Booknote: Robin Son of Batman, Volume 1

Patrick Gleason, Robin Son of Batman, Volume 1: Year of Blood. Burbank, CA: DC Comics, 2016. ISBN: 9781401261559. 

Genre: graphic novels and comics
Subgenre: superheroes
Format: e-book galley
Source: NetGalley


From the description:

"Before he was Robin, Batman's son Damian Wayne was raised by his mother, Talia al Ghul, to lead the vicious League of Assassins--a clandestine army obssessed with world domination. Now, the son of Batman has fully freed himself from that destiny and is about to embark on a globe-spanning quest to atone for the horrible acts he commited during the most brutal portion of his old life--THE YEAR OF BLOOD!" 

Robin is back from the dead, and he is now seeking to put his dark past behind and atone for his sins. During the Year of Blood, he had to do a series of quests and deeds for the League of Assassins. He may have thought this was all part of his training to prepare him for the day to lead the league, but as things go on, it seems the quests were more than mere exercises for him. As we read, it is revealed that the league has enemies, and those enemies seek world domination in a way much worse than the league. So as Robin goes about undoing some of the things he did, the question rises: is he really doing good, or enabling an enemy to rise? It is now a Year of Atonement for Robin.

The book has plenty of action and intrigue. The story moves back and forth between scenes from Damian's Year of Blood and the modern day when he is atoning and undoing things he did during that year. The book has a good pace, and I found myself drawn into the story right away, curious to see where it led. As the story got deeper, I got more curious. Another reason to pick this comic up is for the art. The artists do make Robin look great, and the overall art of the comic is very good as well. I enjoyed this volume overall, and I will likely pick the next one up to see where things go.

For libraries that already collect Batman titles, they will want to add this one as well. If you already got titles like Batman and Son and/or Batman and Robin: Requiem for Damian, you need to have this one as well.

4 out of 5 stars

This book qualifies for the following 2016 Reading Challenges: