Book Review: Damian: Son of Batman #1

Book: Damian: Son of Batman #1 of 4 written and illustrated by Andy Kubert

Rating: 4 1/2 stars

Review:

Updated to fix an oversight:

This was better than I expected. It's good to see Damian back, even if this does feels like an Elsewhere story. Damian is a little older than in his last appearance in the DC Universe. I would say he's around 15-16 years old in this story, although it doesn't say.

In this first issue (of this miniseries), Robin was out on a mission with Batman trying to figure out who was behind a mass murder at one of the docks. While they were searching for clues, an unthinkable tragedy occurred leaving Damian alone to sort through the aftermath. Surprisingly, Damian actually went to his mother and grandfather for help but of course you knew they were not going to help, since, he chose to be Robin over following in his mother and grandfather's footsteps.

With no assistance from the League of Assassins, Damian was pretty much on his own, crime fighting wise. Alfred was still there but it makes me wonder if Dick or Tim is still in the crime fighting business because it seems like he would have been there to guide Damian in some capacity. Perhaps Tim's whereabouts will be answered in the other issues.

Anyway after the tragedy, Damian was having a hard time dealing, resulting in his crime fighting becoming even more brutal. He was doing a lot of things that Batman definitely wouldn't have condoned and in fact it had him seeking a little spiritual help.

I thought this was good and I'm actually looking forward to reading more. This ended with a cliffhanger, leaving me wondering if Batman was up to his old tricks of testing his sidekicks. But I guess I'll have to wait until the second issue to see what's really going on.