Batman & Robin #7 is written by Joshua Williamson and published by DC Comics. Artwork is by Simone Di Meo and colours by Giovanna Niro. Letters by Steve Wands. Main cover art (left) is also by Simone Di Meo.
Batman & Robin #7 is available now, in print and on digital platforms where all good comic books are sold. Grab your digital copy from Amazon Comixology UK right here.
Synopsis
Batman and Robin are on the hunt for Man-Bat and Shush, but their search is interrupted by the return of Flatline, Damian’s crush from the Lazarus Tournament! But what has followed her to Gotham?!
Review
Flatline is back and that means it’s time for Joshua Williamson to have a little fun with his leads. The series continues a strong run of character development by crafting a new jumping on point for new readers. With Simone Di Meo back providing artwork this is quintessential Batman & Robin.
The series to-date has been a breath of fresh air within the Bat-brand. Williamson’s dedication to developing the father-son relationship between Bruce and Damian continues to be a huge draw for the series. Even Damian has to acknowledge how far they’ve come as he catches Flatline up on recent events. Williamson doubles-down on that through both leads’ reactions to the arrival of Damian’s former-flame.
It’s fun to see Damian as a hormonal, flirtatious mess. Whilst many would argue he should remain the cold-hearted warrior he was raised to be. It feels natural that after spending so much time with his father and around the Bat-family that his humanity would begin to shine through. The pulls through more of the teen angst angle which we rarely get to see through him and those glimpses add another layer of nuance to the character. Whilst through Bruce we get to see more of just how he behaves as a father. In this case that’s through poking fun at Damian’s chat up lines and smirking at seeing this kind of behaviour from his son. It’s more character development across the board and that is never a bad thing.
We’re in to a new phase of the story and that means Batman & Robin #7 is opening itself up to new readers. There’s plenty of narrative catch up for anyone who hasn’t read the series so-far or the Robin series where Flatline debuted. That being said that means there isn’t a huge amount of action this issue. But when you have a stylistic superstar like Simone Di Meo and the lively colouring of Giovanna Niro you would hardly notice. Once again the book feels alive and that is when it is at its very best.
There’s plenty of table setting for the future as well. It seems that for the time being Batman and Robin may have somewhat separate storylines but there’s no doubt over whether they will converge in the future. It’s just a question of when. What’s truly surprising is how seven issues in we’re still no clearer as to who Shush is and what their plans are with Man-Bat. The former seems to be taking on a slightly different role in the story moving forwards and that provides the perfect jumping off point for this month’s cliffhanger.
Verdict
Batman & Robin takes its foot off the gas – sort of – to reset the playing field for a brand new arc. But make no mistake, this is an incredibly well-plotted series which knows exactly where it’s going.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
