Review: Batman and Robin Vol. 7: Robin Rises

Quick Summary

Pros: The first half of the book is incredibly exciting and has plenty of epic moments. The first half also wraps up a story arc in an emotional and satisfying way. The second half of the book works as a nice sendoff for the series and is fun to read. The artwork is positive throughout the book and enhances the narrative.

Cons: The transition into the book’s second half isn’t that great. The book’s penultimate chapter is somewhat poor.

Overall: This volume concludes the series in a way that fans are sure to appreciate. It features a successful combination between the over-the-top action that makes Batman famous and the meaningful emotion that made this series great in the first place. The result is a volume that reads well at nearly every point, with quality artwork holding the entire thing together. Anyone who has been reading this series should continue reading with this volume.

Story

All good things must come to an end and the Batman and Robin series is no exception. This comic has been strong since the very beginning and has maintained a consistent level of quality since that point. This makes it all the more satisfying that the series ends on such a high note.

Robin Rises, by Peter J. Tomasi, is a fantastic conclusion for this series. It starts out strong and brings the larger narrative to a climactic conclusion. Then, it goes on to detail a final story arc that wraps up many plot points from earlier. This journey is filled with epic encounters, suspense, and emotion. The volume hits a few rough patches here and there but nothing too significant. In the end, this is a great comic book and a great conclusion to a series.

(spoilers start here)

Robin Rises picks up right where the previous volume left off, with Batman storming the gates of Apokolips and preparing to go toe-to-toe with their intimidating forces. He invades the planet, is quickly joined by the Bat-family, and manages to get an upper hand against Darkseid’s forces. His new suit proves to be more than just a piece of eye candy, as it launches a ton of cool countermeasures, and the resulting battles are fantastic. This really feels like the exciting cumulation of an epic saga, one that actually lives up to its own massive hype.

Then, the conclusion hits. Batman pushes himself to his absolute limit in a tense battle against Darkseid and then in the act of restoring his son’s life. The faceoff against Darkseid is handled well, it allows Batman to display his impressive prowess but does not undercut Darkseid’s massive power level. The restoration of Damian is also expertly handled, as it ends in a happy reunion but forced Bruce Wayne to make a tough choice. All of this serves as an amazing climax for a series that has been great all the way through. 

Unfortunately, a few minor problems arise as the book transitions from Robin’s resurrection to the series’ final story arc. Though Batman and Alfred are given touching reunions with Damian, the rest of the Bat-family feels a little left out, despite the fact that they just risked their lives for him. The comic also spends almost no time having Damian deal with transitioning to the world of the living, which one would imagine would have a deep impact on the young hero.

Luckily, things pick back up again once the second half of the book truly gets started. Having Damian temporarily acquire superpowers leads to some fun escapades that end up being pure comic book joy. These more lighthearted adventures are enjoyable and contrast well against the deeply emotional trials faced over the course of the last several books.

This contrast is also an excellent way to provide a bit of decompressing as the Batman and Robin series closes. It has Damian wrap up a few loose ends and allows the series to end on a happier note than I would have expected.

From here, Robin Rises tells an Annual issue that has Batman and Damian fighting aliens on the moon. This is a pretty by the numbers adventure with decent action and excitement. However, it also has Batman and Robin kill an entire group of seemingly sentient aliens whos’ motivations were entirely unexplained. It feels out of character for both heroes and might be one of the most disappointing portions of this entire series.

Robin Rises also contains a Secret Origins chapter that mostly just rehashes Robin’s origin story. It isn’t necessarily anything special but it does have a few solid moments between Dick and Damian.

(spoilers end here)

Art

Robin Rises closes the Batman and Robin series with some artistic highpoints. Patrick Gleason’s work on these final chapters is just as positive as it has been for every prior one. It is stylized in a visually pleasing way, makes the heroes and villains look impressive, and is further enhanced by some excellent colors, from John Kalisz. It also helps that Gleason gets even more creative with the structures and layouts here, creating action that flows in a dynamic manner and leading to some truly impressive spreads. In addition, I really enjoyed Ian Bertram’s incredibly unique work on the short Secret Origins chapter within this book.

Unfortunately, there are also a few chapters here that don’t look quite as appealing. Juan Jose Ryp’s work on the Annual provides a few spectacular splash pages but is lackluster in accurately depicting facial expressions from the main characters. In addition, even though Andy Kubert’s work on the Robin Rises chapter looks nice, it is such a dramatic shift in style that it feels off-putting. These negatives don’t take away from the book’s positives but do prevent it from being as universally positive as it could have been.

Continuity

Batman and Robin Vol. 7: Robin Rises continues the story from Batman and Robin Vol. 6: The Hunt for Robin (Review).

The Batman and Robin series ends with this volume. However, the specific stories behind certain characters are continued in other comics. These include:

• Robin: Son of Batman Vol. 1: Year of Blood (Review), which continues Robin’s story and specifically continues many aspects of this series.
• Justice League: Darkseid War (Review) (Reading Order), which continues Darkseid’s story.

This volume also references other comic books, detailed below:

• Many references are made to a death occurring in Batman Incorporated #8 and one occurring in Batman Incorporated #13. Both issues are collected in Batman Incorporated Vol. 2: Gotham’s Most Wanted.
• Darkseid’s fight against the Justice League is mentioned a few times. This took place across Justice League Vol. 1: Origin (Review).
• This volume’s final chapter appears to take place sometime after the death of Batman in Batman: R.I.P. and the beginning of the Batman and Robin team-up from Batman and Robin Vol. 1: Batman Reborn.
• This final chapter also flashes back to a number of moments from Damian’s origin story. Almost all of these are from the Batman and Son story arc.