Well it looks like Scott Snyder’s Batman is going to be the ifanboy nation ‘Pick of the Week’ yet again. As of this review it already has 86.7% of the pick and I’m sure it is only going to get larger as time goes on. There is something I would like to bring everyone’s attention too:

There is another 5-star, Pick of the Week worthy Batman title this week. And it’s called “Batman and Robin #10”.

How is this Pick of the Week worthy? Well for starters we have Patrick Gleason’s art which, somehow and someway, has improved since his last issue in #8. How is that possible? Well he has had a two month gap to work on this particular issue so that certainly helps. However, I have a feeling that if Gleason had only a month to work on this issue it would still be gorgeous. It’s not only gorgeous, it is utterly STAGGERING to look at. The opening sequence, involving the various victims of Batman’s crusade, is worthy of some type of award. There is so much detail and so much beauty in the horrible figures we see here I can’t phantom how Gleason did this. This is a man who only a few years ago could barely do a monthly schedule on “Green Lantern Corps”. This issue, and this series in general, is a testament to how improved an artist Gleason is. It really is hard to pin point what makes this issue work artistically because everything is just so damn gorgeous to look at. Trust me when I say this: This is Patrick Gleason’s best work to date.

Don’t skimp on the story though, as Peter Tomasi once again showcases why he is a great writer for the Bat family. This arc is all about the Robins and finally we are going to get some sort of resolution in the feud they all have with Damian. Now I admit that the rebooting of Damian has been a bit troublesome since Morrison worked really hard to make us like the guy. But Tomasi has been doing a great job making this series have a ‘family’ perspective since the reboot and if this is how we’re going to see Damian evolve then I am fine with that. In this issue we get Dick, Jason, and Tim and while I am a bit unsure on Jason/Tim’s history since the reboot; Tomasi writes them well. Hell, I chuckled a bit with Jason at times and considering how poor he’s been written lately that’s always a good thing. I also love, love, LOVE this idea of random ‘victims’ of Batman getting together to kill Batman. People who we’ve seen recently, or people who got bataranged (which I do imagine must be hell) is a genius idea and I can’t believe we haven’t seen this before. Now it looks like the main villain is a new guy and he seems pretty fucked up (and he’s drawn to be an ugly SOB). But if we get a good balance of this genius idea and the ‘War of the Robins’ then this will be one hell of an arc.

I’m not dissing Scott Snyder (cause I’m sure he’ll read this along with the Batman #10 review) because his Batman series has been downright perfect. I can’t say that this series has always been perfect, see issue #9, but so far this has been one hell of a ride for me. Peter Tomasi has been the perfect writer to add the family dynamic to this team and his ideas are unique and fun to read. Add in a rival to Greg Capullo with Patrick Gleason, and you got yourself one of the best looking issues of the year (in my mind). If you have been unsure about ‘Batman and Robin’ since the reboot then I implore you all to pick up this issue. You will love this series, trust me on this one.