Damian's got a surprise for his Dad - Batman and Robin Annual #1

[icon_uk]

Newsarama have a preview from the new "Batman and Robin Annual", by Tomasi, Syaf and Cifuentes



This appears to be told in two timezones, the dark future where Damian is Batman, and the present, where young Damian has a special treat in mind for his Dad.






It seems a little... playful, as an idea from Damian, but let's see where it takes us, shall we.

I had to include this next shot just because....


 

Comments

[aeka]

Wait! We're seriously getting a story where Damian is actually depicted as something other than 'arrogant 10-year-old with father issues who has to prove his superiority?' I may have to get this. :P

[q99]

Yea, it looks fun!

[cainofdreaming]

A jacket and a cape? That's crazy!

[silverhammerman]

Ah, so young Damian's put on a version of his future costume, that's why the proportions look so weird. I swear, the page ads for this issue I've been seeing in DC books all looked so odd that I'd just assumed the art was shit. Now it actually makes sense.
I like the looks of this, it looks pretty light and breezy, which sounds like a welcome break after the onslaught of boring godmode Joker.
The premise looks fun, a globe trotting adventure that it looks like it's going to delve into the Wayne ancestry, if I'm reading it right, which is something that I don't think I've actually seen beyond Grant Morrison's The Return of Bruce Wayne.
The only sticking point for me is that the whole thing reminds me of how the family aspect of the Bat-family beyond Damian and Bruce has been ignored since the reboot, which always annoys me.

[icon_uk]

I genuinely wasn't sure if that was young or old Damian, since I wasn't sure why he'd be in the Batcave when Bruce was on his way to London.

[silverhammerman]

I think it's a "while the Bat's away...." sort of thing going on, with Damian planning some shenanigans in his dad's absence.

[zabilac]

This can either go oh so right or oh so wrong.

[big_daddy_d]

Damian as Detective Batman with his trusty sidekicks Titus, the Great Dane, Alfred, the Tuxedo Cat, and Bat Cow! Have a mystery that needs solving, these four are on the case!

[superfangirl1]

I would love a comic with that scenario so much! ;)

[chrisdv]

Any word if this is before or after 'Death of the Family'?

[icon_uk]

No clue as yet, so Alfred being there isn't a clue I'm afraid.

[anothermoviegeek]

I'm still of the mind that Batman and Robin is in the old proper continuity.

[chrisdv]

Considering it's involved in 'Death of the Family'...

[anothermoviegeek]

Eh, I am personally choosing to ignore that factor :)

[cypherfdp]

So... I guess Alfred survives Death of the Family?

[icon_uk]

Unless this is set before it.

As for Alfred being dead, not sure about that. The "big reveal" of what's under that bloody salver being Alfred might make sense to the Batfamily, but the reaction of the other villains to whatever is under it makes no sense if it is, since A) The Joker killing someone is hardly something they'd react to with shock, and B) The death of Bruce Wayne's butler would have no special significance to them, so their reaction would be OTT.

I'm still leaning towards it being a set of his hostage Batfamily member masks, with the reveal that he didn't know who they were before he captured them, but he does now (and the villains react because they recognise the masks, and that means the Joker has unmasked them all)