This review contains spoilers.
Robin: Son of Batman #9 is written by Patrick Gleason with pencils by Gleason, inks by Mick Gray and colors by John Kalisz. In this issue, Damian returns to Gotham.
Previously, Damian teamed up with Nobody in order to atone for his sins as a member of the League of Assassins. Maya Ducard decided to stop being Nobody after they were finished.
The cover by Gleason, Gray and Kalisz is a fantastic image. It looks great but doesn’t relate at all to the story within the book which bothers me a little.
The issue begins with Damian watching his father at the Lucius Fox Center for Gotham Youth and at home in Wayne Manor. He decides that he will protect Gotham until Batman’s inevitable return. It is actually interesting to see how Damian reacts to this new Bruce. At first, he is clearly shocked but then immediately does what he thinks needs to be done in typical Damian fashion.
Robin takes out a team of Bat-themed villains before noticing a boat under the water that he believes belongs to Nobody. Instead of Maya, he comes across Snowfox and Wunderfox who worked for her. They get into a fight and nearly kill Robin until Goliath saves the day. The two lame villains tell Robin that Maya hired them to erase her history as Nobody as well as her father’s history which is why they put the boat at the bottom of a river. They leave stating they believe that Maya will return as Nobody.
The comic ends with Robin returning to the Batcave in order to get to work.
Verdict
This is an okay issue. The art is great especially in the fight scene between Robin and Snowfox and Wunderfox. However, the plot isn’t all that interesting. I like that Damian’s way of coping with loss is getting to work which is consistent for him as a character as well as paralleling him with his father. Other than that, Damian fights a handful of lame villains that won’t shut up. They’re very irritating. I recommend waiting for the trade on this issue.
