Batman & Robin Vol. 3: Batman and Robin Must Die!

Batman and Robin, Vol. 3: Batman and Robin Must Die! by Grant Morrison
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

The Joker and Dr. Hurt wage an all out war against each other as Gotham burns. Can they make Dick and Damian look sufficiently like chumps in time for Bruce Wayne to return and save the day?

As you can tell by my brief and sarcastic synopsis, I didn't think much of this Batman collection. It showcases the entire problem with Morrison's run on Batman and Robin: when no attempt is made to make the readers accept Dick and Damian as Batman and Robin, does it really matter much when they bring Bruce back? Not to me.

Sure, the plot had a lot of potential, just like Dick and Damian's run as Batman and Robin. I love the idea of Batman and Robin teaming up with the Joker in order to take down Dr. Hurt and the Black Glove. Too bad it sucked for the most part. As with a lot of Grant Morrison's stuff, too much is going on and not enough of it is a good story.

The word "genius" gets thrown around almost as easily as comparisons to Hitler. Leonardo DaVinci was a genius. Einstein was a genius. Grant Morrison is not. He's just a little more willing to take risks. Sometimes, his risks pay off and a memorable story results, like Batman and Son or even the first Batman and Robin volume. In this book, the risks did not and wound up seeming like a confusing waste of time.

While I'm griping, I'm just going to say that the whole Batman Incorporated concept would work if Bruce Wayne wasn't publicly funding it. Way to conceal your identity, world's greatest detective!

Still, this volume has a few good moments. The Joker is in fine form and Damian managed to entertain me. Dick even had his moments when he wasn't being made to look like a chump. Bruce Wayne's return would have been more enjoyable had it not come at the expense of the rest of the story (and not been so hokey, as I've been told The Return of Bruce Wayen was).

That's that. I'm pretty much done with Grant Morrison on Batman. Save your money for Scott Snyder's run.

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