A lot of my enjoyment of any form of entertainment is whether or not I want to go back after I'm done. I am sitting at work right now, and all I can think about is getting back home so I re-read this issue.

I agree with the previous reviewer. Story-wise this is a set-up issue, but there is just so much here to love. In the span of the issue Morrison tells 4 stories: Thomas Wayne, Dick and the Joker, Damain and the Joker, and Dick and Gordon (can I start calling him Rick?) Each story he tells masterfully, and does an amazing job of capturing a dynamic relationship between the characters, and each character has its own weight and soul.

What Morrison gets right here is exactly what bothered me about last weeks Batman Beyond issue. Here we have real characters exisiting in a gloomy, disturbed world with its own rules, and each character obeys the narrative of that world. In Batman Beyond there was no world, and the characters were bad actors playing roles that were were lazily written. I am not a paid writer and the few times I have tried my hand at writing I have been frustrated, because it tends not to come out the way I intend. I say this to point out that I dont want to down a writer like Adam Beechen who wrote BB, because writing is hard and unlike me he is out there getting paid to write. Good for him. But comparisons often help me distinguish why I like what I like, and why other things I have no time for, and here are two Batman stories that perfectly illustrate what I look for in any form of entertainment. This is why I love most of what DC has done with their animation in recent years, and why Marvel animation just hasn't measured up (hopefully that changes). Its the difference between Pixar and everything else.

In this issue we get an idea of why the Joker has dressed up as Oberon Sexton, and it appears that with Bruce/Batman gone he finds no reason to continue as the Clown Prince of Crime. But for a moment, he stops, he looks at this new Batman, they both know who the other is, and he wonders: maybe the game isnt over. Maybe this new Batman is a worthy adversary. It is a great moment, but not nearly as fun as when he and Damian start to talk, and he realizes that this new Robin SOUNDS like Batman. I love the art in this panel. Irving draws the Joker peering through his fingers at Damian, just before Damian starts to rearrange his face with a crowbar. Writing this review it makes me wonder whether the Joker sees that as individuals Dick and Damian pose an uninteresting challenge, but as a duo, THAT he can be interested in. In the past Bruce really didnt have much need for a sidekick, even though they were there. In the past sidekicks were just there to beat with a crowbar. But NOW, the sidekicks fight back with their own crowbars.

Talking to my buddy about this issue afterwards, I really think the bond between Dick and Damian is going to become an issue when Bruce comes back. I think with Bruce returning Damian is going to have a hard time connecting with him, while in Dick, Damian has found a caring father figure. There are a lot of ways this may pan out, but is it possible we may see two dynamic duos? Bruce and Tim, and Dick and Damian? Thats one possibility, but in Bruces absence the world has moved on. I was one that preferred him gone because I have been really enjoying what has been done with Dick under the cowl. Now that he is coming back I foresee some pretty intense shake-ups happening. It is going to be interesting to see Bruce react to Stephanie as Batgirl for one.

On to Irvings art. I for one think it is perfect. I did not care for it in Return of Bruce Wayne, but here Irving does a great job of keeping a mood similar to what Quitely was doing previously. It is different, but still effective. I have always been a fan of a world where Batman remains mostly apart from the rest of the DCU, because I prefer the more realistic, gritty version usually found in Detective Comics. I enjoyed Brubakers run years ago, and I am enjoying Dini's stuff now. This is Batman in a world closer in tone to ours, but filled with over the top characters. Morrison's Batman, to me, exists in a different world from that Batman. His Batman is in a nightmare world, and the art plays a big part in defining this world. Its hard to describe but if Morrison and Quitely's Batman was a cartoon I imagine the music would sound like a mixture between Batman: TAS and Punch-Drunk Love: light and thematic at times, harsh and dischordant at others. Its a modern Dick Tracy, filled with sick, twisted characters.

Irving is different. His art creates a darker mood. His world is mostly silent, a world of fog and mist and streams of light. The music of his world is muffled, but there are sharp thin notes that build and make your skin crawl. At times he draws his characters out of proportion. In certain panels Batmans head looks slightly too large, his eyes, instead of being thin and grim, are wide and ghostly. The Joker looks like he is in pain, like his smile is pulled so tight that he may start crying. Irving draws Batman's world as a place where it is just difficult to exist. It's cold and clammy, and everyone there is on the verge of psychosis.

I jumped onto Batman when I found out that Bruce died because I wanted to see something new. With Batman and Robin, Morrison has redefined Batman and his world, and now I find that there exists 3 versions. We have Batman the superhero, the Batman closer to the real world, and the Batman who exists in a world of nightmares. Of the three I prefer the latter 2, and cant wait to see what happens next.