Robin & Batman #2

Robin & Batman #2 blew me away. The story builds and builds for a young boy having possibly the greatest day of his life, and then the twist ending elevates the story to something completely different. The art captures every ounce of wide-eyed wonder, and this is going to be my pick of the week. Read Full Review

Robin and Batman #2 is an incredible character issue. Lemire understands and explores the relationships between the newly formed family brilliantly, filling each figure with humanity and depth. Read Full Review

This issue acts as a deep character study for Robin and Batman alike, and easily is one of the best issues of DC this year, let alone all of comics. Read Full Review

Robin & Batman #2 is brilliant. If the final issue sticks the lading, which I'm sure it will, this series will join Batman: Year One, The Long Halloween, and Dark Victory as books I'd recommend as essential reading, for anyone wanting to tackle the Dynamic Duo's adventures in chronological order. Read Full Review

'Robin & Batman' continues to take a deep character-focused look at the early days of the dynamic duo through a modern lens, giving the young Robin a deeper focus this time. This gorgeous story balances the world of light and dark perfectly as some bright fun guest stars show up that add so much more to the story. At its heart, this is the story of two individuals dealing with similar traumas in different ways as they struggle to come to a place where they can thrive together. Read Full Review

Having read his superb Black Hammer titles and other titles, I have come to expect a lot from a Jeff Lemire title. With Robin & Batman #2, Lemire has again proven his skill as a writer. And Dustin Nguyen's artwork is amazing as always. I would absolutely love to see Lemire and Nguyen on a sequel series starring the original Teen Titans. Read Full Review

This title continues to impress and this behind the scenes glimpse of Robins early career has been a fascinating read. Read Full Review

Is it any surprise that Lemire and Nguyen are putting out another masterpiece? Read Full Review

Throwing some dark twists into a story we thought we knew, the second issue of 'Robin & Batman' deepens the characterization of both characters in fascinating ways. Read Full Review

THE DISPATCHJeff Lemire offers fans a unique look at a young Dick Grayson searching to find his place after the tragedy that was bestowed upon his parents. Imagine your range of emotions following the murder of your parents, then being adopted by a Billionaire only to discover hes THEE vigilante that safeguards the streets of Gotham a night. Instantly, you join his ranks realizing youre being molded as his eventual replacement. Well, thats where Lemire continues this tale. Read Full Review

Nguyen delivers some fantastic visuals throughout the issue. The art is beautifully done and it fits the story, its tone and themes perfectly. Read Full Review

The timeline is confounding, but the characterization is wonderful, and the swerve(s) at the end are unexpected. Add in beautiful art, and you've got yourself a winner. Read Full Review

This comic has a lot of strong things to say and a great way of saying them, with a really fun " albeit brief " look at the early partnership between the Boy Wonder and the Dark Knight. Read Full Review

We're watching Dick Grayson become Robin. We are watching Bruce Wayne instill his dominance and leadership as Batman. It's bonkers to think that Lemire and Nguyen are creating an established and definitive "origin" story for Dick Grayson's Robin. At this point in the bat birds history? But here we are. One of the best Bat books on the shelves today. Read Full Review

Sad and disappointing, Robin & Batman should be an easy recommendation, and instead it's just one more exhausting traipse through joyless Batman comics. That it's made with such craft and skill makes it all the more disappointing, as it looks stunning, and the writing isn't even bad on a technical level. As a fan of the characters, I just find the choices to be baffling and frustrating, since this could have been one of the best comics of the year. Read Full Review

daspidaboy

Dec 14, 2021

Ppl wonder why dc comics jeeps on pushing batman and that's because the fans want more of batman than any other dc superhero. This is a prime example of why batman is one if the greatest superheroes of all time. Spider man may be my favorite character of all time but if we are comparing the comics then I vastly prefer batman more than spider man

Afre

Dec 14, 2021

This was simply amazing. Nguyen's art really fits here.

TheObserver

Dec 15, 2021

Excellent. neat writing, wonderful drawings, successful plot. Good of very good comics, high flying! By far, one of the best comics I’ve had in a long time. Dick Grayson is a child who can’t and will never be like the others. He is trained to fight. He learns the art of war, the art of stealth, espionage, manipulation. Batman prepares Robin for the worst. For him, any territory is potentially an enemy territory, any ally potentially a traitor, any fragility must be able to be exploited. The motto of Batman: always ready. It is the only truth and everything must be sacrificed, even childhood. Batman appears hard and devoid of empathy. A man who knows only one model of functioning, and who does not know how to do otherwise. Not a nice m an. But curiously fragile. You can feel the rift. It’s not far, it’s just waiting to open up and swallow it up. Maybe he’s the one who has to fall for Robin to pick him up and open up new opportunities for him. Finally, the one who needs love may well be the man in the darkness. And if that’s what Robin & Batman is headed for, that’s a hell of a story. more

Psycamorean

Jan 25, 2022

I loved this issue, unironically. The stuff with the Titans was great, and god, that scene where Robin is forced to recite his new friends' weaknesses is so hard hitting. Just all around an exceptional comic.

