In this review of Batman and Robin #18, Batman teams with Red Hood while Robin teams up with Inspector Lautrec as the investigation into the Memento murders continues.
Batman and Robin #18 main cover by Javier Fernandez (DC Comics)
Batman and Robin #18
“Memento, Part Five”
Writer: Phillip Kennedy Johnson
Artists: Javier Fernández, Miguel Mendonça, Carmine Di Giandomenico
Main Cover: Javier Fernández
Variant Covers: Ariel Olivetti, Aaron Bartling, John McCrea
Release Date: February 12, 2025
Synopsis (Spoilers Ahead):
Still dealing with the effects of Gravedigger’s Poppy, Batman and Robin #18 begins as Batman joins Red Hood at Penguin’s Royal Hotel and intercedes in the mob war between Penguin’s and Tiger Shark’s forces. Gotham City Police Department is also on scene and one of their brethren is wounded. Batman directs Red Hood to remove the wounded into the Hotel and jams all wireless devices. Inside, the police are furious and argue with a voice that may be Batman’s. The officer arguing with the voice is yanked upside down and dropped into an open vat.
Meanwhile, near Gotham University Lautrec and Robin infiltrate Scarecrow’s old lab. Robin finds a living primate on whom Crane had experimented. The creature is terrified and clings to Robin. Lautrec and Robin argue about Batman’s commitment to the safety of the Robins. Robin examines the (nonhuman) primate more closely and finds evidence of recent experimentation, as well as indications that the lab had been used more recently by someone other than Scarecrow. The conversations turns to the sad story of Professor Blye, who was tried for and convicted of the Memento murders, and who died in a high-security psychiatric hospital. Suddenly, a heavy bookcase peels off the wall and smashes down on Lautrec. The (nonhuman) primate is screeching as a shadowed figure flees the lab.
Back at the Royal Hotel, Batman and Red Hood continue to battle mob rule and discuss Robin’s mental state. Red Hood cites Oracle’s concern and explains that Robin may have had a “Harvey night” – a particularly difficult encounter that happens to a member of the Bat-Family when young that changes them completely. Batman is reticent and simply notes that Gotham needs Robin, especially with Memento on the loose. Speaking of, Batman reminds Red Hood that he saw Blye and Memento together in the power station, as well as a number of other sights that remain difficult to explain. Red Hood is hard-pressed by law enforcement efforts and informs Batman over the comm that neither Robin near any other member of the Bat-Family genuinely cares about Gotham. They battle because they crave Batman’s love and approval. Batman sees a terrifying vision of a dead Robin in Memento’s monstrous grip, shakes it off and rescues Red Hood.
On the heights of Gotham, Batman explains further what he meant by the notion that Robin “can’t” quit. Unbeknownst to Batman, Robin is listening on the comm. Batman explains the League of Assassins damaged Robin so thoroughly he is not capable of living a “normal” life. He thinks Bashar is connected and says that based on all the usual metrics, Robin is “unremarkable at best.” At this, Robin removes the earpiece. He does not hear Batman’s next words: “Damian stands to be the best of us.” Yet, Batman reasons, he did not come to Gotham to be Bruce Wayne’s son. Batman is afraid that without the mask, he will lose Damian. Red Hood departs, but not before stating to Batman that if Batman had let Jason quit on his own Harvey night, he might have escaped his subsequent fate.
Below Gotham, Batman ruminates. Robin arrives, out of uniform, and interrupts Batman to tell him his plans: He is going to catch Memento and then retire as Robin.
Analysis
In part five of the Memento arc, writer Phillip Kennedy Johnson deepens the emotional resonance. He turns the microscope on the tragedy and complexity of the Bat-Family’s relationship to Batman and each other, penning a book that is relatively light on action. The action sequences consist only of Batman and Red-Hood battling minor villains and a bookcase falling on Lautrec (who is fine). There is no Memento sighting here, other than in Batman’s gas-induced hallucinations.
The affective depth crammed into this single book is startling. Appropriate to a title named Batman and Robin, Batman’s concerns center on his relationship with the Robins. Red Hood is protective of Damian, and stands as an elegant foil to Batman’s relentless focus on the needs of Gotham. Red Hood in both character and dialogue reminds Batman that the Bat-Family is not united by love for a cause (Gotham) but rather by love for each other, a message that Batman no doubt needs to hear constantly even if he will continually fail to internalize it. His anger ever close, Red Hood savagely reminds Batman that perhaps if Batman had focused more on what his Family needed from him than what Gotham needs from the Family, Red Hood could have avoided the tragedy that befell him.
And yet Batman is human and reveals that he understands the truth of Red Hood’s admonitions. In fact he does not insist on Damian living as Robin because of the threat Memento poses to Gotham, but rather because of Batman’s fear as a father that if Damian loses Robin, he will lose Damian. The dramatic irony in Robin’s almost Shakespearean miss of Batman’s adulation raises the stakes dramatically, portending the very outcome Batman seeks most avoid.
What can one say about writing like this? Its complexity and power reminds this reviewer once again that comic books are books and as capable of plumbing the depths of human relationships. What does family mean? How can Father and Son prevent their worst fears from being realized in each other? How can we as emotional beings forge the ties that bind without tightening them until they snap?
I am not suggesting that all readers must or will like this book. But the delicacy and skill on display cannot be gainsaid. Johnson is a master and his work pulls an already excellent book to new heights. Whether readers enjoy Batman and Robin or not, it is a privilege to watch Johnson work his craft.
Final Thoughts
Phillip Kennedy Johnson is an incredible writer and it’s exciting to watch him work. This is a dark, complicated Batman and Robin story, one in which the villain seems to exist more as a slate on which the emotional heart of the narrative is written. I am intensely engaged and cannot wait to see the next installment.
