bh6shouldhavehadsilversamurai's Robin: Son of Batman #11 - Massacre At Gorilla City review

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    It could have been a five...

    As we near the end of the DC You/New 52/Shitty reboot that cost DC loads of respect, we find ourselves poised with yet another long list of series' being ended somewhat prematurely. With Robin: Son of Batman being one of my preferred DC books of late, I was curious to see how it would handle its imminent ending and it left me walking away with a resounding "eh".

    First let's look at the cover. For a series that has had a comparatively low par for covers this issue boasts what is easily one of my favourites. It depicts Robin atop his giant anthropomorphic bat-creature Goliath, who is decking one of those gorillas with super-advanced intelligence (DC comics everybody) in the face. How could you not be sold on the premise of these two gigantic beasts locked in combat? Well, bad news, the cover lies. Neither Robin nor Goliath ever fight one of the apes. In fact, the only direct interaction between the two groups is when they rescue one of the gorillas. We are already at a disappointing start.

    Ramon Bachs' cartoony art style still feels a bit out of place for this story about demons and cults and the apocalypse, but I am happy to report that I am definitely warming up to it, as the art is still able to be detailed and impactful. My only real issue with the art is with a small consistency hickup. Batman is seen at the beginning of the story in his older more classic costume as he's about to go meet Robin, but once he gets there we see he is wearing his new costume with the yellow outline around the bat-symbol and everything. While I did miss Mick Gray's less exagerated proportions I can definitely say that I enjoyed the art.

    The big problem for this issue comes in the story. It isn't inherently bad, in fact it continues the book's pattern of riding on classic adventure serial beats, but dear lord is it rushed. We are undeniably seeing the effects of the upcoming Rebirth initiative on the book, as the creative team seems to be cramming as much story as possible in as few pages as possible. The last issue ended teasing the battle between the Lu'un Darga and the inhabitants of Gorilla City, but we only see that across 7 pages, and that includes a two page spead so it's really more like 6. The last issue also hinted at a very interesting relationship between Damian and Suren Darga, with the latter forming an interesting parallel to what Damian could have been like had he not left the League of Shadows to become Robin. Sadly this development never amounts to anything in this issue, as a matter of fact Suren Darga being a child is only even adressed once in the entire issue. Speaking of Suren Darga, the fight against him also only lasts seven pages, when it could have easily had it's own issue. I could go on forever about how other things in the comic are rushed, like Batman's re-unification with Talia al-Ghul after he thought she had been killed, or Damian and Maya Ducard meeting for the first time since Den Darga's attack, but you get the idea. The pacing in the issue is way too fast and leads to the story just feeling crammed. It's honestly quite a shame as the story, on a conceptual level, is fantastic and the action sequences are exciting despite being noticeably under-developped.

    Robin: Son of Batman #11 could have been a major highlight for the series, but instead feels rushed and messy. While people who have been following the series until now will likely find it a fun but flawed experience, this issue is not about to pull many new readers in.

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