OldManComics

May 02, 2022

This was just perfect. The Robin story I never knew I wanted. Lemire just washed me away with Teen Titans first adventure, and then just smashed my brain with Batman's overpowering lack of regard for child innocence. It's just brutal but realistic in a way. Everyone is growing and learning in their own way. Loved it.

Avanvolk

Jul 01, 2023

Figuring out how to defeat all of his friends if he ever needed to is such a badass Batman move. Loved that he made Robin do it with the Titans.

Antenovial

Dec 14, 2021

What a fun Issue and then it delivers a gut punch again! Dick getting to interact with the other sidekicks is delightful, and Alfred's conversation with the dean where he defends Bruce makes his disappointment in him by the end of the Issue even more tragic. I usually don't enjoy a Bruce who is obsessed with seeing his adopted children as soldiers, but it works here, and I still expect Lemire to give Bruce's and Dick's relationship a little more nuance now that Croc is coming into play. At times Nguyen's art felt a little inconsistent. It's nitpicking but it still caught my attention because everything else is so good. I'm not ready for this to end next month. There seems so much story left to tell.

Screaming Enigma

Jul 17, 2023

The midway point of this miniseries is another fantastic issue. The first meeting of Dick and the Titans is a fun adventure, but what packs the most punch is when Bruce makes Dick tell him all of the Titans' weaknesses. The sudden switch from Dick's natural and youthful outlook to Bruce's calculated and possibly cynical worldview is just insane. I almost didn't pick this up, but I'm glad I ended up doing so. This has been amazing so far and I'm sure the third and final issue will be incredible as well.

Dave

Dec 14, 2021

A really good book, but one thing bothers me enough to give it a 9 not a 10

Loafy Trophy

Dec 28, 2021

Your mileage on this one will vary depending on how flexible you are toward a more Miller-esque take, as Lemire's Bruce is pretty much an asshole. The crazier edges have been sanded down from ASB just a bit to make something much more palatable and interesting. The issues setup is just perfectly executed. For much of the issues the reader is led to believe that Bruce heard Alfred's words from issue #1. He takes Robin up to the JLA's tower, where Dick meets Superman, the Justice League, and a lot of potential new friends in the Teen Titans. The fledgling Titans team up for some fun adventures around the globe, impeccable drawn by Nguyen, before sneaking back to the Tower under Hawkman's nose. This entire section of the book just oozed per sonality and left me wanting more from the Titans under this creative team. And then Lemire hits us with the turn of all turns: Robin was really there on a mission from Bruce to learn how to take down his new friends, Tower of Babel style! The revelation hit me like a ton of bricks and put me in Alfred's shoes for a second, as he chewed out Bruce for his heartlessness. more

ICC

Dec 15, 2021

Same as last issue, nothing new but it’s still super fun to see a writer and artist love a character so deeply. I like it.

myconius

Feb 10, 2022

one of the best new Batman comics i've read in a long time. this is finally starting to actually feel like Dick Grayson, and not just Jason Todd labeled as "Grayson". the plot with the JLA watchtower and the teen titans was a lot of fun.

Ryan

Dec 09, 2025

Good series, but these Lemire black label series all read the same, especially the first couple pages

Merlyn

Dec 14, 2021

This was a good comic and while there is a very dark twist at some point that I really enjoyed, there is a line from Bruce that I felt was totally not in character. Yes, Bruce is a pragmatist, but he isn't a jerk for the hell of it. And he always tried to protect Dick and tried to make him better than he is. This comic turns that on its head and I didn't appreciate that. Other than that, there is a lot of fun here, especially for Titans fans.

KFuqua

Dec 20, 2021

I like the story a lot, but as usual Nguyen's art is just not my thing. I really think it's awful art and hurts what could have been a fantastic book.

Asger

Mar 10, 2022

How anyone likes this is beyond me. Batman is a fucking psychopath in this terrible book. Batman uses Dick as a way to find ways to take down children, and uses the excuse of not letting Dick have a childhood by saying he never had one therefore Dick shouldn't.