Batman and Robin Eternal #6

By James Tynion IV, Scott Synder, Tony S. Daniel, Sandu Florea, Mark Morales, Tomeu Morey

“Batman…I did it…I’m opening the doors.”

“Robin! Pull Back!”

“Don’t worry, Batman! You can count on me.”

Don’t you just hate it when kids won’t listen to you? Batman clearly knows something is up, but Dick Grayson has to go all Nightwing on his first mission with Batman…kids…

This week James Tynion IV is on scripting for the story himself and Scott Snyder have written…and he does an excellent job. This issue is the most hardboiled/noir we’ve seen Batman get in this series yet. Bruce’s big moment this issue comes from the look into the past (seeing as currently he’s out of commission) as we see him flesh out what he’s learned about the Mother figure that is how haunting Grayson in the present. Something done very well in this issue, and issues before it, is seeing Grayson become more and more like Wayne – this is even pointed out quite often in the series, this time by Red Hood/Jason Todd. It seems like in order to discover the secrets Bruce was trying to hide from him all those years ago Dick is trying to become the Batman himself (but the secret seems to be high levels of anxiety and lack of sleep/common symptoms of writers).

The artwork this issue is some of the strongest yet. On pencils is Tony S. Daniel, on inks there’s Sandu Florea, along with Mark Morales (pages 12-14), and Tony S. also on inks for pages 16-17. On colors we’ve got Tomeu Morey (and he does an excellent job right from the beginning). The opening scene we see strong play from Daniel and Morey as we get a scene of past-Robin trying to prove himself to Batman (the same scene where the above quote is coming from). In this scene Batman and Robin are each on motorcycles and chasing down a plane (obviously). When it looks like they might not be able to catch it, Robin pulls a hasty maneuver and shoots his grapple, does some crazy Flying Grayson’s moves, and latches onto the plane. The entire time this scene is taking place Morey covers the night sky in a blend of light and dark purples, giving a great contrast to the bright colors of Robin’s suit (what’s the stealth factor of his suit again?). The scene showcasing Robin shooting his grapple is broken down into smaller panels by Daniel, giving us the total play-by-play of the action.

This issue of Batman and Robin Eternal kicks off with some great action and delivers some chilling looks into the past. The artwork is impressive throughout out and Daniel gives fantastic representations of Batman along with his many allies. A scene towards the middle of this issue shows Batman in the middle of the two pages as the narration on either side breaks down what he knows about mother – it’s here where we get the most hardboiled/noir type language in the issue. Daniel showcases Batman in the middle of the pages and determined, covered in the pouring rain, as lightning strikes in the background (it’s going to be your new phone background pic). This issue is on fleek! (as the kids say).