Batman and Robin, Vol. 1: Batman Reborn [Deluxe Edition] [Hardcover]

Grant Morrison (Author), Frank Quitely (Illustrator), Philip Tan (Illustrator)

Book Description

Release date: April 13, 2010

"Batman Reborn" begins here with the reunited team of Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely (ALL-STAR SUPERMAN, WE3,New X-Men). The new Dynamic Duo hit the streets with a bang in their new flying Batmobile as they face off against an assemblage of villains called the Circus of Strange. They also tackle their first mission investigating a child who's been abducted by the mysterious Domino Killer. But will everything go smoothly? And who exactly are the new Batman and Robin? The newest era of The Dark Knight begins here!

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Following Bruce Wayne's reported demise, this Grand Guignol miniseries shows the competition to fill his role. Dick Grayson, the original Robin, has established a separate crime-fighting identity as Nightwing, but now has donned the iconic cape and mask of Batman. Partnered with bratty, impatient 10-year-old Damian (son of the original Wayne), he wants to modernize Batman's equipment but maintain his high principles. Dick's successor as Robin, Jason Todd, now calls himself the Red Hood and believes that the way to reduce crime is to kill criminals as dramatically as possible. Unfortunately, the Red Hood's violent tactics bring reprisals in the form of the Flamingo, an incredibly vicious South American assassin who enjoys skinning and eating the faces of beautiful young women. Morrison's scripts use this dark material effectively, and the art—first by Quitely, then by a team of three—is dazzling. In this largely self-contained episode, Morrison expertly retools DC's old superhero machinery. When combined with Quitely, it nearly reaches the heights of the duo's previous All-Star Superman. (Apr.)
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From Booklist

Recent issues of the comic book Batman have portrayed momentous developments, indeed. Bruce Wayne is dead, and erstwhile Robin Dick Grayson has replaced him as Batman. The new Robin is arrogant, 10-year-old upstart Damian, who’s both Bruce’s son and archvillain Ra’s al Ghul’s grandson. Morrison charts the new team’s first missions, as Grayson strives to guide headstrong Damian while tackling foes old (the Penguin) and new (Professor Pyg and his Circus of Strange). Complications arise from the reappearance of the Red Hood—another former Robin, Jason Todd, who battles crime more brutally than the new Dynamic Duo. In the first three of the six issues collected here, Morrison is joined by artist Frank Quitely, his collaborator on All-Star Superman. Their efforts here don’t reach the sublimity of that landmark work; unlike their extra-canonical Superman tales, these stories are restricted by the characters’ established continuity, and Quitely’s vivid visuals are less appropriate for the Dark Knight’s moody atmosphere. Still, these are the most accomplished, enjoyable printed Batman stories in many a year. --Gordon Flagg

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 168 pages
• Publisher: DC Comics; Deluxe edition (April 13, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1401225667
• ISBN-13: 978-1401225667
• Product Dimensions: 7.4 x 0.5 x 11.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (56 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #478,159 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Grant Morrison is one of comics' greatest innovators. His long list of credits includes Batman: Arkham Asylum, JLA, Seven Soldiers, Animal Man, Doom Patrol, The Invisibles and The Filth. He is currently writing Batman and All-Star Superman.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

32 of 35 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars The Beginning of an Entirely New Series That Seems Like It Will Definitely Be Worth Reading July 8, 2010

By GraphicNovelReporter.com TOP 1000 REVIEWER

Format:Hardcover

The DC Universe has been through a lot over the past few years. Not a single hero or villain has been immune to the effects of reality-altering circumstances, sudden resurrections, and crazy machinations that threaten to rewrite the entirety of their existence. It's pretty heavy stuff. With everything so mired in complex continuity, it's difficult to just leap into any comic, but Grant Morrison's Batman & Robin presents a good starting point.

Here's what you need to know: Bruce Wayne has disappeared in time, because comics like to do that. The original Robin, Dick Grayson, has returned to Gotham to fight crime as Batman, alongside Bruce Wayne's 10-year-old son, Damian, who is essentially half supervillain and very angry about stuff. Both of these heroes are finding their legs in these iconic roles throughout the course of these six collected issues. Everything else should spell itself out without becoming too confusing.

