HEY!

Do you remember the first issue Grant Morrison gave us Damian? Think a long way back because this is pretty damn early in the Morrison era of Batman. Do you remember? Good! Now let Peter Tomasi and Patrick Gleason take you back to just HOW Damian was able to meet his Father in this series zero issue.

Tomasi has been a bit shaky when it comes to Damian since taking over this series. He’s trying to go back to square one and evolve Damian like how Morrison did before the relaunch. Maybe showing Damian’s origins in this issue first could have made the rest of this volume easier to take with Tomasi. While this isn’t a perfect issue, I do like the training we get to see throughout the years as Talia shapes Damian into what he is today. There’s more I would like to see; like more of Ra’s involvement with Damian or Damian outside of being trained day in and day out (I can’t imagine EVERY day Talia trained him like a dog). Having said that, this is an enjoyable read from both an action and origin view.

This series will always be an automatic ‘Pick of the Week’ contender if Patrick Gleason continues this masterful run as artist. There’s so many great pages in this issue it’s hard to pin point one. Well actually maybe it isn’t: The page of baby Damian wearing Batman’s costume is not only adorable but gorgeous to look at. (Again, my love of super long capes is shown on this page) I do have to say though, some of Gleason’s panels in here are a bit odd. Especially with some faces of Talia and Damian. He’s always had a hard time with faces in his work and in this issue it’s really hard not to notice. Unless your name is Burnham or Quitely; artists have always had a hard time drawing Damian. Considering the focus of this book is mostly on Damian it would be nice if Gleason could just perfect his anatomy just a little bit more.

Some nitpicky panels aside, this is yet another gorgeous look and fun issue to read. You get a nice origin for Damian and considering Morrison never went real in-depth with his origins Tomasi does a nice job reintroducing us to Batman’s son. Even if the story wasn’t good, and it is, Patrick Gleason’s amazing artwork makes up any shortcomings the issue might have. As long as the quality stays at this height, I’m always going to look forward to seeing ‘Batman and Robin’ contending against Snyder/Capullo’s Batman book as ‘THE’ best DC has to offer.