the_library_of_ana's review

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adventurous fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

captwinghead's review against another edition

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3.0

This was odd.

As far as a plot goes, it's fine, I guess. Although, admittedly, I never read the big, big issues where Batsy took on R'as al Ghul. In fact, I've read more of Bruce's interactions with Talia than I have his interactions with R'as. The plot wasn't really my issue: the characterization was.

This is one of those "true" events where you have to read the other series to follow the story. It would not make sense if you were just reading Nightwing, or just reading Robin or just reading Detective Comics. You had to read all of it.

R'as needs Damian because he's a blood male relative with a youthful body and R'as wants to take him over because the body he has currently is decaying. Simple enough. The thing is, Damian didn't really feel like Damian. I get that anyone would be scared in this situation but I found it hard to believe Damian would express that fear - let alone to people he didn't know all that well. In this arc, he openly tells Alfred that he's scared and that just didn't seem like something Damian would feel comfortable telling to Alfred at this time. But, let's break this down into bits:

Detective Comics:
These issues were the only ones that felt somewhat close to in character. For Bruce anyway. Although, it was a bit odd seeing him smile at Talia but you know, writers go back in forth on that. Tim was fine and Damian was... fine?

Robin:
This felt like when I read fanfic and I can easily tell that the writer loves their main character and just puts them into situations where they're ridiculously misunderstood and treated like a punching bag. One, Damian was much too soft here and two, Alfred unreasonably yells at Tim for a reasonable assumption. You know, so readers would feel bad for Tim. Anyway, there's something here for Tim's emotional state as he continues to grieve Steph, Kon and his dad. You know, if you like Tim, you'll appreciate this.

Nightwing:
If I never read anything else written by Fabian Nicieza, I will die happily. I don't like this guy's writing. Not only is he awful at portraying women, his "one liners" aren't funny at all. He threw in a "priceless" joke and I had to take a step back and try to remember what year this was. On top of that, it wasn't even funny. There's an art to Dick Grayson's bad jokes and Nicieza did not accomplish that in these 2 issues. Anyway, I found it hard to believe that, even if Dick didn't like Damian, he wouldn't think it important to save the kid simply because he's a kid. Dick Grayson would find Damian worth saving/protecting for that reason, even if he didn't think of him as his brother at this point. And I really do think Dick would think of Damian as his brother but.. whatever.

So, it's a complicated recommendation. Damian Wayne felt out of character. Suddenly, he doesn't know how to fight and he's just damsel-ed. It was a strange thing to read because when he first met Tim Drake, he kicked Tim's ass. So... maybe read this if you like Talia? But, I can't say how in character she was either when the first time she introduced Damian to Bruce, she didn't seem all that fond of him, Damian said his mother never spent any time with him, and in this book, she's shown doing everything she can to protect her son. Seemed... like an odd turn.

zare_i's review against another edition

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3.0

First thing first I like the character of Ra's al Ghul and his everlasting conflict with Batman. I truly enjoy the 1970's take on him, Blofeld like persona with accumulated knowledge of the ages that snaps and decides to teach humanity a lesson because of his loss. Sounds like an adult throwing tantrum right but hey these are comics and from comics I only expect entertainment not reflections on reality and answers to life issues.

That being said while enjoying the story to extent following was reaaaally annoying:

- Continuity issue - this is not standalone book but excerpt (or plugin?) work that fills the pages of other books (in case you ever wondered while reading them - oh, man what was X/Y/Z doing at this time.....reading a book, going to night club? hmmmmm, I wonder). Because of this you will end up with switches between stories that do converge to a degree (sometimes take a loooong time to converge) but as soon as they do kablam new arc starts (continues?) and you have to wonder what? Again I understand these are comics and stuff but this seems to be just like a filler release without any attempt to link the dots for us petty fools that are not up to date with Bat-Family issues. Not to mention the enemies here - Sensei, Sensei's Men of Death (they recover faster than anyone I ever saw, Batman kicks them in a seconds and then few pages back they are not just alive but making life miserable for all our heroes), those three weird women masked heroes who look more like characters from Kick-Ass then from DC whose sole purpose is to come in, make idiots of themselves and fade out in the closing pages of the arc....... as I said due to nature of the work it is not possible to connect all the dots.
- Bat Family ..... somewhere in the middle this started to read like Santa Barbara for caped crusaders. You have Nightwing and Robin duking it out because they are true sons of Batman. In the middle of this daddy issue conflict enter Damian, actual biological son of Batman (who is simply a spoiled brat trained as an assassin and unable to make one logical and sound action in the entire book) who scorns above mentioned two (grown ups? I dont think so) and makes such an idiot of himself that I hope Talia beat some sense into him after she run away with him.It is nice to have a junior with spunk and attitude but some brains would be good too. I understand need for internal conflict and emotional aspect of the story but do we truly need to have it presented in the way that would embarrass most soap opera writers? Not to mention that half the issues these three are talking about are unknown [to anyone outside of the loop] so it all looks rather very silly (again due to the continuity issues, see above).
- Art is a mixed bag here. For obvious continuity reasons and story spanning what I expect to be dozens of books so artists are changed ever so often. In some issues art is very good but in others it looks so .... weird, like 3D animations gone bad way that it is disconcerting.

All in all interesting read. If you are knowledgeable of the background (or parallel stories to this story) I think you will enjoy it more. For me it was an interesting book but with issues (art and internal relations that were presented in such a dramatic way I was feeling embarrassed for all the heroes involved).

murphyc1's review against another edition

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4.0

It's been too long to comment... I have fond memories. I'll come back to Morrison's Batman eventually!

ark07's review against another edition

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3.0

No está mal, tiene un par de escenas guays

georgesc's review

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adventurous medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

flamecaster's review against another edition

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3.0

3.5 i love tim drake

jameshaus's review against another edition

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3.0

A necessary arc after Batman and Son, but poor editing kind of makes the crossover feel loose and disjointed. For one thing, Damien (Batman's son) is drawn and written inconsistently between books (going from weak but spirited 10-year-old to moody 14-year-old in attitude and appearance as the story alternates between the batman and robin comics. Beyond that, the story itself just isn't that interesting. Normally the Demon's Head is my favorite villain but the story just didn't impress me. I see why it had to happen in the overall narrative of the recent batman storylines, but the execution could have been so much better.

bimenace's review against another edition

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adventurous dark medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

deepfreezebatman's review against another edition

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3.0

really good, until Grant Morrison stops writing and the art gets crappy.