Okay, look, I'm not a fan of Winick's work. I admit that going in. And I don't like Winick's work because I find his stories to be sub-par and full of plot holes, I find that he's unable to write characters "in character," and I find his dialogue to be lacking.
And sadly, Batman 687 suffers from all these problems. We're first treated to a Batman and Robin flashback with Bruce and Dick in their classic roles. Dick Grayson was given an assignment, and instead of following it, he changes the rules. This isn't how Dick Gryason acted as Robin. He followed the rules and swallowed his anger until his late teens when he blew his lid and rebelled against Batman often.
The scene closes with Robin telling Batman that Batman "got served." And I died a little inside.
The rest of the book follows Emo-Dick Grayson/Nightwing as he wrestles with the weight of taking over for Batman. Alfred cried a lot, and curses twice, proving once again that Winick writes characters how he wants, no matter how out of character that may be. Stodgy British butlers don't curse, and Alfred is the stodgiest.
The biggest problem, however, is that with Batman and Robin #1, DC has already moved past these moments. Dick Grayson already wrestled with these demons and moved on to take over the mantle of Batman. So why rehash these moments?
The book closes with more terrible dialogue, as Batman/Grayson tells some cops to "hang in their baby" while they suffer from the effects of Scarecrow's fear gas and dangle for dear life from Gotham bridge. Ugh. If this is what Winick defines as witty banter then we're doomed.
Oh yeah, and the book ends on a cliffhanger! Who's surprised by that. I'm sure we won't get a resolution either. It'll just be a given that Batman beat the Scarecrow.
The art was good. It's typical cheesecake Benes, which I'm sure a lot of people love. everyone is bulging muscles and big boobs and butts. Typical comic stuff, but nothing ground breaking.
Overall, I say pass on this.
Oh yeah, and tell us what you think on www.nightwingfanclub.com
