Anyone hoping that Judd Winick was going to be the one to screw up the excellent Batman Reborn series is going to be sorely dissapointed in this issue.  Sure, it’s not as fantastically well-paced or well-scripted as Batman & Robin #2, but that was an extremely high bar to reach for.  This issue, while not spectacular is still a very good look into the new Batman universe.

The Damian/Grayson intereaction here is very reminiscent of the Grayson/Todd dynamic from Dixon’s Nightwing Year One, and it works splendidly.  Again, not as intense or wow-ing as the Batman & Robin #2, but very good.

Ok, enough with the qualifiers.  This is a solid story.  My only complaint, story-wise, is that we start off with a great fight scene revealing that someone knows Dick isn’t Bruce, and while the end hints at who the puncher is at the beginning, it’s not actually revealed.  I was hoping that the fight was going to be both start and end to the book, but it looks like I”ll have to keep waiting.

My major problem with this issue, and it’s a small one, is the art.  It’s not bad.  It’s not off-putting.  It’s just…Marvel.    The penciling. the shadows, the colors all evoke everything that’s wrong with Marvel comics.  I even had to check the cover and make sure Quesada hadn’t pulled off the biggest comic coup of all-time.  I hope DC isn’t emulating the lukewarm success Marvel has had, sales-wise (Marvel consistently outsells DC, just due to the volume of titles they have), and attribuiting it to their art.  I’ve already lost my X-verse to an artistic quicksand, I can’t lose the Batverse, too.  I feel like this Drudge era is threatening to Liefeld up every title.  And I’ll riot if that happens.