward to the present and Ms. Hall, Damian’s biology teacher, strikes up a conversation with Bruce. She compliments Damian and calls him a “sniper” in terms of the timing and precision of his mind.
They discuss further as the soccer team tries to bully Damian. He responds in kind.
The ringleader departs, and an acquaintance remarks to Damian how much the school has changed since Principal Stone took over. She notes that the school-to-henchperson pipeline of previous years has all but vanished, and that Principal Stone is also the head coach of the soccer team. Hearing this, Damian decides to try out. He easily weaves through the team, including his bullies, and fires a direct shot on goal. The keeper comes from out of nowhere and makes the save. Damian goggles.
Later, the Dynamic Duo perch like gargoyles and discuss the case. Robin leaps off into the night, and Batman follows. He is tracking the soccer team and catches up with them in time to hear them insult him. He maintains composure as the keeper breaks off from the group. Robin follows, and Batman warns Damian that the keeper’s soccer skill does not imply criminality. He breaks off as Robin points out the keeper standing in front of a poster of Victor Zsasz. The keeper is Victor Zsasz’s son.
Batman and Robin #5 variant cover by Jorge Molina
Damian in high school? I typically like high school as a setting for comics; Buffy The Vampire Slayer is one of my favorite shows of all time. But high school grates on Damian, as we would expect. Unfortunately, portraying that experience grates on the reader as well. Like Damian, the reader feels trapped, with little of significance occurring. There’s little action in the book other than a brief and half-hearted chase sequence of Orca, who isn’t even a genuine rogue, as Batman himself notes.
This book is clearly a transition deeper into a new arc, and while some latitude is owed writer Josh Williamson, literally the only narrative advance in the book is the discovery that the keeper is Zsasz’s son. Oh, and Damian tries out for the soccer team, which may or may not be coached by Shush. While not every book can feature a battle with Man-Bat (see Batman and Robin #4), “Damian’s No-Good, Terrible Very Bad Week” does not make for an especially compelling book. Maybe Robin should move to Australia?
Artist Nikola Čižmešija’s youthful style trends more to anime than the sharp linework and horror tones of the previous book’s Mikel Janín. I much prefer the latter, but your mileage may vary. Nevertheless, under editor Ben Abernathy’s watch, inconsistency in artists from issue to issue continues to be a trademark of Greater Gotham especially.
This isn’t a terrific book, but it is a transition, and I’m willing to suspend judgment until Batman and Robin #6.
Editor’s Note: DC Comics provided TBU with an advanced copy of this comic for review purposes. You can find this comic and help support TBU in the process by purchasing this issue digitally through Amazon or a physical copy of the title through Things From Another World.
