Batman and Robin #2

Bruce Wayne feels it's his responsibility to "fix" Damian Wayne who has a tendency to kill and use excessive force in battle. Nobody reveals himself to Bruce Wayne.  

So far I've enjoyed what Peter J. Tomasi has done within these first two issues. He clearly displays what the premise of this first story arc will be about while also focusing on the relationship between Batman and Robin. While Batman and Robin have always been known as the Dynamic Duo, the current Batman and Robin fall short of living up to that title. Bruce Wayne and Damian Wayne don't have quite the relationship Bruce had with the previous Robin's. His son has killer instincts as he was introduced to extreme violence at an early age. We see him restrain himself in front of his father while taking down some thugs smuggling weapons but later on in the Batcave he kills a bat. We see Alfred observing this in the shadows and the look on his face was priceless. It seems Damian's hunger for killing may consume him unless Bruce is able to get through to him. This is one of the strong points of the story so far in my opinion. Anyone who knows Damian knows he's always been this way but now it appears as if he's getting worse. I look forward to seeing how Tomasi will handle Damian's character in the forthcoming issues. 

When we got our first look at the villain Nobody in the first issue, I thought he could be a pretty cool villain for Batman. While his appearance was brief, he certainly seemed formidable. Within this issue he reveals himself to Bruce Wayne as we find out the two have known each other for some time. Bruce however did not know that he was the one responsible for the death of the Batman Inc. member in Russia. We find out why Nobody killed him and why he's now in Gotham City. I must say I'm excited about where this story is heading. 

I like Patrick Gleason's art but I'm not crazy about it. It could be better but it does begin to grow on you. One thing I didn't like was Damian's facial expression in the panel where he was training. The darker tone of the art certainly suits the story.

This was a solid second issue to the series I'd recommend picking up. Out of the new 52 titles, the Batman ones are among my favorites. This series has potential to stand out but only time will tell if it will.