Reviews

I usually find Damian Wayne to be insufferable, but I could really feel the struggle he was experiencing. Some people have described his struggles as nature vs. nurture , but in actuality, it's nurture versus nurture. The Talia side vs. the Wayne side.

captwinghead's review against another edition

Go to review page

4.0

I hovered between a 3 and a 4. There's nothing wrong with this book, exactly. I've just read better books about Bruce and Damian's relationship.

I really like the chemistry Damian has with the Batfam. He's a little brother to Tim, Cass and Dick. (And probably Jay as well but I haven't really read them interacting). He's a son/grandson to Alfred who seems to have the least expectations for Damian and just accepts him as he is. I think their relationship is really great because it highlights the problems with Bruce and Damian's relationship.

Bruce wants Damian to be more like him. He wants him to adopt the Batman's principles the way Dick and Tim did (for the most part) and turn away from his training (similar to Cass). Instead, similar to Jason, Damian is having a hard time with that. Partly, in my opinion, because Bruce keeps him in the dark a lot.

I don't make excuses for Damian's behavior but I think it's important that he's trying. His story is a redemption arc as he tries to make up for 9 years of upbringing with Talia, Ra's and the League of Assassins. It took a while but Dick saw that and Alfred saw that. This book is Bruce coming around to seeing that.

Anyway, NoBody wasn't a bad villain. He had a pretty interesting backstory and understood why he wanted to kill Bruce. The fact that he was willing to torture and kill a 10 year old was horrifying. That was painful to read and I really felt for Bruce.

That moment where Damian makes a choice (won't spoil it) reminded me of the scene where Cass fights David Cain and has to make a similar choice. The dichotomy between her and Damian is really fascinating to me.

Anyway, I think if you like Damian and are interested in his relationship with Bruce, this might be somewhat interesting. However, as I said above, there are better books I can recommend.