Batman and Robin #40 Review and *SPOILERS*

Written By: Peter J. Tomasi
Art By: Patrick Gleason, Mick Gray, John Kalisz
Cover Price: $2.99
Release Date: March 25, 2015

Where We Belong

*Non Spoilers and Score At The Bottom*

Isn't it crazy that we only have one Annual after this issue and it's all over?  I mean, we went through so much in order to get Damian Wayne back to his rightful place next to Batman and really, back in our lives and it's all over after next week.  Yeah, we'll have Damian's solo title but it's the Dynamic Duo that I crave and luckily we still have the issues that we have..........  I WANT THIS TO CONTINUE!!!  Okay, in the last issue of Batman and Robin, we saw Batman losing his mind as he tried to keep up with his super powered son and eventually taking him to the Justice League Watchtower as a way to keep an eye on him while he was dealing with League business.  As the issue closed we had our selves an adventure in the making that would have Damian teaming up with the greatest team of superheroes in the world and a big smile on my face.  So let's see Damian's first outing with the Justice League and see what the future holds for our Boy Wonder.  Let's check it out.

Explain It!:

Our issue begins with Damian and the Justice League going to a deserted island off of Japan, where a robot monster is running a muck and we get to see our super powered pumpkin headed boy do a damn fine job as he worked with the League to take down this monster........... It doesn't hurt either that out of nowhere he gets heat vision added to his power set and Superman and him do the laser eye shuffle on the rampaging monster.  The monster is finally defeated though when Damian and Shazam team up and Damian impales the beast with a girder and Shazam calls down the lightning........ Just an awesome opener to this story and it only gets better from there.

When we get back to the Batcave and Damian has had ample time to tell everyone how impressive he is, we find out that this skirmish was actually a ruse set up by Batman and the Justice League as a way to see if Damian would drain his powers if they were put to the extreme and at first we don't know about the powers but our Boy Wonder certainly tuckered himself out as we saw him fall asleep at the dinner table.  After Bruce put his son to bed I cursed this book out loud for giving me the major feels and making me relive the heartbreak I felt when Damian died......... How did it do that you ask, well now that Damian's back, it seems he took it upon himself to finish the family portrait that was being painted when he died and now it's finished and hangs from Wayne Manor proudly........ Oh...... Oh...... Here come the tears again.  The next morning, Damian awakens to find that he's now powerless and after a little testing that leads to a very funny scene with him acting as every kid who thought that they were Superman and jumping out their window........ Luckily he has that agility that allowed him to grab the windowsill at the last moment......... Little Timmy down the street wasn't so agile.

In the end, we have Bruce talking to Damian about losing his powers and that even though he's sorry that Damian feels the way he does for losing them, he's not sorry that they're gone.  It's enough to simply be Damian Wayne and this very nice father, son moment is interrupted when Alfred enters the room letting them know that the signal is in the sky.  As our issue closes we see our Dynamic Duo slide down the Bat poles, suit up and drive out of the Batcave as Titus barks, Alfred the Cat meows and Batcow moos........ and it all ends with Batman smiling at seeing his son being back to normal and doing the thing that they do best............ Damn, this is a beautiful issue.

That's it for this issue of Batman and Robin and after reading it, I'm even more furious that this series is ending.  This is the best book that I've read all year and it brings me back to the issues right before the death of Damian and even the incredible silent issue #18.  The dynamic that Tomasi has created between father and son is such a joy to read that it simply makes me crave more and on top of excellent story, we have Patrick Gleason and his awesome representations of these characters..... I don't think I can stroke these creators enough because they have given me everything that I've wished for since the Death of Damian Wayne.  Just a beautiful, hilarious issue that makes me glad to be a Batman and Robin fan.

Bits and Pieces:

If there's one book you read this year, it should be this issue because it has everything that you've loved throughout the awesome run of this series.  I loved every bit of this issue and wish we had more than next week's Annual left to read.  Just a fantastic issue that I don't even have the words for to describe how it made me feel........ I just can't gush over it enough.  Go out and get yourself Batman and Robin, you'll be happy that you did.

9.8/10