DC’s Robin #11 serves as an emotional payoff for Batman’s son, while also proving there is plenty of story left to tell with this cast.
It has been nearly a year since Joshua Williamson launched Damian Wayne’s first Robin series for DC Comics. Since then, Batman’s son has been entrenched in the deadly Lazarus Tournament. The storyline and its loving homages to manga tropes, particularly romance and shonen stories, has been an action-packed, character-focused adventure tracing Damian’s internal growth and maturation. Joining writer Williamson for this final issue of the Lazarus Tournament saga are returning artist Gleb Melnikov, colorist Luis Guerrero, and Troy Peteri on letters. In Robin #11, Williamson and Melnikov give Robin the triumphant and heroic moments he deserves. The real catharsis, however, is seeing Damian Wayne enjoying the simple pleasures of childhood and adolescence he has been robbed of for so long.
Robin #11 concludes the deadly tournament on Lazarus Island. Damian’s great-grandmother, the mother of Ra’s al Ghul, has sought to raise an ancient demon fueled by death and violence. Damian, seeking to prove himself capable of walking a more noble path than his al Ghul heritage, has been working with a ragtag group of villains and wayward heroes to discover the truth. Now that they have stopped the demon’s return, with the unexpected help of Ra’s al Ghul and the League of Assassins, Robin and his friends are out to tie up loose ends. The team attempts to bring to justice those who helped the dark machinations of Damian’s great-grandmother and celebrate their hard-fought victory.
After a few fill-in artists in the previous issues, the series’ original artist Gleb Melnikov is back on full line art duties for Robin #11. His kinetic action scenes and expressive character work helps make this closing chapter an emotionally satisfying and exhilarating read. The manga-inspired art and layouts feature expressive eyes, thin lines, and evocative use of silhouettes and spot blacks. These traits work together to give this closing issue’s storytelling level of dynamism that was sometimes missing in the past. Melnikov’s action cannot be held by a classic panel grid, with borders that seem to topple and characters that burst out of their confines. The artist smartly saves the most page real estate for the characters’ emotional moments, giving their expressive faces plenty of room and ensuring their emotion remains the focus. It is particularly effective in the issue’s true emotional climax between Damian and the villainous Flatscan.
While the action has been a highlight throughout the series, Robin’s true success over this first year has been its exploration of Damian’s vulnerability. Damian can be depicted as stubborn, angry, and even malicious, but the core of the character has always featured a profoundly broken heart desperate for approval and love. Those elements are there even in Grant Morrison’s earliest introductory stories. The magical deaths and rebirths that accompany the tournament have provided a metaphor for the transformation and growth the young combatants go through together. In dying and returning, the walls Damian built around himself have burned away — along with the self-doubts and insecurities, represented by the specter of Alfred Pennyworth. In experiencing these deaths together, Damian forges a bond with his enemies and accepts for the first time that he needs the help of others to be truly strong.
The traumatic memory of Alfred’s murder in the “City of Bane” storyline has been a recurring image throughout the Robin series, an encouraging but heartbreaking conscience pushing Damian to move past his self-hate. With the tournament behind him and his great-grandmother’s plans foiled, Damian finally realizes that his failures are not a result of his inability or lack of humanity. Alfred’s murder was not his personal failure. Surrounded by friends and peers for the first time, Damian is poised to move beyond his origins as a deadly weapon. Damian’s true victory in Robin #11 is not the tournament but the confidence to finally see himself as a fully realized individual with his own future to determine.
As a finale, Robin #11 serves as a more emotional payoff to the last issue’s bombastic climax while also proving there are plenty of stories left to tell with this cast of characters. After his experience on Lazarus Island, Damian has stepped into a new chapter as a more rounded character, no longer held back by his past — which means the sky is the limit for his time as Robin.
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