Grant Morrison is one of my favorite writers. He can write incredibly strange, surreal, psychological fiction and just as easily slip back into writing powerful superhero tales about the X-Men or the Justice League. While it sometimes feels that Morrison is writing weird things for weirdness' sake, the historically bizarre bad guys that attack Gotham are a very good fit for his version of creepy, and there's no better artist to make sense of his strange exhortations than Frank Quitely.

Quitely's artwork, which is used for the first half of the collection, might be an acquired taste. It feels soft and squishy, but it's also ultra-detailed and focuses on a stylized realism, textures, and atmospherics. His characters may sometimes appear a little ugly, but it's a very refreshing approach to the undeniably attractive world of comic-book superheroes, and Quitely is amazingly skilled in depicting just about anything with amazing clarity. Philip Tan takes over art duties on the second half of the book, and while his art is good, it leans toward a more typical comic-book approach.

As a Batman fanatic, I was initially unwilling to accept anyone else in the Batman costume, as are many readers who've become cynical about the disposability of superheroes and the negligible effects that death actually has in comic books. Bruce Wayne has been out of the cowl for various reasons over the years, and the entire "Battle for the Cowl" storyline that preceded this didn't seem to simplify anything at all. What the DC Universe needs after a highly complicated narrative event are titles that distill things back into their essences and don't rely on referencing everything that just happened. Having a Batman and Robin, albeit a different set of them, going out and fighting crime and weirdo criminals is a perfect way to do this and make comics accessible again.

Because this is the mainstream DC Comics universe, there is no profanity or outright sexuality, but because this is also Batman written by Grant Morrison, expect a fair amount of grotesquely broken bones, blood, and people getting disfigured or tortured. Batman's been written into a whole lot of pointless, awkward stories, but this is a good Batman book, as well as the beginning of an entirely new series that seems like it will definitely be worth reading.
-- Collin David

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Solid But Not Compelling November 3, 2010

By Kevin M. Derby TOP 1000 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

Grant Morrison's take on "Batman and Robin" shows a good deal of promise in this collection of comics. Morrison pays homage to the many writers and artists who have crafted the Batman mythos--but he offers his own unique take on it. With Bruce Wayne off the scene, Dick Grayson has the chance to play Batman and Morrison does an excellent job in developing the character. I appreciated the attempts to make a light-hearted Batman and a darker Robin but every now and then Morrison seems to lose sight of Robin--and the plot is forced to rope him back in. The art is solid and there are some interesting notes on the covers. Still there are problems. For better or for worse, Batman is one of those comics that does well with its supporting cast, from Alfred to Oracle to a great group of villains. Morrison does not use this to his advantage, creating a new group of less than memorable villains and bringing back Jason Todd as the Red Hood. Again. The art is solid and I appreciated the lighter colors and take on Gotham City. This was a fine collection of comics--but it did not seem like it fit Batman and this holds it down a bit. I'd give this work 3.25 stars if possible but note there is a lot of promise.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A joy from start to finish May 9, 2012

By dsan

Format:Hardcover

It's unfortunate that Frank Quitely never seems to be allowed to do more than a few issues at a time of any given series. He's far and away my favorite illustrator, and it's a shame that he wasn't responsible for this whole book.

Grant Morrison's take on the Batman mythos has been pretty inconsistent for my taste - I was not a fan of the Return of Bruce Wayne story - but this is pretty much the high point. While the previous volumes in Morrison's run were dense and difficult to approach without doing lots of other reading, his run on Batman & Robin comes across like a love letter to comics. Everything is bright, colorful, and fun without seeming childish, forced, or melodramatic. I hope this style catches on, frankly. It avoids the absurd "grittiness" of the recent era, eschewing mopy characterization and paranoia and creates a new style that is unashamed of itself, unselfconscious, but trimmed of the ham and excesses of melodrama that typified past eras.

After reading this volume and reading some of the other Batman stories of the past twenty years or so (Bruce Wayne: Fugitive, Knightfall, and a couple of others) I realized that I actually liked Morrison's characterization of Dick Grayson as Batman better than most of the takes on the Bruce Wayne Batman. That's an accomplishment. The second volume is slightly weaker than this one, partially due to the influence of the odious "Blackest Night" event, but even by itself this volume is a great introduction to a new, exciting world of comics.