Major Spoilers (that probably are not spoilers by this point) for Batman Inc #8

[shadowpsykie]

But also a nice moment for the Dick-Damian fans out there.





“It’s all about the family and the family going to hell,” said Morrison, who threw in elements of his own parents’ divorce. “The two adults in the story are both culpable. The kid’s the good guy.”

full interview here.

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/national/it_ll_go_down_in_wood_history_kZ9EWvYlw10mf4wS324GhN

Comments

[darkknightjrk]

The bit there seems a little too back-patting and congratulatory, more on Morrison's part than the characters, but I do like the little moment of the former Batman & Robin team interacting.

As for the news...the fact that they're talking about it now makes me think that even if he does die, there's a good chance that he'll come back by the end of the story. I mean, we're dealing with antagonists who have magic pools that can raise people from the dead.

[theflames]

Hahaha, yeah 'the best', I mean they're good, but in story they were so dysfunctional, to a fault sometimes... soooo...

[bradygirl_12]

The only time I can stand Damian is when he's with Dick. Nice scene.

[q99]

All I can think of is, "Reboot to make characters younger. Have Batman have a son who grew up became Robin for two diffferent Batmans and then died in his backstory."

[icon_uk]

Don't forget "And managed to be conceived, born, grow to be ten years old and become Robin at some point within that five year period"

[onceaskrull]

I'll take any Dick/Damian interactions I can get, but the dialogue is very....eh. I like that Damian is stating that Dick is his favorite partner, but the "no matter what anyone thinks" is a little too on the nose.

Yet despite my growing antipathy toward the DCnU, I would read the hell out of a Nightwing and Robin book. Just like I would pick up Flash EVEN IF Wally was only a side character. It really wouldn't be hard for DC to convince me to spend money on their product.

[icon_uk]

I think that the "No matter what anyone thinks" could just as easily apply to his own family, Tim doesn't like Damian, and whilst Bruce might think that he and Damian are the best, in his heart of hearts even he must realise that Damian worked better with Dick than with him.

And again, we've YET to see the scene where we find out why Damian became Bruce's Robin, instead of working with Dick:

Number of fatalities Damain has inflicted working with Bruce, at least two.

Number of fatalities Damian has inflicted working with Dick, none (AFAIK)

[chrisdv]

If DC had any sense, they would've not let Morrison kill Damien & rebranded Batman & Robin to make it a a book following Dick & Damien. Or just outright made a Robins book with all 4 Boy Wonders working as a team.

Alas, they don't.

[mrstatham]

I really dislike that Morrison seems to be aiming to shove Bruce back toward the 'Jason's death' state of mind, frankly. I thought we were meant to be kind of beyond that sort of characterisation for him. And I also dislike the idea that Morrison has set Bruce up to be in a position where he's to blame for something, yet again. Again, that just circles around back to something like Brother I and the OMACs, which were ostensibly his responsibility and frankly, Bruce should already be feeling crappy enough as is because of Cyril's death - this just feels like overegging the omelette.

[shadowpsykie]

i don't know. i mean i see where you are coming from.

but in this case, it feels more like, it's not JUST Bruce who is at fault. it's both of them. Tali is using Damian as an object the way most (well that's unfair) the way some parents use thier children against each other. Bruce becomes one minded when it involves the Joker, Talia, or Ras.

i hope it DOESN'T lead to Bruce going all jason todd, and i doubt Damian's "death" will be final. Morrison has done great with batman so far adding his own madcap mixof fun and... madcap...ness...? Morrison is a long grift writer.

[lencannon]

But... Damien is the best :(

[chrisdv]

So in the 5 years of the DCnU, two of the Robins have died.

New52!Bats seriously sucks at being Batman.

[icon_uk]

My very thought, two dead Robin's in five years?

To paraphrase Lady Bracknell "To lose one sidekick, Batman, may be regarded as a misfortune. To lose both looks like carelessness."

[icon_uk]

How I wish I could like this art, but I just... can't. Even if I could manage it generally, the faces are just horribly distorted, with Damian being halfway towards Stewie Griffin, and Dick having such a massive lantern jaw.

