Why don't you give me a big smile?
The best superheroes don't kill. If they do, the circumstances are exceptional, and the act will have profound implications for their character. But the injuries they inflict? Surely Batman's accidentally left a thug to drown in his own blood from a nosebleed, die of exposure when left unconscious on a snowy Gotham night, or just hit someone too hard in the wrong spot (Harry Houdini probably died of a punch that burst his infected appendix).
So when our villain tells Damian his barely controlled violence has left a thug brain-dead, I can't help but wonder if Peter Tomassi is making a point about Damian, or "non-lethal" criminals in general. Bruce has been happy with Damian's self-control, recently, so is the beating he gives this deserving thug a symptom of his anger problems, or not?
I'm inclined to believe we're seeing him lose control -- although some of Batman's brawls have probably had the same result, Damian demolishes his enemy's face when he's clearly already won the fight. That's not something righteous heroes do.
Tomasi has avoided the easy decision to use Damian for comic relief, as a mean-spirited brat. Instead, he's showing what a challenge Batman has to keep him from killing. Patrick Gleason's art does a great job at making his violence look brutal, too. Again, it seems about consistent with how Bruce would handle the situation, but is probably making a point about Damian, when isolated to this issue.
Even though #3 went by quickly, with not a lot of dialogue or narration, I'll be back next week to see if this mature examination of Damian's character continues. And for the resolution of that ominous, mysterious cliffhanger.
