Originally published on Patreon
Damian Wayne is having girl trouble. But where most teens have the kind of girl problems where you're worried about how to play it cool around them, how to impress them, and how to make sure you treat them right, Damian has bigger worries on his plate; such as worrying that his kind-of girlfriend has become some kind of monster.
With Lord Death Man having arrived on Lazarus Island to find Damian at the end of the last issue, we learn here the reason for his unexpected visit. He tells Damian and Connor that Flatline went feral, and started trying to kill him. Unable to break her out of whatever was making her act this way, he decided to come to Lazarus Island to find help.
Not really trusting the villain, Damian leaves him chained up on the Island whilst he and Connor head to Japan to try and track down Flatline. Arriving in Japan the two of them are met by Jiro Osamu, the Batman of Japan, (though he's referred to as Hiro here for some reason), who helps them to track down one of Lord Death Man's lairs.
After getting in a fight with a robot oni, the three of them end up in the throne room of Flatline, who's given herself a new Talia al Ghul inspired makeover. It turns out that she's not gone feral at all, and the whole thing was a lie concocted by Death Man to get onto Lazarus Island. Back on the Island we see him being freed from his chains by Mother Soul; who he proceeds to kiss.
So whilst I was expecting Death Man to be lying in some way, him and Damian's great grandmother getting it on was not on my bingo card; but I kind of dig it. It's something that does kind of make sense when you think about it, and Death Man wanting to take over the island with the giant skull mountain is the kind of vanity move he's make for sure.
I also really enjoyed the growth Damian seems to have had that's on display in this issue, welcoming his cousin with open arms despite their recently being on the opposite sides in a war. His relationship with Connor is also another highlight, and I love how easy and natural their relationship feels. I love that Connor is able to be open and honest about coming out as ace with Damian, and the small inclusion that his mother is proud of him was so heartwarming. That all being said, Damian may have slightly jumped the gun by putting a label on whatever he and Flatline are, and it's kind of adorable seeing him losing his head slightly over a girl. And of course it's the girl who's a trained killer who literally ripped his heart out too.
Robin has been a great title the entire run, and the relationships between the young heroes are some of the best on offer from DC right now, and I'm really enjoying just seeing these characters hang out and be friends. But, it looks like a new threat is on the horizon too; and it'll be fun to see where that goes.
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