It’s sad to see this series drop so far so quickly, especially when you consider how great it’s been for the last sixteen issues. Paul Cornell and Scott McDaniel are filling in for a story arc, and it is honestly, very average. I’m not a huge fan of Cornell’s work, and it’s clear this story was whipped up very quickly, but it just doesn’t pop. The exchanges between Dick and Damian are perfect, and Cornell should make it his mission to write those characters at some point in the future, but the story was weak and the allusions to the larger scheme of Batman Incorporated felt off. It’s almost as though Cornell is making up his own rules for the arc, but then again, maybe he’s working off Grant Morrison’s grand plan; it’s just the moment when Dick says that were Bruce in the US he’d probably be at the gravesite with Gordon, too…because he’s Batman’s boss. That just rubbed me the wrong way. Why would Bruce be there? It’s unbelievably irksome. On the art side of things, we get a pale reflection of Scott McDaniel’s art; it used to be amazing, particularly in the Golden Age of Rucka/Brubaker Bat-Books. But here, it’s stiff, lacklustre and at times ugly. This issue was such a disappointment; hopefully the next two will improve, and tie nicely into Tomasi and Gleason’s run in February.