[kenn_el]

The only time I liked the artist was on the Kathy Kane issue. He did the retro stuff really well.

[kenn_el]

Now we know why Snyder's been pushing Harper Row (and why Steph's never been addressed)! When she becomes Robin, they'll probably mention whether she's the first female or not.

[icon_uk]

Given how often they've stressed there were "only" four Robins in the five year period, not sure how she would be anything else.

I also confess to having no clue who Harper Row is.

[espanolbot]

And suddenly all the people who complained about Damian merely existing will complain about him dying. Because we comicbook fans are a contrary lot.

[onceaskrull]

More like multifaceted. We're not a monolith.

[stillanerd]

So basically, Grant Morrison and DC Comics are all but admitting that Damien Wayne was really "Jason Todd 2.0." The only differences being that Damien proved to be far more of a lovable scamp, had a better character arc, is getting a more heroic death and was intended to be killed off all along instead of having his fate be decided by fans via a hotline number.

Oh, for those wondering if there's going to be another Robin, it's pretty apparent now, thanks to what Scott Snyder was doing, that it's going to be Harper Row.

[sadoeuphemist]

Wasn't Stephanie Brown Jason Todd 2.0?

[lieut_kettch]

I'm keeping my fingers crossed he gets chucked into a Lazarus Pit. The little git was starting to grow on me.

[captainbellman]

Cheer up Damian! You know what they say.

[zabilac]

I hate the art, but I love the dialogue.

[mrstatham]

I'm not even big on Morrison's dialogue at times, but so much agreement on the art. I know Burnham was likely hand-picked by Morrison himself, but.. Seriously. It does make the book look like the ugly duckling of the Batman books, especially compared to Gleason and Capullo, frankly.

[silverzeo]

"We were the Best"... wish he could say that, leading his own generation Team of Titans.... with Chris Kent, Lian, Iris and Jai...

[icon_uk]

I'm imagining that Fanart Thursday is going to be a series of distressingly sad and touching pieces of Dick and Damian together, remember all those ones that cropped up when the New52 split them up, with Damian missing Dick?

[leoboiko]

I shall never tire of puns involving "Dick".

[angelophile]

I'm kinda of the view that, just because something's planned and set up for years, doesn't make it a good idea, Morrison.

See also Planet X Magneto.

[mrstatham]

I agree with poor Emp there. *sigh* is exactly what I did when I heard this news. Again, Morrison should, theoretically, already be piling on the blame for Bruce because of the death of Cyril - a crimefighter who has looked up to Batman since he was the Squire and his dad was the Knight. Shouldn't that be enough guilt, if you're going to have it in the first place? Again, it just reeks of overegging the omelette, frankly, and I say that not even liking Damian that much as a character.

[big_daddy_d]

My reaction..I'm at a point where I'm not even angry anymore. Yes this greatly displeases me but...I'm over it. That is sad when you don't even have it in you to rage anymore because you're not surprised. In a way I saw this coming. As much as I love Damian..something just told me. Personally I am tired of the comic companies spoiling these big things and leaking them to media, then hyping the shit out of them instead of allowing for surprise reactions. The fact that they hype it so much only tells me it's a trolling effort and either the opposite will end up happening or it will just be undone very soon. The only time I actually believed it is when Ultimate Spider-Man's death was announced because in the Ultimate, say what you want, love it, hate it, it can be pretty damn consistent and people stay dead.

[r0b666]

Um... Lazarus Pit?

[donnblake]

Heh. If Jason+Lazarus Pit= Red Hood (yes, I know, that's the animated movie version, but it makes a lot more sense than Superboy Punches the Universe, so it's my headcanon for the New 52) imagine what it would do for this little tyke.

[minyandu]

This is the first time I see so many of my friends on Weibo shocked and raging over a plot. And half of them only started reading DC comics around the n52 reboot. I used to be the only one in the group unhappy about the reboot. And now there are others considering dropping DC at least for a while. I don't really think this is the same rage and sadness Chris Burnham says they are hoping for.