Who Is The White Knight?
Peter Tomasi and Patrick Gleason continue telling the story of Batman and Robin in the 'Tree of Blood' story arc.
I am a firm believer in the idea that the hero is only as good and interesting as his or her adversary- and even though we have Dick Grayson in the Batman costume, doesn't mean DC should recycle the same Batman villains in a series focused on the former boy-wonder, right? In the second part of this three issue arc we get to know the White Knight a little bit better, and become more familiar with his motivations, tactics, and overall goals. The good news is that this "White Knight" isn't any less crazy than the rest of the Batman rogues gallery, which makes him even more interesting. While I wasn't crazy about the characterization of Damian in this issue, there were some parts I felt Tomasi did a great job with the character. There is one scene in particular, when Dick, Damian and Alfred do a bit of detective work and analyze the method to the White Knight's madness where I felt the interaction between the three characters was very well presented. One thing I absolutely loved about this scene was the fact that Dick is teaching Damian indirectly. Tomasi acknowledges that Damian is a tough cookie, and probably really difficult to talk to, teach or lecture, so he allows Damian to essentially teach himself. Rather than immediately solving the puzzle, Dick Grayson lets Damian do some of the work (even if he's figured some of it out already). Grayson let's Damian do some of the work, and it's nice to see this interaction play out.
The storytelling in this issue is really good, and the story flows really well. Tomasi's script is very well organized and is very well paired with Patrick Gleason's art. In fact, after seeing so much of Gleason's art in outer-space, Green Lantern stories; it was nice to see some of his more "grounded" work.
The Good
There's one thing about Peter Tomasi you can't overlook- he knows how to write Dick Grayson. In fact, Tomasi was responsible for many of Dick's most interesting stories; and he seems to make ample use of that skill in the second part of this story arc.I am a firm believer in the idea that the hero is only as good and interesting as his or her adversary- and even though we have Dick Grayson in the Batman costume, doesn't mean DC should recycle the same Batman villains in a series focused on the former boy-wonder, right? In the second part of this three issue arc we get to know the White Knight a little bit better, and become more familiar with his motivations, tactics, and overall goals. The good news is that this "White Knight" isn't any less crazy than the rest of the Batman rogues gallery, which makes him even more interesting. While I wasn't crazy about the characterization of Damian in this issue, there were some parts I felt Tomasi did a great job with the character. There is one scene in particular, when Dick, Damian and Alfred do a bit of detective work and analyze the method to the White Knight's madness where I felt the interaction between the three characters was very well presented. One thing I absolutely loved about this scene was the fact that Dick is teaching Damian indirectly. Tomasi acknowledges that Damian is a tough cookie, and probably really difficult to talk to, teach or lecture, so he allows Damian to essentially teach himself. Rather than immediately solving the puzzle, Dick Grayson lets Damian do some of the work (even if he's figured some of it out already). Grayson let's Damian do some of the work, and it's nice to see this interaction play out.
The storytelling in this issue is really good, and the story flows really well. Tomasi's script is very well organized and is very well paired with Patrick Gleason's art. In fact, after seeing so much of Gleason's art in outer-space, Green Lantern stories; it was nice to see some of his more "grounded" work.
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