Batman and Robin #4 preview

[sherkahn]

Fallout from their encounter with new foe NoBody begins for Batman and son. ComicBookResources has the preview. 2 pages behind the cut.





The Wayne's have a dynamic discussion (I know that you know that I know....), which leads to (once again) Alfred showing the World's Greatest Detective that his missed something.

Comments

[aeka]

I'm not sure about that to be honest. His relationship with the other Robins feels considerably different from the one he shares with Damian. For starters he always seems to treat the Robins more like partners or "sidekicks" rather than actual sons. There's also the fact that the other Robins seem to think of him as more of a friend and something of a father figure at best.

With Damian, he KNOWS he is Bruce's biological son and feels more entitled to him than probably the other Robins do. I also doubt (and anyone is free to correct me on this) that the other Robins expected him to be more a father to them, whereas Damian does. Therefore he expects Bruce to see him more as his own flesh and blood, not as just another troubled kid he took in who needs repair, and therein lies the disconnect.

Bruce may have *some* experience with raising a child, but he hasn't really learned to connect with Damian on a more personal and emotional level, and I think--from what I've read so far--is where the problem lies. This isn't to say he isn't trying, cause he is. But he needs to do more than just acknowledge that Damian is his son and that he needs to be there for him, he also needs to be emotionally available and to him as well. Damian needs to feel like he has a father that he can confide in and rely on. Right now he has Batman for a father, and Batman puts his war on crime first, Damian second. Hence my "he needs to unlearn being Batman" comment. Right now he doesn't *see* himself as a mortal man with a beating heart inside of him. He sees himself as a powerful threat that criminals fear and has dehumanised himself as a result.

[shadowpsykie]

i'm gonna have to disagree with you on several points. It's true that the other Robins are not his flesh and blood. But they weren't just hard cases he took in. He reached out to Dick on a very emotional level when his parents died.

They are not just parterns or sidekicks, to him they are his kids. The relationship with Dick (pre reboot and damned if i will believe they have done away with that) is very much father and son, so is the relationship with Jason (emphasized post reboot). Tim, pre-reboot very much saw him as a father. When he adopted the other boys he hesitated, not because he didnt care for them, but because he felt like they might think he was trying to replace thier parents, but once he told them, they whole heartedly accepted. No, they definately view him as a father.

Damian on the other hand iagree... he feels that since he is flesh and blood he is entitled to role as Bruce's son. even more so than the other robins.

I agree that Bruce isn't h andling Damian right. He's going from the belief that he was raised in a strict, yet at the same time very free enviroment. he was very much mommy's little boy and got whatever he wanted. so Bruce feels like he has to keep a tighter reign on damian because (a) it's what he is used to and (b) its what he never really had... if that makes sense.

Bruce as "I am the night" batman when he is with the kids is what happens when a writer gets him wrong. yes, its in character to be harsh and overly critical and down right domineering with them, but that is not ALL thier relationship is. he's not perfect. no one is. but when he is, for the most part, depicted as the guy who doesn't know how to be a father, then the writers are getting it wrong. Batman is first and formost the man who wants to ensure that other children don't grow up to be him.

with Damian we have a completely different dynamic to what he is used to. he is not used to being the not grimm one, and having to hold back his Robin (that sounds dirty...) i honestly think Bruce's problem is that he is not sure HOW he should handle Damian. hence the erratic gestures "Don't go out tonite because I said so" to "Here Damie, here's a puppy, boys like Puppies!" to "You are my son and I am trying to protect you" to "You are my son and you do what i say" this is a situation Bruce has never been in and i don't think it has anything with Damian being his blood kin, and more to do with Damian just being a different type of person than he has had to interact with before.

that said, again, he should sit down with Dick and or Alfred and talk about how best to handle Damian.

[aeka]

Thanks for the info. Admittedly I'm not too in-depth with Bruce's relationship with all of his Robins other than what I've seen on here. At best I *do* know Earth-2 Bruce had a father-son relationship with Dick Grayson to the point of a fierce and unwavering loyalty that even strained Dick's relationship with Helena Wayne at one point. However, that's Earth-2 continuity. The main continuity is a different playground all together.

Nevertheless, I do stand by what I said with regards to Bruce's parenting style with Damian. Whether or not this is due to faulty writing, however, is subject to debate.

[shadowpsykie]

Oh i agree that he is not handling Damian well. i think that Damian is so different from all the other Robins that he just doens't understand HOW to deal with him. like i said, he is trying "Boys like Puppies right?" but he really should talk to alfred or dick about him. it might be easier on him

[aeka]

I'm pretty sure Damian being (a) his biological son, and (b) having been raised by Talia are contributing factors. Unlike the other Robins, Damian was trained from Day 1 to be an assassin, and his being blood-related to Bruce causes him to feel more entitled to Bruce. Bruce on the other hand acknowledges and accepts that he is his son but remains emotionally unattached to him and sees him more as a 'kid who needs fixing.' So yeah, there's considerable disconnect between the two.

[icon_uk]

Bruce on the other hand acknowledges and accepts that he is his son but remains emotionally unattached to him

But again, we've seen that Bruce forms emotional attachments* to children quite easily, especially those who in some way need his support.

* Which I mean in only the most wholesome of ways.