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A review by literarygoblin
Batman & Robin, Vol. 4: Dark Knight vs. White Knight by Paul Cornell
5.0
Do you ever read an entry in a series so satisfying that it makes you wonder how the rest of the series fell flat in comparison? That’s exactly what happened when I picked up the final volume of Batman & Robin. Volume Four, entitled Dark Knight vs. White Knight, concludes the series, and it does so in a way that was satisfying while also leaving me wanting more.
Volumes one through three, which spanned issues 1-16, were helmed by Grant Morrison, who is something of a staple of Batman comics. Volume four, covering issues 17-25, are instead written by three different authors - Paul Cornell, Peter J. Tomasi, and Judd Winick, and I honestly think it’s their inclusion that makes this final book such a strong edition to the series. The stories that Morrison told in the earlier issues started strong, but it felt as if they were becoming tired and focused on aspects that weren’t appropriately suited to the new dynamic duo. By bringing on new writers, Batman & Robin became reinvigorated for it’s final stretch, and with these new writers came new perspectives on characters and stories.
In the first story arc, the Sum of Her Parts, the story shift from Morrison to Cornell is immediately obvious. Cornell seems to have a lot of love and respect for Dick Grayson, and it shows - the issues helmed by Cornell give readers the chance to actually enjoy Dick and his relationship with Damian, whereas previous issues by Morrison seemed to not try enough to distinguish Dick’s Batman from Bruce’s Batman.
The plot and villain of this arc are also so refreshing, because they have such a fun and retro quality about them that makes the story feel familiar while also feeling brand new. In fact, I felt like the Sum of Her Parts could have gone on for at least one more issue, as it was a story that offered a lot of potential. This arc also finally tapped into all the potential that the Dick-Damian dynamic had, and it opened the floodgates to great interactions and character building in all the issues to follow.
My only major criticism of the Sum of Her Parts is of Scott McDaniel’s art, whose style I have never been a big fan of. McDaniel’s style is almost too cartoon-y for my taste, but I’ll give him my compliments, as his art in this story has improved since my first encounter with his work, which was in the 90s Nightwing run. The entirety of the Batman & Robin series is riddled with artists with styles that are too different from each other’s, so it makes things feel somewhat incohesive across the board.
The next story arc, Tree of Blood, brought on art by Patrick Gleason, who is my favorite artist of the book - his art feels very well-suited to the world of Batman & Robin, and it isn’t as stylistic as that of the other artists in this book.
This second arc also builds on the Bat-fam dynamic that was started by Cornell, and one of the things I love most in a Batman story is to see the ways that these characters interact with one another. We get a small appearance by Tim Drake, who I’ve missed dearly throughout this series, we also get a bit of Bruce, and we get further development for both Damian and Dick. As a reader, I appreciate the focus that Tomasi gives on characterization rather than letting characters fall to the wayside for the sake of developing a story. Tomasi does a beautiful job of balancing character with story, leaving me smiling and satisfied after each individual issue.
The final arc of this book, the Streets Run Red, is both my favorite while also being the arc that left something to be desired. This story focuses on Jason Todd, who, although not my favorite member of the Bat-fam, creates some fantastic scenarios when written well. Judd Winick knew what he was doing when reintroducing us to the Red Hood - he makes Jason menacing while also making him a total smart ass, which is such a joy to read.
The relationship between Jason and Dick is tense, which makes me both crave a resolution while also craving further conflict between them. I think a staple of a good Bat-fam story is that balance between conflict and compatibility, and Winick manages that quite well, because I couldn’t get enough of all these characters bouncing off each other. The strong tension between Damian and Jason was also great, because up until this point we didn’t get to see very much of it.
The reason I say the Streets Run Red left something to be desired is because the arc is so interesting that I couldn’t get enough of it. It’s a shame that this is the point at which this series ended, because I would have loved to see more and more of the dynamics between the Bat-fam, especially from the perspective of Winick. The ending also suggested a lot of possibilities for Red Hood and his potential conflicts with the new dynamic duo, so it leaves me wondering about what could have been had Batman & Robin continued.