Wednesday, December 24, 2014

Robin Rises: Omega #1 and Alpha #1 [2014] by Peter J. Tomasi | Andy Kubert


ROBIN RISES: OMEGA #1
Writer Peter Tomasi and artist Andy Kubert continues the 75th Anniversary of the Dark Knight as he searches for his Robin. Other celebrations include the weekly series Batman: Eternal, Zero Year, and the upcoming Batman: Endgame which takes place after Batman: Eternal as they are published side-by-side. The story begins with the back story delving into the history of the Dark Knight and highlighting issues which are still relevant in the New 52. It begins with Batman: Son of the Demon (1987) where both Bruce Wayne and Talia merged their bloodlines for their child Damian. Then we see the first encounter between father and son in Batman #655 (2006) and Batman thrown back in time in the pages of Final Crisis and The Return of Bruce Wayne. Finally we enter the New 52 era of Death of the Family and Batman Incorporated which led to the death of Damian. Afterwards Ra’s al Ghul has stolen both the bodies of Damian and Taila leading to a confrontation with Batman. However the forces of Apokolips and Glorious Godfrey have arrived to obtain a shard of crystal within one of the caskets.

Both Ra’s al Ghul and Batman join forces against the forces of Apokolips. The casket of Talia and Ra’s al Ghul are lost in the battle. Godfrey retrieves the shard and is about to execute Batman when the Justice League led by Lex Luthor arrive for the save. He escapes with Damian and the shard back to Apokolips. Now Batman discovers he may be able to bring Robin back with the shard however he needs to get to Apokolips.

This issue released July 16th, 2014 is a winner with the writing and the art. It really kicked off the Robin Rises storyline however the problem is the story would have been better told as a weekly rather than a monthly title within Batman & Robin. We know Batman will go to Apokolips however the real mystery is the shard belonging to Darkseid and the return of Robin. These will be answered however the story is best enjoyed as a trade than periodicals but this issue was definitely with the price on the cover especially with the first few pages summarizes the history of Batman and his son.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED – 5 OUT OF 5


ROBIN RISES: ALPHA #1
This story ran for six months beginning in July with Robin Rises: Omega. The casket containing Robin is kidnapped and Batman heads to Apokolips to get his son back. Now Batman returns with Robin and injects him with a shard which brings him back with superpowers as Kalibak attacks. Batman sends Kalibak back to Apokolips and closes the Boom Tube with the help of Cyborg. Now Damian has superpowers ending the celebration of the 75th Anniversary of Batman. Overall the story was predictable expect for Robin gaining superpowers. The Omega and Alpha bookends was all you needed to understand the story.

NEEDS IMPROVEMENT – 3 OUT OF 5