Something is still missing...
Who is Absence?
Pros:
The character Absence gets a back story which helps explains her current self. I even looked up the condition she had and it checks out (I learned something today), and what is supposed to make you think faster, it seem to make her insane.
Cons:
I'm still can't take a liking to Absence despite her back story. Its the kind of story that you might see on a soap opera (minus the huge hole in her forehead. And this is coming from a guy who watches that kind of stuff. And then it turns into a twisted drama that you might see on Lifetime channel involving a crazy ex at the end. The ending was what I liked with her.
Still not feeling the art even with the additional help of Christopher Jones. There were even times when Dick and Damian look like Bruce.
Overall: I don't know. I'm not blaming this on Paul Cornwell. Cornwell is a great writer. I blame Grant Morrison's writing when he was the writer and giving Batman and Robin a different outlook. Absence doesn't really hold my attention that much despite her back story. Maybe things will be different in the last part.