The Good
It could seem easy to write good stories with the popular and great villains. What do you do with lesser known ones or ones that are completely far from being considered 'cool'? This is what we've been seeing from Peter Tomasi in this current Terminus arc. Tomasi has taken a bunch of low level hoods that suffered defeat from Batman and have banded together to bring him and Gotham down. Sounds corny but when you have a determined and unbalanced group of villains, you should never completely underestimate them.
To up the ante on this fight, we still have the continuing subplot and appearance of all the former Robins. That means besides Damian, we also have Nightwing, Red Robin and Red Hood. Seeing them all fighting together in a story that isn't a giant crossover seems a little wrong but it is a cool sight to see them all going after the horde of villains.
As if that didn't make the fight crazy enough, we also see Batman give himself a little upgrade during the battle. Again, not something you'd normally expect to see. Based on his battle during Night of the Owls, it makes sense that he would be prepared. Also, this is Batman we're talking about.
Patrick Gleason has his hands full in this issue. There's so much going on and he delivers with showcasing all the over the top action. I always marvel when an artist has to draw a large number of characters in an issue that normally doesn't contain so many. There is a lot going on here and Gleason is ready to take it all on.
The Bad
As crazy and fun as this issue was, it did feel a little off. The action seemed to get a little out of hand. I enjoy seeing the Robins together with their banter and insults but we didn't even really see them gather like this during Night of the Owls. Jason Todd is the wild card here. We've been seeing that he does still have issues with Batman but doesn't want to fight him as we've seen in the past. It's hard to picture him playing nicely with the others, even though deep down he still has the makings of being a hero.
The villain's game plan and 'speech' felt like it was too over the top as well. Revenge is a strong motivator but the lengths he'll go to needs to be seen.
(A minor note, is this just another nail in the coffin that Stephanie Brown was never a Robin?)
The Verdict
Instead of BATMAN AND ROBIN, this should have ROBINS in the title as we get to see all the Robins together fighting with Batman. There is plenty of crazy action that we don't normally see in the average Batman comic. So much is going on here and Patrick Gleason captures every over the top action scene with ease. It almost feels as if there's too much going on, including the upgrade Batman gives himself but in terms of fun and enjoyment, this issue delivers. The events and outcome here may be a little extreme, even for a Batman comic but I can't deny how much fun reading this was to read.
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