In this review of Batman and Robin #17, Batman battles Memento and some more familiar demons. He refuses help but needs it anyway, and receives it from Robin, Oracle, and a less-constrained member of the Bat-Family.
Batman and Robin #17 main cover by Javier Fernandez
Batman and Robin #17
“Memento, Part Four”
Writer: Phillip Kennedy Johnson
Artists: Javier Fernández, Carmine Di Giandomenico
Colorist: Marcelo Maiolo
Main Cover: Javier Fernández
Variant Cover: Simone Di Meo, Dustin Nguyen, Mike Perkins
Release Date: January 8, 2025
This review contains spoilers
Batman and Robin #17 begins years ago, while during Bruce’s training in London, Lautrec questions his motivation. After detecting several lies, she comes to the truth: Bruce does this because someone has to. They see Blye running into the power station where Memento might be waiting. Bruce jumps out of the car and runs in after him.
Flash forward, and Batman is fighting off the denizens of Arkham Tower, crazed by Gravedigger’s Poppy gas. They are driven by Memento. Batman instructs Lautrec to retrieve Jonathan Crane and seek out the panic room on the floor. Batman begins to see visions, but they are not caused by Scarecrow’s fear toxin, and they are also not even his fears – they are echoes of long-past events. Memento begins to rhyme again.
Across town at Sacred Heart Medical Center, Damian is volunteering. He walks past Emma’s room but is unable to go inside. Dr. Bashar sees him and comforts him. Damian states that he is afraid of seeming weak and afraid to his father; Dr. Bashar assures him this is not true and urges him to reach out, noting that his father needs help too sometimes. On queue, Damian receives a Batsignal.
Back at Arkham Tower, Batman ratiocinates and tries to convince himself that his opponent is a man. With the assistance of two guards, Lautrec secures Crane in the panic room, but it is too late – he too is under the influence of Gravedigger’s Poppy. Batman battles Memento, who appears to be something demoniacal or nonhuman at least. Batman is injured and thrown through a window, falling without a grappling hook, and struggling with the effects of the gas. Robin swoops in to save him and in the Batmobile administers some kind of serum. Later, in the Batcave, Batman regains consciousness. Robin has been reading Thomas Wayne’s journal and remarks how normal it seems. He asks Batman if they are the cause of Gotham’s darkness.
Batman laments that Robin was not there when Batman needed him, and Robin continues to argue that the violence seems to follow them. Batman says that they have a responsibility to Gotham and Robin reminds him that Alfred said something similar before Bruce chose his own path. Robin does the same, disobeying the injured Batman and rushing off to meet Gordon and Lautrec.
Batman suits up and prepares to follow, over Oracle’s strenuous objections. He asks Oracle to dig into Dr. Bashar. Robin finds Gordon and Lautrec waiting by the Batsignal. Lautrec indicates that Crane revealed the significance of his old lab. Robin offers to take them there, but Lautrec is skeptical about the wisdom of a child watching Batman’s back. Robin notes that someone has to. The phrase rings a bell for Lautrec and she consents.
Batman is perched, watching a police scene. Oracle continues to remonstrate, saying that Penguin and Tiger Shark’s crews are out and about and that he is not capable of handling the situation. He disagrees but it does not matter. Red Hood is on scene and the pair soar through the bright lights of Gotham at night.
Analysis
Part four of the Memento arc spends comparatively less time in flashbacks and on Memento specifically than the previous installment. I appreciate the contrast, as another series of flashbacks to the Knightsbridge investigations would likely have felt stale and tedious. Writer Phillip Kennedy Johnson is a skilled storyteller who understands how to vary structure and device to keep the narrative moving and fully engage his readers.
It’s fascinating to see Jonathan Crane, the big bad in James Tynion IV’s Fear State arc, reduced to a minor player by the effects of Gravedigger’s Poppy. This move is something of a bold play by Johnson; is he trying to comment on Tynion’s express wish to show Scarecrow as an A-list rogue? After all, if he is neutralized by an entirely new rogue, perhaps Scarecrow’s B- or even C-list status was the right league for him all along. Still, Crane has a role to play yet, or at least his old lab does.
The interplay between Batman and the Bat-Family grows more complex in Batman and Robin #17. Johnson deepens the tensions and issues, both between Batman and Robin and between Batman and the broader Family (here represented by Oracle and Red Hood primarily, as Gordon has almost no lines). The conflict between Batman’s loner tendencies and his need for support is a traditional trope, but one that I welcome when it’s handled well, which it is here – I almost cheered out loud at the final panel when Red Hood drops down! (Artist Javier Fernández teases the audience perfectly with a sharp splash of red in the final panel on p. 28 as the dialogue commences – we already know who Oracle has recruited!)
Fernández is back as the main artist, although once again DC Comics asks multiple different artists to illustrate the book (here, it’s Carmine DiGiandomenico). That said, the dark, grim tones fit Johnson’s style and the mood of the book well. The full-spread on pp. 14-15 is astonishing, and the demonic representation of Memento is an obvious allusion to the spate of monsters Hulk battled in the Mother of Horrors arc (also written by Johnson). I like both and appreciate the connection; Johnson isn’t hiding who he is as a writer and invites the readers to engage his work across universes.
Final Thoughts
Phillip Kennedy Johnson is doing fantastic work with Batman and Robin #17. The Memento arc is darker, more complicated, and more frightening than the simple and straightforward offerings from previous writer Joshua Williamson. I’m fascinated by Memento and Johnson’s use of historical monster genres to animate the detective fiction component undergirding Batman and Robin. This is a well-constructed and interesting book and I’m excited to see where it goes.
