I wasn’t going to pick up Batman. I stopped reading after Morrison’s confusing run and I wasn’t happy with Bruce being dead. But, with Winick coming on, I decided to give it a try. I didn’t read “Battle for the Cowl,” and I’m glad that I didn’t have to in order to understand this issue. I really enjoyed seeing Dick slowly pick up the Bat mantle.
Batman should always have an internal struggle. There should always be something driving him to do what he does. And Dick deciding to not be Bruce is what sold the story for me. He’s going to be the Batman that he thinks he should be. Without that, I would just expect Bruce to be brought back to life within the year. Now, I can see them actually telling stories with Dick as Batman, not just killing time. And now there are whole new ways to tell stories of this new Batman and Robin learning how to work together.
I didn’t think I would be enjoying Batman again this quickly, and if more issues keep coming out like this, I won’t have to be angry about that again.