Reading Comics #128 "Apokolips Cowl"

via DC Infinite

It's here, the Batman and Robin event: Robin Rises.

As far as I'm concerned, this is DC finally acknowledging the significance of this series.  As a title, it's had impressive pedigree ever since its original launch under the auspices of Grant Morrison.  When it relaunched under Peter Tomasi and Patrick Gleason at the start of the New 52 era, the series was counting down to the end of Morrison's run with Batman, which also meant the end of Morrison's own Robin, Damian Wayne.  But the end of Robin did not mean the end of Batman and Robin.  As we've seen over the past year, far from it.  And as we're seeing now, this is an extremely good thing.

Recently I've been making a much greater effort to keep up with the series.  Issue #32, the last of the covers to share credit with a featured guest-star rather rather than list ...and Robin, this one saying ...and Ra's al Ghul, wraps up the "Hunt for Robin" arc that's seen Batman pursuing al Ghul around the globe after his old foe, who happens to be Damian's grandfather, stole Robin's corpse along with his mother's, Talia (al Ghul's daughter, Bruce Wayne's one-time lover).  

Along the way, Batman has teamed up with Frankenstein, Wonder Woman, and Aquaman.  Frankenstein is the last ally standing, which comes in handy, because by the time they catch up with Ra's, it's time for a fight!  Because Gleason draws Frankenstein so well, I'm glad Morrison's erstwhile Soldier of Victory has been part of the arc.  (It doesn't hurt that Tomasi writes him so well, too.)  It's also been fun having Ra's al Ghul in the spotlight.  He's a villain who often sits on the sidelines, allowing others to handle the chaos he's unleashed.  This is the first time he's had an active role in the Damian saga, too.

But the big twist introduced at the end of "Hunt for Robin" is also the spotlight of Robin Rises: Omega, which is the addition of Jack Kirby's Fourth World into the mix.  The Fourth World is Kirby's New Gods playground, a perennial feature of the DC landscape.  DC's making another push, what with Infinity Man and the Forever People and the upcoming arc in Green Lantern, while the "Robin Rises" arc has the distinction of bringing up the fact that this is the first time the New 52 has revisited the demons of Apokolips since the opening arc of Justice League.

Art in the kickoff special is provided by Andy Kubert, who helped launch the Damian saga at the start of Morrison's run, since featured in the collection Batman and Son.  Kubert also recently wrote and drew Damian: Son of Batman.  It's always nice to see him return to the fold.  He handles the chaos in Robin Rises well, and is an intrinsic part of making it hit widescreen mode, Batman and Robin as blockbuster material, all stops unleashed, however you want to say it.

Basically, everything that the series has done to date reaching a culmination point.  It's a reward for existing fans, and a chance for new ones to discover just how significant it's been.  Tomasi has been doing an excellent job explaining how important Damian was and is to his father, in life and in death, Batman's desperation and grief and conflicting impulses as events spiral out of control.  In "Hunt for Robin" he was finally content to let his son rest in peace, possibly because he knew that if Damian was revived under al Ghul's control, he'd become a monster.  But in "Robin Rises" he seems to want Damian to have another shot at life after all.  It's a grieving process that keeps going.  The cynics will tell you Damian will return at some point anyway, but I think the whole point of these stories is that he won't, and this is all we have left, the chance to see how important he really was.

And really, Damian himself wouldn't have it any other way.